Water Tower Park, Menominee MI

Water Tower Park, located at the intersection of 22nd Street and 38th Ave, is reported to have the ghost of a small child, more than likely a boy, dressed in a sailor's outfit.  As taken from the website Ghosts of America...

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Another place that I didn't see or here anything was at the sand dunes by water tower park. I felt like I was being watched and that the little boy that supposedly plays there was walking behind me. I could picture him clearly with a little blue sailor outfit on.

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I went to the Water Tower Park not long ago this year. Actually it was last day of school (6 / 6/14.) We were there for about an hour and a half or so. Then we heard something like a twig-like sound snap near the trees, and I saw a shadow move. I couldn't quite tell what it was, but it made me feel quite uneasy, so I asked my friend if we could leave and we did.

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the Sand Hills at the end of 22nd st behind water tower has the ghost of a little boy that plays on them (another place I have issues driving past).

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the other night while I was hanging out at the watertower park. I saw a females head floating around in the trees. I decide to Chuck a rock at it. The rock flies right through the head. Then as it floats overhead it's mouth drops open and I hear this ear piercing scream. It made my ears hurt for a while.

When I first read these accounts a couple years ago, I didn't give them much credit.  Not so much with what was said (in general; the last one seems rather... questionable), but rather because of the site they were posted on.  If you have a tale to tell, it can be posted.  The story itself isn't verified, but that's not the intent of the site; it's kept as a database or collection of ghost stories or accounts.

Another reason why I was less-than-optimistic with these accounts is because I haven't been able to find any collaborating reports from different sites.  It would seem that the only place where information on this ghost is on the Ghosts of America page.

A third reason why I was hesitant of these reports is the fact that these encounters take place at a park.  As described on Menominee's Area Parks page...

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Water Tower Park is located in the northern portion of the City on 36th Avenue. The Park holds a playground, tennis courts, 2 softball/baseball fields, a pavilion, and restroom facilities.

The sound of children or seeing things move about would seem a common enough experience at this location.

All these elements cast a wide shadow of doubt in my mind to the validity of the ghostly encounters.  However, recently someone approached me and told me of his experiences at this location.  I have no reason to doubt him; he is (or rather, was) a co-worker of mine as a security officer, and he has also investigated paranormal activity with his father.  One person doesn't outweigh the situation, so I've posted on Facebook a request, one which I'm hoping to get some respondents.  If I can get two people to reply, two unrelated or unconnected people, that would be great.  Why?  "Testis unus testis nullus"... one witness is no witness.

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We are currently looking for people who have experienced a paranormal event in the Water Tower Park area of Menominee MI. There have been several online reports of people witnessing a small ghostly child dressed in a sailor’s outfit playing on the dunes, or of hearing things along a similar nature. At first, I didn’t give these accounts much credit, but since first reading them, I’ve met a handful of people who have verified the claims. If you or someone you know has shared in this experience, or have experienced something similar within this area, please message me here on Facebook, or email us at nlprs.wi@gmail.com, and tell us of your experience. If at all possible, tell us about what time of day or night you witnessed this occurrence, and about where on this image it happened. We are planning a preliminary investigation of this park sometime within the next couple weeks, so all the information we can collect would be greatly appreciated.

And here's a historic map of the same area, dated 1912. The images are overlayed, slightly off, but you can make out where the current road would be on the older map. There are no structures of any significance on the map, no churches, schools, stations, anything of that nature. As of right now, there is no real need to check local newspaper archives, at least not until people respond to our request.

During the summer of 2015, I conducted a preliminary investigation of this park, coming to the site at various times of the day on a weekend, to better get a sample of activity.

The first approach was in the morning, and the first thing I noticed while driving to the location was the number of houses or surrounding apartments that had either small playgrounds or children's toys in the yard. Even at the park itself, there was already a couple young kids playing on the equipment. A walk through was conducted, with no jumps or spikes in the meters; additionally, with children present at the park, as well as the sounds of children being audible throughout the area, no recordings were to be had.

The second approach was around noon; at the time, a birthday party was being held within the pavilion, and as such, no further field work was conducted.

The final approach was at sunset. The park was empty and there was little to no background noise. A more thorough walk through with meters, IR cameras, and digital voice recorders was conducted. Besides the sound of barking dogs and frogs, nothing was detected.

Now I admit, I could have been in the wrong area; most of the field work was conducted within and around the Water Tower Park... for all I know, these reports could have stemmed from the open field closer to the actual water tower. But, in going with the descriptions (in the park / near the trees), we were where the events occurred.

In my own opinion, I cannot give any support to these reports. No collaborating evidence was obtained, and with so many houses in the area with children, it is hard to ascertain if what is seen or heard is proof of a ghostly boy or one that lives right next door.