The helltown

This story tells the untold truth about the various legend that have made the helltown, Ohio infamous for decades, from ghost apparitions to spooky cults and even Satan himself.

Discover what truly happened in hell town

for decades hell town has been infamous for countless legends from satanic cults to ghostly apparitions government experiments and more but what is it about this small abandoned ohio area that has spawned these legends that's what we'll be diving into today here on mystery archives

hell town's history from the beginning has been shrouded in darkness originally founded by native american tribes in 1758, it shortly became the home of a massacre in 1782 caused by inter-tribe fighting and opposing sides siding with colonials it was also located on a tribal war trail and became the site of several bloody battles early on battles which led to a number of native american burial sites on the land the lands would later be resettled in 1806 and what would become known as hell town would encompass three towns altogether it's these tumultuous beginnings that seem to have laid the groundwork for the stories we hear today from here we will cover the various legends associated with hell town it's hard to decipher fact from fiction or even put a timeline to where these stories came from but i'll do my best with the information that i've gained but first to begin to understand hell town we must understand why the area was abandoned and to do this we must take a glimpse into the past the year was 1974 and a man named william birdsell was the national recreational superintendent who had recently been tasked by then president ford to establish a national recreation area in the cayuga valley where hell town was located little did the people know that this man would soon become their worst enemy a town meeting was called shortly after bird cell arrived and it was in this meeting that the people were informed that they had to sell their homes to the government whether they liked it or not this life-changing event was not up for negotiation and these purchases were essentially going to be made at fire sale prices with little to no recourse at the time many people simply did what they were told to do despite the anger frustration and sadness at the entire situation but several citizens despite the risk outright refused to leave their homes they wanted to know just why and for what reason they had no other choice other than to sell what in most circumstances was their entire life's work for next to nothing and over the course of the next couple months many were given conflicting and confusing reasons and some weren't given any reasons at all and this for a short period seemed to keep bird cell at bay until he reached an inevitable boiling point the army soon invaded the valley and began forcibly removing residents from their homes after which they sealed off the town and began boarding up burning down and demolishing homes the angered citizens eventually ended up in court with the department of interiors whose head at the time was sympathetic to their situation and ordered a halt to the operation after it was found that these homes had been purchased illegally many of the residents were contacted about purchasing their old homesteads back but the majority had nothing to go home too so hell town remained a ghost town as for william birdsell his shady dealings with the whole situation ended rather ironically just weeks before the end of the program he was set to be transferred to a different part of the country for a new assignment and as he was cleaning out his desk from the command post in hell town he died of a heart attack and could never truly leave [Music] during the time in which the area has been abandoned there's been many rumors and legends i'll try my best to at least touch upon the majority of them that i could find the army as a result of the siege was frequently dealing with squatters criminals and citizens refusing to leave their homes during the occupation of hell town and it's rumored that during this time soldiers had run-ins with serial killers cult members and even mutated creatures it can't be confirmed but it's been said that multiple people went missing both during the army's time there and after they vacated the area in regards to serial killers and criminals the area's famous end of the world road named after its steep drop into the woods was known for being a haven for thieves and killers back in the early settlement days and perhaps it never truly stopped being that there are lots of abandoned buildings in hell town from an old slaughterhouse to a morgue a va hospital and more but as far as colts are concerned there are tons of stories centered around dark-hooded figures chanting strange things out in the woods particularly at night and it seems that a lot of them are also associated with the abandoned church the real church dubbed satan's church often gets confused for the mother of sorrows parish due to the mother of sorrows having the presence of upside down crosses also known as saint peter's crosses which are not satanic and were very prevalent during that old style church architecture mother of sorrows parish is actually still a fully functioning church today located nearby but groups of people who have dared to wander into hell town at night have reported eerie chants and seeing groups of supposed cult members carrying out some kind of ritual within the brick walls of the chapel many have claimed to have seen a red candle light coming from the basement of the old morgue this could be due to squatters which if it was me that's the last place i would choose to live is an abandoned morgue in a ghost town but the candles seemingly go out after being stared at so whatever it is it certainly sounds spooky in regards to mutated creatures there's many conspiracies as to why people were forced to sell their homes and many say it wasn't due to the government wanting to turn the valley into a national park or recreational area there were confirmed reports of a sulfuric smell wafting throughout prior to the government showing up and sealing off the town many think that this was due to illegal chemical dumping happening at the local dump which is certainly plausible crazier theories however speculate that there is some sort of underground pass located beneath hell town perhaps a facility that the government uses for genetic experimentation this correlates with claims of enlarged and deformed creatures encountered throughout the area over the years from half human half half-animal monstrosities to reports of gigantic snakes and if any of them were true it would have to make one ponder as to what could be happening deep beneath the earth of this forgotten place other notable and strange happenings include that of ghostly apparitions at gore orphanage gore orphanage also known as light of hope orphanage was an orphanage built and operated in the early 1900s that mysteriously caught fire and caused the deaths of 172 children and at least four known adults as a result of this horrific incident both before and after hell town was abandoned people often reported strange apparitions and the disembodied sound of children screaming and regardless of if these claims are true or not with a tragic event such as this one it makes one ponder if things such as hauntings were real this could be a case of a ripple like haunting or the dramatic energy of the fateful day's events playing over and over again for all time it would certainly explain the repeated screams being heard in my opinion another tragedy that supposedly took place in the mid-1900s within the area was that of a school bus of children headed to class this school bus crashed and claimed the lives of at least 20 children and one adult and this one like a lot of the others was impossible to dig up information on but there is an abandoned bus in the area as seen here and there have been claims of people seeing a shadow man smoking a cigarette at night within the bus only for him to dissipate after a light source makes contact with him the last legend i wanted to share with you today is that of the ghost house that's said to appear within the woods surrounding hell town this is a dimly lit structure that appears within the foggy distance and if you are able to make it to the door do not go inside because once daybreak hits you can never leave this one certainly is one of the spookier stories to me and who knows if anyone ever did make it inside we wouldn't be able to hear what they found since they more than likely never came back hell town has both some very real and interesting stories surrounding it to say the least i think what happened there to the residents during the legal government seizure of their homes was extremely wrong and sad as far as the legends surrounding the place there are so many that i just picked the best ones that i could find and if you're interested i would definitely suggest looking up the laundry list for yourself all around the mythos surrounding this small stretch of land in the cayuga valley has been incredibly interesting to learn about and as far as i know the majority of main entry points are still closed to this day so if you are nearby i wouldn't recommend going since you'd more than likely be breaking the law.

The following story is a reproduction of an original piece written by mystery achieve and was originally published on YouTube on 12 February 2021.