Frankenstein's Castle — Hills and Dales MetroPark - X-UMED | Dark History, Paranormal & Ohio Folklore

LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 6, 2026

Kettering

Ohio

Frankenstein’s Castle

Hills and Dales MetroPark

Hidden among the trees at Hills & Dales MetroPark is a 56-foot stone lookout tower known locally as Frankenstein’s Castle, the Witch’s Tower, or Patterson’s Castle. Its eerie reputation grew after a real 1967 tragedy in which 16-year-old Peggy Ann Harmeson was killed by lightning while sheltering inside with a teenage companion who survived with serious burns. Stories later transformed the tower into a haunted landmark, complete with ghostly figures, screams, and supposed human silhouettes burned into its stone walls.

OVERVIEW

None

QUICK FACTS

REGION

Southwest

ERA

1900–1929, 1930–1949, 1950–1969, 1970–1989, 1990–2009, 2010–Present, Multiple Eras

ENVIRONMENT

Building

STORY / LEGEND

Local folklore says the tower is haunted by the aftermath of the 1967 lightning strike. Some versions claim that images or silhouettes of the victims were burned into the interior walls and continued to reappear even after attempts were made to cover them.

Other stories describe whispers, screams, apparitions, or a mysterious woman dressed in black near the tower. A version recorded in Chris Woodyard’s Haunted Ohio III and discussed by Haunted Ohio Books says blackened silhouettes of two dead teenagers can appear when lightning flashes around the tower.

That version contains one major distortion: two teenagers were not killed. Contemporary reporting cited by Dayton Local identifies Peggy Ann Harmeson as the sole fatality; her companion survived with serious burns.

ORIGIN / STORY DEVELOPMENT

The tower’s ominous nicknames and ghost stories developed over decades. It has been called Patterson’s Castle, the Witch’s Tower, and Frankenstein’s Castle, with different generations of Dayton-area residents favoring different names.

The real 1967 lightning death gave later stories a historical anchor. Once the tower was closed, its sealed entrance, isolated setting, and association with a teenage death helped turn an observation tower into an urban-legend destination.

By the 1990s, published Ohio ghost collections were repeating supernatural versions of the tragedy. The folklore increasingly blurred the documented death of Peggy Harmeson with claims of multiple fatalities, burned human images, and recurring apparitions.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

According to research summarized by Dayton Local, the tower was built in 1940 and completed in 1941 by the National Youth Administration, a New Deal-era program that provided work and training for young people. Stone salvaged from condemned buildings was used to construct the approximately 56-foot lookout tower.

On May 17, 1967, 16-year-old Bellbrook High School student Peggy Ann Harmeson and 17-year-old Ronald Kevin Stevens took shelter inside during a severe electrical storm. Contemporary reporting states that lightning apparently struck the tower. Harmeson was found dead on the stairs, while Stevens survived with serious burns to his face and chest.

The tragedy is frequently misdated or embellished in later retellings. Dayton Local traced the event to contemporary reporting in the Xenia Daily Gazette, confirming Harmeson’s identity, the date, and that only one teenager died.

The tower was subsequently closed and is now permanently sealed. Its real history is therefore a Depression-era public works project followed decades later by a fatal accident—not a castle, laboratory, or structure connected to Frankenstein.

REPORTED EXPERIENCES

Later visitors and local storytellers have reported whispers, muffled screams, shadowy figures, and a woman in black around the tower. Other accounts claim dark human-shaped marks could once be seen on the interior walls.

These reports are part of the tower’s haunting tradition, but no attributable first-hand paranormal account located for this entry provides evidence establishing a supernatural cause. The documented 1967 lightning strike remains the factual event underlying most versions of the haunting.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

One of the most persistent errors says two teenagers were electrocuted and killed inside the tower. Contemporary reporting summarized by Dayton Local establishes that Peggy Ann Harmeson died while Ronald Kevin Stevens survived.

The tower’s origin is also frequently misreported. Older stories sometimes attribute it to NCR founder John H. Patterson or to an earlier park design, but the better-supported history dates construction to 1940–1941 under the National Youth Administration.

Even its name varies. Frankenstein’s Castle, Witch’s Tower, Patterson Tower, Patterson’s Castle, and Stone Tower have all been used for the same structure.

MORBID FACTS

The legend exaggerates the death toll, but the real event was horrific enough.

On May 17, 1967, lightning struck while Peggy Ann Harmeson and Ronald Kevin Stevens sheltered inside the stone tower. Dayton Local reports that 16-year-old Peggy was killed instantly, while Stevens survived with serious burns. The fatal accident became the foundation for decades of ghost stories.

WHAT WE CAN VERIFY

CONFIRMED: The stone lookout tower at Hills & Dales was built in 1940–1941 by the National Youth Administration.

CONFIRMED: The approximately 56-foot tower was constructed using stone salvaged from condemned buildings.

CONFIRMED: On May 17, 1967, Bellbrook teenagers Peggy Ann Harmeson and Ronald Kevin Stevens took shelter inside the tower during a severe thunderstorm.

CONFIRMED: Peggy Ann Harmeson, age 16, died in the lightning incident.

CONFIRMED: Ronald Kevin Stevens survived but suffered serious burns.

IMPORTANT: Later legends sometimes claim two teenagers died in the tower; contemporary reporting confirms only one fatality.

CONFIRMED: The tower was closed after the 1967 tragedy and is now permanently sealed to entry.

DOCUMENTED FOLKLORE: Stories claim ghostly figures, whispers, screams, a woman in black, or human-shaped scorch marks appear around or inside the tower.

UNVERIFIED: No verified evidence establishes that human silhouettes were permanently burned into the tower walls or that paranormal activity occurs there.

IMPORTANT: The names Frankenstein's Castle, Witch's Tower, Patterson Tower, and Patterson's Castle are local nicknames for the same lookout structure.

SOURCES

Dayton Local — The story behind Frankenstein’s Castle at Hills & Dales
Haunted Ohio Books — The Tower / Frankenstein’s Castle folklore

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