Hemlock Road – Independence, Ohio

From the Creepy Cleveland Archives

Contributed by Steve

Hemlock Rd. in the city of Independence is by far one of the most haunted places in Ohio. It all started back when settlers were coming to Ohio and taking over Indian territory. Legend has it that two settlers were hunting in the woods near what is now Hemlock Rd. when they noticed an Indian girl sitting near the Cuyahoga river in her canoe. The three settlers approached the girl and jumped into the boat and began beating and raping the helpless girl. The boat started down stream, when suddenly the vessel had capsized and all three had died. When the Chief of the tribe had caught word of what had happened to his daughter, he put a curse on that area of the river. Since then many unexplained and strange things have happened on the old road and river.
A portion of Hemlock Rd. was closed about 7 years ago. The only way to get back there now is to walk if one is brave enough. If you walk about half way down the road and go to the right before the bridge, if you are lucky enough you will come across the remains of the old indian burial ground where the Chief rests. Many have said if you listen close enough you can hear him cry out his daughters name.
Another haunting is the Hemlock bridge that once ran over the Cuyahoga river. It is no longer there today for a couple of mysterious reasons. A little over 80 years ago two kids were playing jokes on cars and other motorists driving by at dark. They would climb the tree with the thick branches that hung over the bridge. When cars would pass by they would drop a ghost they had made from sheets and fishing line. At that time the fishing line was a little stronger than the line we use today. They had spotted another car coming down the road, only this one was missing one head light. When the car approached the bridge the ghost was dropped directly on the motorist who was not driving a car with one head light but a motorcycle. The strong fishing line wrapped around his neck and the man instantly lost his head. Did this happen because of the Chief’s curse? The ghost of the man can still be seen today. Town records stated the man died at 11:57 p.m. If you want to see the ghost of the headless man, stand near where the bridge would have been. Make sure to bring a piece of sheet and a small piece of fishing line and throw them off into the river at exactly 11:57p.m. You will then witness a headlight coming over towards you from the other side of the river. Don’t be frightened to run. The light will vanish in the exact spot where he lost his head. Dozens of people have witnessed this, many trying to forget about it just don’t want to talk about it. I myself had seen the ghost and I can honestly say that I will never be returning back to Hemlock Rd. for anything!!

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33 thoughts on “Hemlock Road – Independence, Ohio

  1. Dude.. i lived in independence for 24yrs and was always hiking in those woods…i never once saw anything in that vicinity… the woods on the other hand is rather spooky tho.. 😉 dont get me started on the indian burial ground..

  2. Well, the bridge is still there…That road was never used for traffic of any kind, in fact it there is a just a path used for hiking. The person that wrote the original post is an idiot.

  3. Hemlock Rd used to be open to traffic. It was closed off because there was a deadly crash. There used to be shacks down there and the people worked at the quarry. Never saw ghosts but I know the Native Americans were down there and I've visted the burial grounds many times. Oh and for the guy that commented above me you are talking about pretty bridge not the Stone rd bridge that the original post is talking about. Two diff bridges.

  4. why did they close that road anyways. that use to be my bus route as a kid. it was scary down there. i went back a couple years later to show my wife and the road was closed. who closed and why.?

  5. There were alot of accidents. Some deadly. The city of Independence decided to close it prob about 17yrs ago. It's now owned by the National Park and Hemlock rd is going to be connected to the topath on Canal.

  6. Yeah the bridge over the creek is still there, the bridge that went over the river is gone. The Indian burial ground is a small one and is spooky…

  7. I lived in independence right at the cornee of I think cherry st and hemlock right befor the barricade and was curious areyou alloud to camp down there

  8. I was at the burial ground once about 15 years ago with friends. I went back a few years back and got lost in the woods and could not find it. Cany ANYONE give decent directions how to find it. Thanks!

  9. you drive right down hemlock road til theres a dead end. then you have to get out of the car and hop over the little gate to get down there and just keep walking down the abandoned road soon you'll see a path to the right go there. A lot of kids still go there today including me but everytime i go down there it doesnt feel haunted to me more peaceful.

  10. There was a bridge that used to go over the cuyahoga river many moons ago. I can't quite remember when they tore it down. I remember it being in bad shape and was deteriorating. I have heard this story a long, long time ago when I was a teen. I never knew there was an actual burial ground back there but did hear about the ghost of an Indian on horse back that would be seen riding around by the pond/lake not far from the first bridge as mentioned above. At my old age I can't see walking back there anymore. Any pictures would be nice if someone is brave enough to walk down Hemlock Rd.

  11. I Grew up on the bottom of Hemlock Road and never seen anything remotely supernatural down there without the help from hallucigenics.

  12. I live in the house that is the last one on the street before the road ends. I wake up every morning and look at the top of the path that decends down towards the river. I have heard several things that are spooky but can be explained with science. I have however seen several things in the woods that I cant discribe or explain. A few years ago I cam home from working nights at around 4-5 AM. I was trying to find my keys for the front door when across the street, just a few feet into the woods I could hear somthing walking fast. I heard the branches breaking under its feet and a slight grunt with the cadence of its step. I was freaked out and went inside and locked the door!!!!

