The Dead Children's Playground

Hi, I'm Holly. And I'm Hailey. Welcome to Mountain Mysteries, Tales from Appalachia. Welcome back everybody.

We are hanging in there. Barely. We're here. We're here.

We are living the dream. You know, I feel like an old woman. Like my body hurts a lot. Same.

Yeah, like I don't know what it is. I feel like I hit 40 and like I really realize like dang my body hurts and you don't like bounce back as fast as you used to. Like so my friends who are you know in their 40s. We talk about this a lot of like for example, I moved a large piece of furniture by myself into my house and like downstairs and all the kind of thing, right?

Normally I would have done this and maybe yeah like maybe it hurt for like you know a couple hours or day and I've been gone. I think oh I'm fine. I'm young. I'm I'm barrel.

But now like I hurt for days and I didn't realize the way I was carrying this chair. I had my shoulders up like this, you know kind of like my shoulders up towards my ears carrying this thing. And so for days I was like why am I sure what I've heard so bad? Like why do my shoulder blades feel like they're on fire?

And oh it's been days you know and finally just realized holy hell this is what happens when you get home. I feel like I started that process at 25. But there is this okay I heard about this on the internet so you know take a photo of it apparently you can do this test to see what your biological age is versus your chronological age. I'm like 85.

I was gonna say I have a feeling that you will age higher than your grandmother. Probably. I think so. What's the biggest?

I don't get some like what is your biological age test. We're gonna have to Google this and maybe it's something we can afford. I don't know. People actually score my number.

Yeah. I feel like if your grandmother took it she was way younger. Probably. Yeah.

Yeah. I feel like if I took it I would probably be like my age. And I'd be 87. You would probably be a little older.

I don't think you would be that. You would know. I think you probably be in your fifties. Okay.

I mean every time I breathe something cracks. You are pretty cracky. I've noticed that. Yeah.

But I always attribute that to you have been a dancer. You know. Yeah. I think that's part of it.

I think my body's just like very broken down. Yeah. That's your body saying please don't. Please don't anymore.

Just sit here. Just rest. Well I have been going to the gym. I was gonna ask.

How's that been going? It's been good. I was gonna go three days this week and then I got COVID. That happens.

Yeah. So I went two days. You inspired me actually. There's been three weeks in a row.

I went nearly every day. Wow. Yeah. I've only been going three days a week.

Like having a day in between. Like waiting for the kids to go to the gym. Yeah. So I've heard you're not supposed to do weights.

Every day. Yeah. Yeah. So it's true.

Look at you all fit. Get ready for that school year. You're gonna come. I'm sure those kids know who's boss.

There are a lot of them are taller than I am. Which is scary because I'm about eight. It's a little fresh and then come up and they're like. I'm like okay.

Okay. Wow. That's scary. Yeah.

But then maybe you can start with steroids and you can really intimidate. Yeah. Maybe. It's gonna be fun.

It's all like you know, bulked out, you know. Yeah. Just you know. I'm now coaching with the ball team.

It's a. Yeah. Scream and drockle. I don't know.

I don't know. Just kidding. Just kidding. You're like screaming things.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean could be. Yeah.

I mean never know. Okay. On that side note. Let's talk about our story today, shall we?

Let's do it. This one's called the dead children's playground. Yeah. You really know what's right up my alley.

Oh yeah. I thought you would really like this one. She would. So today we're traveling to Huntsville, Alabama to the Mabel Hills Cemetery.

And I would really like it. Yeah. A few times my good friend, Juan Megan lives in Alabama. Oh, I used to go when I was in late high school and in college we used to dance at a festival in Auburn, Alabama.

We called it bluegrass on the plains. Fun. And it was really cool. I got to dance for like huge names and bluegrass there and dance for Ricky Skags.

Oh. It was like the wildest experience ever because they do like this. Oh, it was so nice. It was incredibly nice.

