If you’re a lifelong Clevelander, you probably don’t realize that a place as populated as Northeast Ohio would have ghost towns. However, that’s only because the remnants of many communities have been absorbed by parks and annexed into surrounding towns and cities. Are you ready to take a tour back in time? You don’t have to look far, but the remnants of this once-bustling community and the lives lost there have become the creepiest abandoned town in Cleveland.
Welcome to Little Egypt… or rather, the remains of what was once Little Egypt.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook This community thrived from 1813 to 1951, but its remnants are mostly part of Walton Hills today. This community succeeded thanks to the canal, farming, and mills.
This neighborhood earned its name from a bizarre pyramid-like mound that purportedly once existed in the area.
United States Geological Survey/Wikimedia Commons The mound was on what would become the Gleeson homestead circa 1818. The family would go on to become the richest landowners in a community that was named after their parcel of property.
The Gleeson’s cozy little property would soon host the World’s End Tavern, then it became the community’s first burial ground.
Canal Corners Farm & Market/Facebook World’s End Tavern, which opened during the 1820s, was located in front of the mysterious mound. It was there that the community’s first cemetery was established. The family’s infant daughter, Rebecca Gleeson, tragically died in 1833. She was laid to rest on the iconic pyramid mound.
Though the community experienced initial success, it seems it was doomed to fail from the start.
Nikki Rhoades When the Connecticut Land Company conducted their second land survey of the area in 1797, Captain Joseph Tinker and several of his men drowned in the creek that would come to bear his name.
Growth in the little community was impressive, but it truly took off when the New York Central Railroad construction began in 1904.
Canal Corners Farm & Market/Facebook More people migrated to this quaint little community during the period of construction and the trains continued to roll through the area through the 1960s.
The town was said to be quite beautiful in its heyday… but the surrounding communities grew much faster, and Little Egypt soon ceased to exist.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook
Ruins of the town are still hidden in the area, with many remaining in Bedford Reservation.
Jason Morrison/Flickr
The gorgeous landscape of what was once the Gleeson homestead is preserved today as the Canal Corners Farm, which maintains some of the lost city’s history.
Canal Corners Farm & Market/Facebook
A few gravestones still stand on the strange pyramid-like hill, though much of the Gleeson Homestead Cemetery has been lost to time.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook
A large portion of the former community has been reclaimed by the forest, and many of the graves at the cemetery are now unmarked.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook
While you still may encounter remnants of the community that once was in the Metroparks and in local lore, Little Egypt is but a mere memory now.
Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons
However, its story has shaped part of Greater Cleveland’s landscape, and locals have yet to forget its influence.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook
Greater Cleveland hides many secrets, but one wouldn’t expect an entire community to be lost to the sands of time. And yet, it happened to Little Egypt, and most people don’t realize that remnants of its existence still hide in the area.
Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co./Facebook
This community thrived from 1813 to 1951, but its remnants are mostly part of Walton Hills today. This community succeeded thanks to the canal, farming, and mills.
United States Geological Survey/Wikimedia Commons
The mound was on what would become the Gleeson homestead circa 1818. The family would go on to become the richest landowners in a community that was named after their parcel of property.
Canal Corners Farm & Market/Facebook
World’s End Tavern, which opened during the 1820s, was located in front of the mysterious mound. It was there that the community’s first cemetery was established. The family’s infant daughter, Rebecca Gleeson, tragically died in 1833. She was laid to rest on the iconic pyramid mound.
Nikki Rhoades
When the Connecticut Land Company conducted their second land survey of the area in 1797, Captain Joseph Tinker and several of his men drowned in the creek that would come to bear his name.
More people migrated to this quaint little community during the period of construction and the trains continued to roll through the area through the 1960s.
Jason Morrison/Flickr
Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons
As the creepiest abandoned town in Cleveland, Little Egypt has quite the story. Do you remember this community that once was? Share your stories in the comments below!
