Breaking News
Local News

Hidden Marietta: combining history with the supernatural

By Brett Dunlap 5 min read

Hidden Marietta is helping people find the history of the local area.

The Hidden Marietta Tour Co., based out of the Anchorage, is providing the history of the Mid-Ohio Valley to locals and visitors alike with a bit of the supernatural added in.

The company operates historic tours, ghost tours and paranormal investigations in the Marietta and Parkersburg areas. It does Ghost Trek Tours in downtown Marietta along Front Street, Putnam Street, Harmar Village and more. It also does tours on Blennerhassett Island and at the Blennerhassett Museum in Parkersburg.

"We concentrate mainly on the history of the area we are walking with a little bit of the lore and stories people have of things happening, some of the different tragedies that have happened, crimes and more,'' said Hidden Marietta co-owner Karita Miller. "We like to do them at night when it is spooky."

The company also operates a couple of shops, based at the Anchorage in Marietta.

Hidden Marietta was founded in 2008 and was sold to Jessica Wielitzka in 2015. In addition to her, there are three other co-owners, including Miller, Melisa Farris and Megan Keller. This year is the second year the company has had year-round events with the busiest season going from May until early November with a number of events planned.

In keeping with more historical aspects the company has specialty tours which are done occasionally including a Fire and Flood Tour in downtown Marietta, talking about fires and floods in the area and what happened as a result. It also does an Earthworks tour. There are also tours featuring the upstairs of many local businesses, including information on when it was built and different things that have happened in a number of buildings.

The Blennerhassett Island Tour is really popular, she said. They do an overnight event on the island where participants can investigate the island and don't leave until the following morning.

Miller said the Ghost Trek Tours continually evolve over time as new stories are discovered as many locals have provided details about locations the guides might not have known.

"All of our guides have their own pieces they like to do," Miller said. "We have this huge script and no one is going to be able to remember all of it.

"Every time you take it with a different guide you are going to get different stories."

Many of the tours are around an hour and a half. From May to November they have averaged 30-40 people a day for their various activities and special events can see 80-90 people. The Ghost Trek Tours are around 20 people. If there are more they will do a second tour.

The company does tours of the historic Anchorage in Marietta. "There is a whole lot of history surrounding this building, the town of Marietta and the residents of this building with a little bit of spooky stuff mixed in," Miller said.

The company has Flashlight Tour regularly on Fridays throughout the busy season at the Anchorage. They shut off everything and people explore the house with flashlights.

"That is our spookiest experience here," Miller said, adding they highlight the Victorian superstitions and traditions surrounding death.

"It is one of our favorites," she added.

The Anchorage has also hosted paranormal investigations for around 20 people at a time. People can bring their own equipment or use some of the available equipment and walk through the house late at night. There are also private events, featuring people who have YouTube channels who stream their investigations at the historical home.

"Our main focus is the history," Miller said. "We focus on the history a lot because our area is so full of it. We are all history buffs. That is what we love the most, focusing on that.

"We find many people like the spookier or true crime aspects of the history. You can't really have one without the other. It helps make the history more interesting."

If someone is going to conduct a paranormal investigation, they have to know the history of the location. The history helps connect it. Miller said what they do is called "edutainment" where they want to educate and entertain as well.

The events have brought people in from all over the country, including people from Texas who came to the area specifically for the overnight event on Blennerhassett Island. They have also had people passing through the area looking for something to do and have found them and their events. Miller said they usually get more tourists from outside the area than they do locals, but they do have some locals who regularly participate in many of their events.

Hidden Marietta goes to expos and shows to help promote the area. There will be a Paranormal Expo from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 6 at the Washington County Fairgrounds with over 70 vendors and six speakers scheduled to appear.

A portion of every tour done at the Anchorage goes back into work refurbishing the building. The tours have generated $32,950.46 for the Anchorage since 2017.

Bill Reynolds, president of the Washington County Historical Society, likes the attention Hidden Marietta has been able to bring to the area's history as well as the renewed interest in the Anchorage and its unique architecture for the area.

"This partnership is generating income that will be used on the renovation of the house," he said. "It is amazing what they have done and how popular it has been."

Hidden Marietta wants people to be able to enjoy themselves while visiting the area.

"We want people to have fun," Miller said. "We want them to learn about our area and the rich history we have here.

"We hope it will be an experience that they will remember."

Starting at /week.