Legends & Lore of PA
The legends and lore on this page are compliments of: Pennsylvania Haunts & History Home of the legends, lore and ghost tales of the Keystone State http://hauntsandhistory.googlepages.com/pennslvaniahaunts%26histroy |
THE BELSANO TRAIN ROBBERY (Cambria County) This is a legend of lost loot. On the morning of October 11, 1924, a train from the Cambria & Indiana RR was transporting a safe with a payroll of $33,000 to the miners of Ebensburg Coal Company. Just outside Belsano, the engineer slowed down to pick up a passenger. He was shot down by two bandits aboard the train, who grabbed the safe and escaped with four other accomplices in a waiting car. After a regional manhunt, Michelo Bassi and Anthony Pezzi were picked up in Terre Haute, Indiana. They were armed, carrying $3,000 apiece, and had alibis that wouldn't hold water. The pair were convicted of murder and fried in the chair on February 23, 1925. The remaining money and safe were never found. Maybe the gang split it and dumped the safe, but the local legend has it that $25,000 is sitting hidden in the Belsano countryside, waiting for a lucky finder to claim. The Belsano Job
BRACKEN DIP (Bracken, Indiana County) This is on the Ghost Town Trail, and Bracken is one of its' ghost towns. A beautiful “Lady in White” is said to wander this part of the trail, seeking out the lover who killed her there. There's also been reports of her spirit being seen on Beulah Road, near Nanty Glo, at the end of the Ghost Trail. She ain't giving up 'til she finds that cad! Another version has her suddenly appearing in cars occupied by couples. She smiles sweetly at the woman and scares the pants of the guy. Her presence is supposed to be a warning to the girl to dump the fellow she's with before the relationship turns abusive. She's sorta a spook social worker. Fabulous Travel
SILAS CLARK HOUSE (Indiana, Indiana County) The site of the Clark House was originally owned by George Clymer, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and a building was put up in 1816 to serve as a school. It burned down, and Clark, who was a state Supreme Court Justice, bought the property and built his home there. The house is now maintained by the Indiana County Historical Society. It has been the site of some reported poltergeist activity (the most commonly described phenomena is a feeling of being watched or followed) and the spook of a young girl with blonde ringlets sitting in a rocking chair has been seen. (Indiana Gazette "Many Local Legends Based On Fact" October 31, 2007)
CRESSON LAKE PLAYHOUSE (Ebensburg, Cambria County) The Cresson Lake Playhouse is in a pre-Civil War barn that was converted to a theater in 1975. It's claim to fame is its moving trunk. The trunk is in the attic, and you can hear it being dragged to and fro from the downstairs area when no one is upstairs. People have seen its trail in the dust, but found no accompanying footprints. Obiwan
ELIZA FURNACE (Indiana County) Situated on the famous Ghost Town Trail, the Eliza Furnace produced iron from 1846-49 for owners David Ritter and George Rodgers. It's on the National Register of Historic Sites. Ritter's ghost still haunts the oven. He hung himself in the furnace because (a) his wife ran off with Rodgers, (b) he was distraught over financial ruin, or maybe (c) his son fell into the furnace and died. Probably (d), all of the above, combined to push him over the edge. Sightings of his ghost around the oven have been reported many times. Some say that you can even see him hanging in the furnace if your timing's right. This tale and many others are spun in Ghost Stories From the Ghost Trail by C.L. Shore. Eliza Furnace - Fabulous Travel