We were like at the night, they took a big jam session at night where it's like all the musicians who played that day come together and just like have a session and the dancers are usually there because they usually invite the dancers out once or twice. And we danced once and Ricky Skags came on and we're like, okay, we'll probably dance again because people are just going to hear him. We're just fine with us because we were like, you know, we'll sit here and listen to him because he's in a critical position. Yeah.

And like, we had all taken our clogging shoes off. And all of a sudden like an aid runs back like a manager or whatever. I was like, Ricky Skags wants the cloggers. Yeah.

Like, oh my God. Like my heart stopped. I've never put my shoes on so fast. I like ran out there because like that's such like such an honor to get to dance for somebody like that huge.

It was very cool. There's a lot of really big names there, but he was like. You know, and I always think about when you like meet someone who's really famous or like you always hope that they live up to like the hype and the expectation and like they're actually nice. So it's like really to hear how kind he was and you know what I mean?

Like I think it adds to the experience. Oh yeah. Like he like took pictures with all of us and like came back to we had like this hospitality house that we all like went and ate meals in. Like he came and ate meals with us and just like very down to earth very cool.

And now there was, I won't say her name, but there was a very big artist, female artist who I'd always really liked. And I met her and she was not as nice. You can tell me what was that. I mean, she was nice enough.

Like she like was cord jol and was like, hi nice to meet you kind of thing. And like she didn't like go out of her way to interact with us or like she didn't come to the house to eat her band. Like the members of her band did and they were awesome. We love them.

We had a great time with them, but she just was like stayed in our trailer and more standoffish little more standoffish, which like whatever. I mean, so before we start a couple of years ago, many, many years by this point, I worked with a lady whose son was in a band, a famous band that was nominated for a Grammy. So she got to go to the Grammy, like after the Grammy is the Grammy after party and I was like, Oh my gosh, you got to tell me everything. So she got back and she she starts talking and she tells me about her experience and I was like, so who did you?

You know, who was it? You know, who was it? All nice. And she was like, well, you know, I met some country singers and I was like, Oh, I was like where they knife and again, I'm not going to say names, but there was a female country singer that she said, quote, was the a rudest human being she'd ever met in her life.

This person apparently had done like an interview and was like super on for the interview and all these things. And then when the camera cut off, this woman was like, get out of my way and get me this. It was like super nasty. And she couldn't believe it.

And she had looked up to this person really liked this person. So she cried like, go introduce yourself. And the person was like, you think I have time for you? And I was like, just nasty.

Meanwhile, she was like telling me about some of the other folks that she met, one of whom was a rapper whom she said was just absolutely delightful. And the other I am going to name drop here because I guess I can because of the good thing was she said, I met that little Justin Bieber and he was just the kindest little guy I'd ever met. It's so talented. And he opened the door for me and like, she was just really like, I'm really like, I have a lot, you know, so I always had to stuck in my mind, you know, as he has kind of gone through his ups and downs of like how kind he was.

So, you know, that always stays with me. But yeah, it's always fascinating to know because I've met the leveraging to either very kind or really nasty. Yeah. Yeah.

And like I get the like, you know, if they're going somewhere or like doing something, you don't want to be the person that like tries to stop them and if they're like, you know, sorry, no pictures right now or like what? Like that's fine. But like when you're just rude and mean for no reason, just because you're famous, that's like, even if I'm certain it's like even being an audience member at a concert, like, you know, how they interact with you, you know, it was really important. You have some who are like, Oh, come, come, they're like, everybody like, you know, let's sing this together.

Like, let's be a part of something. Yeah. But others who are just like, um, excuse me, I'm here to sing a song because it's all about me. So you guys just need to shut up and be quiet.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's fun. It's fun. Anyway, that's who are going to be able to go to the table of cemetery, but we're not going to be focusing on the cemetery for six, but rather the grounds known as the dead children's playground. Is there a playground there?

