Читать книгу Twin Cities Haunted Handbook - Jeff Morris - Страница 17

DEAD MAN’S POND

8227 Ideal Avenue South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016

directions

From downtown St. Paul, take Shepard Road East for about 2.5 miles until it dead-ends into US-10. Take US-10 South for about 9 miles until you reach the 80th Street exit. At the end of the exit, turn left onto 80th Street and follow it for a little more than a mile. Turn right onto Hyde Avenue South and then take the second left onto Ideal Avenue South. Ideal Park will be on your right. Dead Man’s Pond, shaped like a teardrop, is the only pond within the park. During some of the year, it is not a pond at all but just a muddy depression in the ground.

history

The ghost stories involve a small boy who decided to go swimming in the pond one day. The boy was an able swimmer and was having fun splashing about by himself until he neared the center of the pond. As the boy swam over the center of the pond, something seemed to grab him from underneath the water and violently pull him under. By the time anyone could get to the middle of the pond to save him, it was too late. The boy had already drowned. No one was able to find what may have pulled him under the water so violently.

ghost story

There are only two ghost stories here at the pond, and they are both rather strange. The first story that circulates is that every once in a while bubbles emerge from the middle of the pond. There is no reason that bubbles should appear there. According to legend, these bubbles are a replay of the last exhalation of the boy who drowned here.

The other story about the pond involves the wildlife that often inhabits the pond. Apparently, the ducks that frequent the pond will not approach its center. The ducks often hang around on the edges of the pond, but even when swimming from one side to the other, they avoid the middle of the pond at all costs. Perhaps there is something there, waiting for its next victim.

visiting

The pond is small and looks almost like a teardrop in the middle of the park. It is possible that the pond could be completely empty since it is so small that the water evaporates during some parts of the summer. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of the day you visit the park, because the phenomena with the ducks and the bubbles seem to happen almost constantly. It is definitely creepier, though, to visit the haunted pond after dark, which is possible since the park does not close until 10:30 each night. During most of the year, this is long after dark. Of course, if you visit in winter and the pond is frozen, you will not be able to experience any of the strange occurrences at the pond.