  13. I live in the house that is the last one on the street before the road ends. I wake up every morning and look at the top of the path that decends down towards the river. I have heard several things that are spooky but can be explained with science. I have however seen several things in the woods that I cant discribe or explain. A few years ago I cam home from working nights at around 4-5 AM. I was trying to find my keys for the front door when across the street, just a few feet into the woods I could hear somthing walking fast. I heard the branches breaking under its feet and a slight grunt with the cadence of its step. I was freaked out and went inside and locked the door!!!!

  14. In the last year ive been down hemlock riad at least 20 to 30 times on bike i frequent the area and sit to eat or explore the woods i even started my relationship of almost 9 months on the hill that overlooks the quary i find the place peaceful even harmonious ive never seen or witnessed anything supernatural from my time down there just the occasional hiker or camping "smokers" that frequent the road i even plan to camp in some of the more secluded spots down there but unless i see something unexplained or supernatural i dont believe hemlock is haunted.

  15. I was down there all afternoon yesterday and into the evening. Hiking and relaxing. Nothing spooky to report. I've lived in the area my entire life up until a few yrs back but we still venture down there because it's incredibly peaceful.

  16. I lived on Hillside Road for most of my life which is over 30 years ourWoods connected straight to the hemlock area I used to ride my dirt bikes down there By the Beaver Dam and then I go by the pit Almost every day when I was a kid 20 something years ago I never saw Any ghosts or had any kind of Paranormal Activity anywhere from the river to pretty Bridge Or on Hemlock Road But one time in my Woods My dirt bike died Everything became suddenly dead quiet And a static feeling charged the air, Followed by a cold Misty feeling then i was surrounded by footsteps walking in circles Around me and my bike Going faster and faster and fasterIt almost sounded like there was about 5 people walking around me too sounds ridiculous but I could have swore I heard chantingI kicked the bike it startedI tore ass out of my wood so fast .if you walk around back Where my old Woods were And around that area You can still see old fire pit rings that look like they're over a hundred years old They were either fire pit rings or some kind of markings for Graves I'm not sure And I was never able to find out Oh yeah my house Was haunted to that was pretty cool I made a Believer out of a lot of Skeptics over there I wonder how the new people are doing with the house LOLI made a believer write a letter skeptics over there I wonder how the new people are doing with the house Lol !I LolI I pissed off the Indian Spirits back there By tearing up the land with my bike.That's what I got out of it anyways

  17. A friend showed me the Indian burial years back, I couldn't find it on my own if I tried. I had brought a camera and have pictures somewhere, would it be ok if I posted some? We also had the feeling like there were people walking around us but nobody was there. Crazy….

  18. I can take you to the indian burial grounds. Now would be a good time because the quarry has been turned over to national park.

  19. I was just there tonight with a friend looking for the burial mound. I am not sure we ever found it but what we did find was a large open field up a hill with the city of Maple Heights and Valley View in the distance If this is the burial mound please let me know. Anyway Just before sunset we set foot in this field and heard a most unnerving noise that sounded like heavy breathing or panting there was no other noises or any animal visible in the field so me and my friend backed off and turned around and walked back when we reached the tree line the noise just stopped suddenly and we cautiously walked back too my vehicle in the darkness.

  20. First I have heard about this and I have lived here for almost 30 years. My kids have been all over those woods and have camped out back there. I just walked old Hemlock road today. They are constructing a new trail. I would just love to ride my dirt bike or mini bike on it right now but would surely get caught.

  21. Lol I managed to get my Jeep up through Stone road then up into the part of Hemlock rd that they are currently working on. They have completed a new bridge reconnecting Canal road's side of Stone road, back to the quarry part of Stone road. They must be planning to reopen the road to traffic and it looks like they're building a little park on the lower level up by the houses on Hemlock rd. I recall some news article in 2018 saying they are making a nature trail or something. Its good to see they're reconnecting the old roads, I would've loved to see that old bridge and I wonder when they took it down.

  22. I live a street over and was wondering why the road was ever closed. I'm gonna go investigate now��

  23. After all these years we FINALLY found the Indian Burial ground!!!! FANTASTIC!!! Someone HAS to maintain it and and take care of it because nature hasn't consumed it, you know exactly what you're looking at…. it's probably the scariest place I've ever been

  24. Please let us know where the trail to the indian burial ground begins in relation to the new paved trail. Does it start near the abandoned house?

  25. It's by the quarry in the woods up on the hill and is now gated in. Unless you can hop fences you're not going to see it

  26. I know a house on Hemlock has had some really weird things happening that if I had not been at the house and witness d it I would not believer. But i was and it was very scary yet kind of cool.
    There is a national park there now. So glad the old haydite was turned over to the park. Really a beautiful area. I have seen where the old road was and walked from Hemlock to stone but never at night. I have gone early morning but wouldn't do it now. Especially with the abandon quarry and the buildings that remain.

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