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I did an Internet
search to see what the status of Ghost Town was when I began working on this
web page. There was no website for them, and very little about the
place or its history. After clicking on quite a number of non-relevant
or dead-end "possibilities" offered in my search results, I found it amusing
that the America’s By-ways website (www.byways.org) gave the following description
along with its basic (hours, location, etc) information . . . "The Ghost Town
is located in Hancock County 7.8 miles south of Findlay, Ohio. The town
has been fully reconstructed and has 28 buildings, including an antique museum.
Come see each historically accurate building, such as the general store, bank,
post office, and sheriff station. Each building contains museum like
exhibits that feature everything from Indian artifacts to a collection of
old funeral carriages. Don't miss the large train complete with cars
and caboose on display. The park also boasts an annual craft shows"
. . . without any hint that it might not actually still be open.
RoadsideAmerica.com (www.roadsideamerica.com) along with
the basics of "Ghost Town - Closed" — "Hours: Closed - No Trespassing" — "Visitor
Tips and News about Ghost Town - Closed" — was a little more telling through
the comments others had posted on their site . . .
August 23, 2008 a traveler wrote, "I am sorry to say that
Ghost Town is closed. We took a chance and stopped on our way up to
Michigan. The back roads to get there are fun . . . they go through corn fields
and there are some nice old houses to get a look at. But, unfortunately,
Ghost Town is really a ghost town."
July 15, 2004 a visitor offered, "We were pleased to find
Ghost Town still open to the public, and still maintained by Mr. Galitza,
who took over after his father passed away. He went out of his way to
get the attractions ready for us — we were the first visitors
that day, and probably this year (He was a little delayed because of so much
rain.). It was similar to how I remembered it from my last visit in
1973, but with an added sitting area . . . There was music playing as well
to help set the tone as we walked around: Bonanza, and the themes from
every Clint Eastwood Western . . . My children had a great time exploring
the old country store, the jail, and Boot Hill. There is even a covered
bridge that Mr. Galitza and his father built themselves.
Then from October 28, 2000 we read from an individual who
was not so impressed, "On a Rand McNally Atlas it is listed in pink and the
most north western part of Ohio (attractions in pink are parks, theme parks,
etc I believe). In an effort to find something creepy we headed out
from Pittsburgh, PA. It took about 10 hours and after initially missing the
sign for the turn we finally arrived at the Ghost Town. Only we discovered
that it was a closed children's attraction, centered around old cowboy/train
myths (with entirely kid-sized buildings). There were no trespassing
signs posted all over the place. There is a small residential house
about 50 feet from the fence that surrounds the Ghost Town, and although old
polka music could be heard emitting from within no one answered our calls.
It is not very big at all . . . certainly not worthy of being shown on a road
atlas. Just wanted to let you know, so you could warn all people from
making the trek out there as they will be greatly disappointed."
The fact that the oldest entry (last above) was dated three
days from Halloween explains the disappointment of not finding something more
"ghostly" at an attraction called "Ghost Town" But, beyond that, I am
struck by the fact it must have been somewhere in the vicinity, time wise,
of when the original owner died. Even in these few comments you can
find and feel the progression of life. I checked, and the little red
box (or listing in pink as the above entry called it) remains on the map in
the new road atlas we got in 2011. Unlike "disappointed," I wish there
were more such local "points of interest" shown on our map. For the
most part, Donna and I find them immensely interesting, even in circumstances
like this. He are some more photos I took (inside shots were made through
windows) . . .
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