CHAD LEWIS - Ringling Road

Ringling Road

Location: Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin

Correction: Several ghost web sites erroneously list it as being in Lake Delton, Wisconsin.

The Reputed History: Several years ago, an employee of the Ringling Brothers Circus owned property on Ringling Road. One day he murdered a couple of children by throwing them into his well and later committed suicide by hanging himself.

The Investigation: Baraboo is the birthplace of the Ringling Brothers Circus. We are in the process of attempting to verify the murder/suicide story.

The Reputed Phenomena:

There is a trail off of Ringling road that leads to a well. Reports state that a white image of a woman (the mother of the murdered children) can be seen visiting this well nightly between 12 midnight and 3 a.m. Reports state that there is a shack a few yards back from the well. Inside this shack is a stool that the man used to hang himself. This shack is also reportedly haunted.

The Investigation:

Ringling Road is a very short road that turns into a dead end of homes and another road. An open field surrounds one side of Ringling road and the other side is made up of small patches of trees. We hiked through the sparse forest, but could not locate any trail, well, or shack. We spoke with several neighbors about the area. None of the neighbors we spoke with were familiar with any well or shack.

We later spoke with a long-time resident who informed us that the shack had been demolished and the well which was covered by a gazebo had been bulldozed.

There are similarities between the Ringling Road account and the movie The Ring. Both deal with ghosts, suicide, and children murdered in a well. The similarities are accidental, as the Ringling Road story predates the 2002 movie by several years.