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Creepiest Abandoned Town In Ohio September 07, 2019 Nikki Rhoades What other abandoned places are there in Ohio? While places like the Wild West are famous for (or, rather, infamous for) ghost towns, quaint places like Ohio are not widely known for abandoned communities. However, we do have quite a few abandoned cities, and in places like Cleveland you’ll find a number of abandoned buildings that some would count amongst the scariest places in Ohio. Cleveland is, interestingly enough, home to an abandoned telescope factory and observatory. It’s also home to an old aquarium that lies in a state of decay. If you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll find a number of abandoned places in Ohio throughout your travels. Are there any hiking trails to abandoned places in Ohio? There sure are! Throughout the Buckeye State, you will find a number of fascinating hikes. Hillandale Bridge up near Cleveland has a super spooky atmosphere to it, and you’ll find a number of abandoned and forgotten quarries along the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Down south, you’ll find the Moonville Rail Tunnel, a remnant of one of the most well-known ghost towns in Ohio. What ghost towns can you find in Ohio? Some of the abandoned places in Ohio have grown largely forgotten by locals, and they now live on as local legend. In Southeast Ohio, you might hear whispers of an abandoned town called Mineral as you travel among the rolling landscape. In some places, you may find that nature is reclaiming the landscape… as one would expect with the state’s many abandoned shopping malls. While our ghost towns may be few and far between in this modern day and age, you can always visit a lovingly restored replica of an 1880s ghost town, or just admire the fascinating forgotten buildings throughout the state that sit in an eternal state of decomposition.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Creepiest Abandoned Town In Ohio
September 07, 2019
What other abandoned places are there in Ohio? While places like the Wild West are famous for (or, rather, infamous for) ghost towns, quaint places like Ohio are not widely known for abandoned communities. However, we do have quite a few abandoned cities, and in places like Cleveland you’ll find a number of abandoned buildings that some would count amongst the scariest places in Ohio. Cleveland is, interestingly enough, home to an abandoned telescope factory and observatory. It’s also home to an old aquarium that lies in a state of decay. If you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll find a number of abandoned places in Ohio throughout your travels. Are there any hiking trails to abandoned places in Ohio? There sure are! Throughout the Buckeye State, you will find a number of fascinating hikes. Hillandale Bridge up near Cleveland has a super spooky atmosphere to it, and you’ll find a number of abandoned and forgotten quarries along the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Down south, you’ll find the Moonville Rail Tunnel, a remnant of one of the most well-known ghost towns in Ohio. What ghost towns can you find in Ohio? Some of the abandoned places in Ohio have grown largely forgotten by locals, and they now live on as local legend. In Southeast Ohio, you might hear whispers of an abandoned town called Mineral as you travel among the rolling landscape. In some places, you may find that nature is reclaiming the landscape… as one would expect with the state’s many abandoned shopping malls. While our ghost towns may be few and far between in this modern day and age, you can always visit a lovingly restored replica of an 1880s ghost town, or just admire the fascinating forgotten buildings throughout the state that sit in an eternal state of decomposition.
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
While places like the Wild West are famous for (or, rather, infamous for) ghost towns, quaint places like Ohio are not widely known for abandoned communities. However, we do have quite a few abandoned cities, and in places like Cleveland you’ll find a number of abandoned buildings that some would count amongst the scariest places in Ohio. Cleveland is, interestingly enough, home to an abandoned telescope factory and observatory. It’s also home to an old aquarium that lies in a state of decay. If you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll find a number of abandoned places in Ohio throughout your travels.
Are there any hiking trails to abandoned places in Ohio?
There sure are! Throughout the Buckeye State, you will find a number of fascinating hikes. Hillandale Bridge up near Cleveland has a super spooky atmosphere to it, and you’ll find a number of abandoned and forgotten quarries along the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Down south, you’ll find the Moonville Rail Tunnel, a remnant of one of the most well-known ghost towns in Ohio.
What ghost towns can you find in Ohio?
Some of the abandoned places in Ohio have grown largely forgotten by locals, and they now live on as local legend. In Southeast Ohio, you might hear whispers of an abandoned town called Mineral as you travel among the rolling landscape. In some places, you may find that nature is reclaiming the landscape… as one would expect with the state’s many abandoned shopping malls. While our ghost towns may be few and far between in this modern day and age, you can always visit a lovingly restored replica of an 1880s ghost town, or just admire the fascinating forgotten buildings throughout the state that sit in an eternal state of decomposition.
