The Story of Alabama's 'Dead Children's Playground' Is Creepy AF

Photo courtesy of Urban Legend Wiki

Let's talk about the "Dead Children's Playground" in Huntsville, Alabama, because the story is honestly terrifying.

The dead children's playground sits beside Maple Hill Cemetery, Alabama's largest cemetery (and the oldest in Huntsville.)

As you can see, it looks like any average playground. But according to paranormal investigators and urban legend, it has a pretty dark history. Legend says many of the children who died In the 1918 Spanish flu Pandemic are buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in the plots besides a playground.

Huntsville was hit hard by the Spanish Flu in 1918

The Spanish Flu pandemic indeed killed a lot of children. Many people quarantined at home in Huntsville, which allowed for the illness to spread and kill entire families. Fifty million people around the world died during this pandemic, and Huntsville took a significant hit.

It was pretty graphic. They hauled corpses away like firewood in carts pulled by horses. Parents even taught their children a nursery rhyme to remember to keep the windows closed, which they thought would help prevent the rapid-fire spread.

"I had a bird; her name was Enza. I opened the window, and in flew Enza."

The Alabama Department of Public Health says the flu arrived in the state through Huntsville on September 25th, 1918. it took only ten days for influenza to spread. The Birmingham News said of the pandemic, "cases of Spanish influenza have increased in more than 1,100 in Huntsville. According to dr. C. A. Grote, Health officer of Madison County, there have been an additional 300 cases and seven deaths in the past 24 hours."

On October 7th public places all over the state closed their doors. And by October 13th, the Birmingham News announced one pharmacist and one doctor were the only ones not infected. There is no official record of how many children died during the pandemic and Huntsville, but the estimate is in the hundreds.

The history is enough to make this playground creepy AF. Also, the playground used to be a quarry, and the walls around the equipment like to cast weird shadows. But it all goes a little bit further. People who visited, including paranormal investigators, have insisted that the playground is very haunted.

Though there's no record, urban legend says the children who died during the influenza pandemic rest in the plot near the playground like to come and play at night (from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. is when they're most active.)

Hence the name "Dead Children's Playground".

"Even the swings are haunted"

There have been a lot of reports about paranormal activity. Swings move by themselves, and children run back and forth. People have heard screams and laughter. Some have even taken photos on the playground and noticed orbs and figures in the background. People hear screams and children's laughter. There is even a rocking chair placed in front of the family mausoleum but is still in use by the occupant.

There are also other theories along with a lot of skepticism that's the truth of whether Dead Children's Playground is one of the most haunted playgrounds in the country. Some even think that the ghosts are those of several children who were abducted and then later murdered near the playground for a satanic ritual way back in 1960 though there is no evidence to say if this is true or not.

Still, even after being known as the scariest playground in the United States and "where even the swings are haunted," locals refuse to let the city tear down the playground when they wanted to make room for more plots. It must be a really fun playground.

Would any of you take a spin on the swings? I think it's time for a road trip.

https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/the-legend-of-alabamas-dead-childrens-playground.html

http://www.southernspiritguide.org/at-play-in-the-field-of-the-dead-huntsville-alabama/

https://www.al.com/life/2020/10/the-legend-of-alabamas-dead-childrens-playground.html