It is said that any place can have paranormal activity. Often, though these places tend to be graveyards, old homes and battlefields to name a few. Many times, these places have much history and typically involves death. One common site not typically thought of as spooky and with much paranormal activity are playgrounds. And perhaps this is because these places are associated with happiness and life.
In today’s post, we will examine a playground in Alabama that has had lots of paranormal activity over the years. As we will see, there is good reasoning behind why this activity might be happening. The playground is known as Dead’s Children’s playground.
Over the years, this playground has experienced a variety of paranormal activity. It’s said to be most active at night between the hours of 10pm and 3 am. People have reported all types of activity including swings moving by themselves, orbs and strange figures appearing and disappearing as well as strange noises.
The majority of the ghosts appear to be children with some reporting these entities to be playing and then at some point vanishing into thin air.
Still, to understand why this place has so many alleged sightings and strange experiences, we must understand the history of the playground.
The playground itself, oddly is built inside a large cemetery.
The Maple Hill cemetery was built in 1822 and is Alabama’s oldest cemetery. Covering over 100 acres, its estimated to house over 100,000 graves as many unmarked graves are on the site.
In 2007, the cemetery began running out of room and a bill was passed to demolish the existing nearby playground to make room for new gravesites. As the decision to expand the graveyard by destroying the playground was very unpopular, a decision was made to scrap the idea and replace all the equipment in the playground with new equipment. Despite the oddness of a playground being in a cemetery, the locals loved it and didn’t care.
(The Haunted Basin Park Hotel)
The playground itself is a small, simple playground equipment with swings, and a modern jungle gym. It is in a low spot in the graveyard and surrounded by rocks and trees on three sides, making some suggest it feels like you could get trapped.
Still, the question remains as to why so many of the apparitions seen seemingly have been children?
Over the years several theories have popped up regarding who these spirits are and why might they be there.
One is that it is the children that died during the Spanish Flu. Many are buried in the Maple Hill Cemetery right nearby. It’s said these spirits come out and play on the playground. It’s well documented the Huntsville area was hit particularly hard by the Spanish flu, especially children. Some estimates say hundreds of children died from it.
(The Frightening Oakwood Cemetery in South Carolina)
Another theory concerns a serial killer. Although many say this is just a rumor, local legend says a serial killer in the 1960s was abducting children and killing them. Their bodies were disposed nearby in the Limestone caves. Again, no newspaper or documentation appears to support this theory.
One final theory has to do with working conditions for children in the early 1900s.
In Huntsville, Alabama in the early 19th century the city enjoyed a prosperous economy producing cotton. With the economy booming through the century, in the early 1900s workers were needed and children were often employed. It’s estimated around a quarter of the workers in the mills were children. It is said many of them experienced tragic work accidents, sometimes dying.
While this is one of the less popular theories concerning who these spirits are, it’s still one worth mentioning.
It has been said this is the most haunted playground in the world and it’s possible that it is. It’s clear this playground has much history and perhaps restless spirits. Over the years, many paranormal investigators have visited the site and reported strange activity. With over 100,000 souls in the space, including Civil War soldiers, the town of Huntsville probably should have expected strange activity to occur.
(Missouri’s Zombie Road- Read here)
One question concern how much activity occurred in this graveyard before the playground existed. It’s not completely evident although we can imagine that there has been activity for quite some time.
Regardless of what’s been seen or heard, these spirits appear to be harmless, and the people of Huntsville love this playground.