Yes. There is a playground. Yes, it does exist. So worry they're looking to know there is.

So just briefly, the maple hill cemetery was established in 1822 after the city of Huntsville purchased two acres of land from a gentleman by the name of a LeRoy Po, why Mr. Po, it had been one of the earliest settlers of Huntsville. Maple Hill is one of the oldest functioning cemeteries in Alabama, then the banning now 100 acres and housing over 80,000 graves. So it's huge.

Yeah. And like I said, it's a dream. So people are still actively being buried there. And the cemetery on its own is pretty cool and creepy.

Do in large part two is age, but the other piece of the cemetery that might be even creepier is the dead children's playground. This is the area of the cemetery that was initially created to be like a play area for children whose relatives were like visiting the graves of loathways. So like I think of it as you're with your child and they're like, I'm going to the graveyard. I don't want to go visit grandma, you know, because they're kids and they don't really get it, you know?

And so you're there in front of the tombstone trying to say, you know, mom, I'm going to shoot here some flowers, you know, and I hope you're okay up there or down there, like wherever you may end up. And your child is like, go tired. I'm hungry. I'm going to be here.

I'm going to be grand anyway. You know, so that's when you're like, I'm trying to talk to my children, mom, you know, so you would have this playground that you would be able to say, Hey, little John, hey, sport, why don't you go over to the playground? All right, mom, I'm on my talks to grandma. Okay.

So at least it would keep them occupied. So essentially, this is why the playground was built, right? Which actually, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it's not about it.

That is not about idea. So the playground has a swing set and a jungle gym and basically looks like you're running the middle play yard. But this playground is anything but normal. I mean, how can it be?

It's in the cemetery. Yeah, it's like my jam, though. I could see you just go like climbing that jungle gym. That's, yeah.

I used to love when I was a kid. You still love it, right? I love a cemetery. Yeah.

They actually have like a nice walking path that a lot of folks walk through in a cemetery in the city I live in. But when it comes to the big one in my town, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, what's wrong? The big one in my town kind of makes like a figure eight almost. Like I walk my dog up there a bunch.

And it's not, I love reading the names and like, you know, this date to the stage and, you know, just kind of thinking about, gosh, I wonder who that person was and what they did. Yeah. Yeah. So this playground is surrounded by limestone caves that make it appear very dark and very shadow.

So there's a real uneasy vibe about this playground anyway. So just a start is already kind of set up for failure in that way. Now, according to legend, the playground got its name after hundreds of children died due to the outbreak of the Spanish blue pandemic in 1980. Yeah, that was a bad one.

Yeah. It was these children were buried in Maple Hill Quats that joined the playground area. I mean, seems appropriate. Like, what should we put the children?

Maybe near the playground. That makes sense. Sure. Children and adults alike died during the pandemic, which span worldwide.

It has been estimated that the Spanish blue killed around 50 million people. That's crazy. Yeah. So the history of Huntsville pretty hard with thousands who became ill.

Hospital beds were filled with those desperate for medical care. Doctors and nurses worked around the clock to help their patients. And at this time, there were folks who chose to stay home or had to due to the hospital's kind of reaching capacity with their beds. So they couldn't go anywhere.

So doctors started making house calls and would come in to take care of them. And they ended up putting large quarantine signs on the doors. But due to these sick individuals staying in their home, family members who live with them were infected with the disease as well and quickly spread. So that's the point where the flu was essentially wiping out entire families at this point.

So soon, bodies were just being stacked on top of each other on these horse-drawn wagons that took these people to the morgue. So I'm thinking, like, why don't you do that? Have you seen my iPhone? Yeah.

That's why I'm thinking. Like, you know, I'm dead. I could know they're just like, you know, like it sounds so horrible. Yeah.

So in order to prevent the spread of the flu, parents would caution their children not to leave the windows open. They would say, you know, make sure and close the windows. And they created a cute little ditty to help their children remember to close those windows and it goes a little something like this. And I had a bird.

