Cleveland: The Flat Iron

The Flat Iron first served the
"Irish Ghetto" located along
the west bank.

The Flat Iron Café sits in the heart of the renovated Cleveland Flats area. It is northeast Ohio’s oldest Irish pub.

This cafe first opened in 1910. Its cliental were the Irish community that lived and worked along the Cuyahoga River.

Initially, the first floor in this building was a blacksmith’s shop, and most likely this is where the café got its name--Flat Iron. The second floor was used as lodging for sailors and longshoremen that worked on the various lakes.

Bending a flat iron.

This building opened its doors in the late 1800s. It originally had four stories, but a fire took the top two floors.

One legend states, “a lady of the evening” was smoking a cigarette on the 4^th floor when she fell asleep. Her cigarette started the fire, and she burned to death.

The Flat Iron Café still serves locals and tourists traditional Irish fare. They also present lively music on Fridays.

But many visit the pub for another reason--it is haunted.

A Blood-Curdling Scream

Irene is the name of the prostitute that caused the fire. Her spirit is believed to linger in the building.

Irene is heard occasionally. She lets out a chillin' scream. The manager at the pub listened to this blood-curdling sound recently as she worked upstairs.

When she went downstairs to investigate all she discovered was a barmaid sweeping.

A group that toured the building encountered Irene. One member of this group announced as they walked up the stairs, that she was “not feeling well.” The guide asked someone to take her hand.

She then announced someone was holding her hand, but no one was next to her. Another tourist snapped a photograph.

In this picture is a skeletal hand covering her hand--in a comforting gesture.

Dimes

Several Irish families over the years have owned this pub. When the latest owners took over, they were warned about the ghostly activity.

One staff member, who is often in the pub alone at night cleaning up has had several strange encounters.

He states when he is in the bar area, he often hears loud bangs coming from the kitchen. When he enters this room, he finds items strewn across the floor.

Another strange story about this pub involves dimes.

Piles of dimes are found around the pub. They are found on the counter, lying on the jukebox and on the restroom floors.

What is unusual is when they are found no other change--nickels, quarters and pennies are found with them.

At the end of every month, the staff has a pile of at least 40 dimes.

1943 Train Wreck: The Death Car

In August of 1943, an engineer at the controls of a Lackawanna train out of Cleveland, Ohio was traveling along an upstate New York line. He was twenty minutes late as he hit a bend going 70 miles an hour--this is when he saw another locomotive pulling onto the track.

1943 Wayland Wreck

The two trains collided.

An engineer and others in the Wayland rail yard thought the Lackawanna train had already passed through when they pulled out on the track.

More than 171 people died or were injured when these two trains collided. Those who did not die from the impact were killed when one passenger car connected to the Lackawanna locomotive turned over--steam then spewed into this car taking more lives.

This passenger car in 2013 was at the old unused Baltimore and Ohio train roundhouse getting a fresh coat of paint. The Midwest Railway Preservation Society uses this old roundhouse in Cleveland Flats to restore old train cars to sell them.

A fresh coat of paint

While this passenger car was at this yard being renovated, many people connected to this society began to believe it was haunted. In fact, the volunteers at this yard dubbed it--the ”Death Car.”

One volunteer, Charlie Sedgley who works for the society restoring cars believes he encountered at least seventeen separate ghosts in this wrecked passenger car.

The society gives tours of the old train cars they restore. A trustee of the organization, Steve Karpos was leading one of these tours when he led his group into the Death Car.

Inside Death Car

As he spoke a female member of his tour group interrupted him to ask why he didn’t let the other man behind him talk. Confused, Karpos didn’t know who she was referring to. She then asked about the “man dressed in the funny suit.”

Karpos recalls that “Everyone else was saying there was a ghost in the car.” When the tour exited the Death Car, several members saw, “a ghost sitting on the roof with his legs hanging over the side.”

The activity became so pronounced that the society decided to let several professional paranormal groups investigate. One group recorded some unusual sounds coming from the Death Car.

The volunteers at the old train yard took this activity in stride. Most felt that if the passenger car was indeed haunted by the victims of the 1943 wreck-- their ghosts were more than welcome.

This society today no longer owns the restored Death Car--they found an interested buyer.