Haunted Cleveland

Franklin Castle, located in Ohio City at 43rd and Franklin, is one of the most fascinating and most haunted houses in Cleveland. The four-story sandstone Gothic structure was built in the late 1880s by grocer and banking executive, Hannes Tiedemann. The house featured thirty rooms, including a ballroom that encompassed the entire third floor.

The house's history is a sad and disturbing one. Not long after the Tiedemann family moved into the house, their daughter and Mrs. Tiedemann's mother died. To distract his wife, Tiedemann remodeled the house and it was rumored that several secret passages were added at that time. Before Mr. Tiedemann's death in 1908, all of his family, including his grandsons had died.

The house subsequently belonged to a German brewer, the German Socialist Party (rumored to be Nazis and to have run surveillance of Lake Erie from the house), and several Cleveland families.

Strange occurrences have plagued all of the residents. Voices, organ playing, shaking light fixtures, and apparitions have all been reported. In 1975, the owner at the time went searching for the secret passageways ... and found more than he sought. He uncovered a human skeleton, deemed to be very old by the coroner.

Today, Franklin Castle is managed by developer, Charles Milsap, who has announced plans to turn the property into a private club. Although he began selling memberships in 2002, little work has been done to restore the Gothic mansion.