Its name was Enza. I opened the window and in flew Windsor. Yes. What a beautiful little ditty that was.

And so the children would remember, I will die unless I close this window. So they would close the window. Oh my gosh. What a special little ditty.

So according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, the flu made its way to Huntsville on September 25th, 1918. Within 10 days, it had spread to half the city. Well, the Alabama Department of Health quoted on October 5th in the Birmingham news said, they reported cases of the Spanish influenza having increased to more than 1100 in Huntsville. According to Dr.

C.A. Grote Health Officer of the Madison County area, there have been an additional 300 cases and seven deaths in the past 24 hours. So I mean, this is just taken out people left and right. And a few days of this report, the governor ordered the closure of all public schools, churches, basically anywhere that citizens would go.

Sounds familiar. Yeah. Exactly right. As I'm sitting here with active COVID.

Listen, I was devastated when my good will close. I'm just going to say it. And there was a sign that said possibly reopening in May, we'll see. I remember that we would drive by.

I was like, oh, yeah. Yeah. So don't matter. I know.

I'm like, I have it. So yeah, I mean, we can definitely relate. We understand. I think that's something before COVID that we would have been like, oh my gosh.

Wow. Everything. We can imagine. Yeah.

Hope really changed the way we saw a lot of things and experience, you know? So this flu was pretty much taken down anyone it came in contact with. And you have to remember that like, PPE such as like masks, gloves, gowns weren't easy come by or readily available as they are now. And even now, like during the high to COVID, there were gloves to be had, you know, like there weren't these things that we needed.

And they're like, we're going to get a mask. We don't have this. We don't have that. Like it's very scary.

And so I was like working in healthcare during COVID. I had to reuse my, they fitted me with my big N95 mask and I had, they gave me my masking my paper bag and I said, good luck. I remember you would take your clothes off outside your house. Remember and you remember in a bag.

I remember having that conversation with you and you're like, well, I stripped out doors and put it in a bag and, you know, like all the things. All the things like early COVID that we had to do. And it was like, I would like look over at my neighbor's house and just hope he was inside. But I was like, I mean, I don't care.

I'm just like stripping down. Take it on a bag. And then we can underwear or would you leave those on? You know, I don't really remember.

I don't know what we talked about that. I don't remember. I mean, it only like, we only did that for like a month or so. Yeah.

And that's just because I was like with patients. Yeah. Yeah. You were definitely, you know, on the front lines there.

Yeah. I was locked at home with a newborn baby, terrified to go out thinking my baby will die. Yeah. But how is it eating everything inside?

Because, you know, that's what we do. COVID. Thanks to COVID. I gained like 40 pounds.

But yeah, there was so much fear of like who, and we talked about this, like who you came in contact with, and oh my gosh, I'm gonna get tested, and all these things was very, very scary. And by the 13th of October in 1918, less than a month after the flu first infected the city, the news was reporting that only one pharmacist and one doctor in the entire city remained uninfected. Yeah, like if it hit everybody. And I mean, again, how they're talking about like if they didn't have proper PPE, like your healthcare professionals are going to be hit with it because they're on the front lines.

I know they're not taking their clothes off in the front yard. Right. And bagging them. Bagging them up.

So the newspapers stated quote, a desperate situation exists in Huntsville, growing out of the Spanish influenza epidemic. All drugist positions and prescription clerks, except for one, have been stricken with the disease. And a distressing appeal reached Montgomery last night in telegrams for immediate help for the stricken city. End quote.

Well, so yeah, it's believed that the Spanish influenza killed hundreds of children, though there aren't any real accurate numbers out there to report how many. So we've got this mass amount of kiddos who died due to this horrific pandemic, who are buried right near this playground. And I think we're just setting ourselves up for hunting. Oh, for sure.

