Children of Iron Hill, Charles City
The "Children of Iron Hill" story from Charles City, Iowa, describes a haunting related to a supposed fiery train crash involving orphan children, with alleged sightings of a little girl and the lingering scent of smoke. However, historical records show no evidence of such a train accident, and the story is widely considered a local myth, possibly created for attention or due to misremembered history. The story tells of a tragic train crash where a train carrying orphan children caught fire. The spirits of these children are said to remain, with their cries and the smell of smoke heard and smelled in the area. Witnesses have reportedly seen a young girl in a white dress and found a partially buried, burnt baby doll near the tracks. Historical records, train accident reports, and newspaper archives do not support the existence of any train fire or accident involving orphans in Charles City. There is evidence of only one orphan train passing through Charles City in 1917, and it continued safely without incident.