AkronNewsNow.com | Local News Stories

NOTE: Originally published on 10/22/08:

Sherri Brake-Recco, the owner of the Haunted Heartland Tours, was kind enough to give a creepy tour of the Sisters Century House Restaurant to two AkronScreams reporters.

After a delicious lunch in the old building (constructed in 1870), we were taken down into the basement where Recco says most of the activity takes place.

LISTEN to part of the ghost tour that Recco gave the reporters

The first story involved a tunnel at the back end of the basement that used to run directly under Canal Street and over to a saloon that sat on the corner.

Recco explained that there were a lot of saloons in the town where the trouble started. "People would drink, fights would happen, murders would occur and if you had enough money and you needed to get rid of a body, you would pay off the owner of the saloon and you would drag the body through this tunnel and bring it through the basement and take it back to the crematorium oven."

Then you would pay off the owner of the crematorium.

"If you didn't have a body left behind as evidence, then you couldn't be committed of a crime," Recco says. "So it's like a pioneer CSI."

Currently, you can only walk a couple of feet back into the cold, damp and dark tunnel. It's filled with cobwebs and has a very creepy feeling to it.

As for some of the ghostly sightings, Recco says that a cook's sister claimed to have seen a woman with long hair and a sad face standing in the pantry area.

One waitress was so scared to go in the basement, that Recco said she paid a busboy to go down for her to get ice.

Then there's the Trench-Coat Man that has been seen upstairs. Recco explains him as a shadow figure that people say they see out of the corners of their eyes.

If you're daring enough and are a ghost-hunting enthusiast, stop on out for a bite to eat and keep your eyes peeled -- because you never know what may be watching you!

The Sisters Century House Restaurant is located at 123 South Canal Street in Canal Fulton.

It's literally down the street from several other haunted locations, including Lock 4 and the Warehouse on the Canal (more on this one later).

For all the scariest local attractions, happenings and legends, visit AkronScreams.com.

Images by Ryan Haidet. The second image is the entrance to the tunnel. The picture on the lower-left is of Recco discussing the ghostly woman seen in the pantry area. The image below that is of the restaurant portion of the building. The final image is that of Recco walking around the basement -- with an orb spotted on her left shoulder.