It would be an opportunity if not. Yeah. So I'm on fun, you know? So those who have gone to the playground state that they see the swings moving swiftly without anyone on them.

Yeah. They see orbs and spectral figures. Fine. Yeah.

I know that one. Some local children have reported going to play on the swings only to find another child in old and day clothing swinging next to them. They think, oh, we're a friend. So, you know, they look away and then look back and the friend has disappeared, but the swing is still swinging.

Oh, yeah. And there's, of course, that ee ee sound of the swing. That goes, yeah. Some report hearing children's cries.

Some report hearing laughter. And others hear the sound of children running. Yeah, so like footsteps. OK.

There are a lot more sightings and hearing ghostly noises at night. I mean, it's a cemetery. So I would think that at night really adds to the crevice. Yeah.

For sure. Would you look at a cemetery at night or are you like? Yeah. Yeah.

Of course. Why not? Sure. Some historians believe that paranormal activity belongs solely to the children who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Not epidemic. Not the epidemic. No, the pandemic. The pandemic.

That's where everybody approached the world. It was really peppy. Oh, for a pandemic. So others actually believe that the ghosts are those children who were abducted and killed in the 1960s.

Yeah, apparently there was a mass abduction of children during this time period who ended up later being killed and their bodies were found near the playground. How do we got to know about this? There is a story we need to do on this. I don't know.

I'm like, well, it's this amazing photos of the playground often showcase forms. Yeah. So those who visited reported feeling like they were being watched and they felt like their hair was standing on end. Like they got that vibe.

Like, OK, somebody's here. Yeah. Currently, the playground is operated by the city of Huntsville's parks and recreational department, the original playground and its equipment sat there for decades. And it was kind of getting rusty and little gross and all those things.

Well, in 2007, it was ordered to be removed to make room for the expansion of the cemetery. So got to put in more graves. So let's do this. Like, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Those children. But we got to put more dead bodies here. So we got to beat it.

We don't know about children reacting to that. I don't know. I don't want to leave. This is my playground.

Outraged, citizens in the community demanded that the park be returned. I mean, and rightfully so. I feel like this is these children. Why do the children get the bad end of the stick?

Like, that's not fair. So the city responded with a new playground that continues to stand there today. So new equipment for those children to play on. Nice.

Which just sounds appropriate. So that is the story of the dead children's playground. That is crazy. I think we should go.

Same. Let's do it. I'm not going to swings. Are you going to go at night?

Sure. OK. Let me know how it goes. Are we in the hotel?

I'll be in the hotel. I'll go in the day with you if you hold my hand. But I'll probably be in the hotel. Just let me know.

Hope you come back. Maybe bring the dog. I don't know if she'd be much else. She'd be too scared.

So yeah, I'll be in the hotel keeping the TV on for you. And you just let me know what happens. Tax me. Hey, I'm back in the car.

Guess what I saw? Another dead kid. That'd be great. Yeah.

I made a good friend. His name is Timmy. He was killed in 1918 by flu. He's going back to me.

I told him I had COVID. That's pretty scared the hell out of me. It was great. Sounds fun.

Sounds like a good blast. It does. It'll be. Can't wait for y'all to come.

I can't wait. So if you've been there before and you want to share your stories, Kaylee, will you tell us how they can do so? We sure will. Sure will.

You can. Sorry, my COVID brain is whoo. If you would like, you can send us an email at mountainestories.appalachian at gmail.com. Find us on our Facebook, not mysteries tales from Appalachia or Instagram, not mysteries.

Not Appalachia. And check us out on patreon.com. You do it. Good job.

All right. So in honor of the dead children to play ground in the, you know, Maple Hill, I want to say a big shout out to Huntsville, Alabama. So thank you, Huntsville. I have seen listeners from there as well.

So yeah. Thanks, Alabama. All right. Will you start with us?

Thank you, Kaylee. I hope you feel better. Thanks. And we'll see you next time.

Bye. Bye.