Pennsylvania Oddities

Amid the sprawling wilderness of the Allegheny National Forest, miles from the nearest town, four roads converge in a remote spot in Howe Township, where a wooden cross marks the lonesome grave of a murder victim long forgotten. Although the name 'Turner' is etched into the weather-beaten memorial, most locals can't quite say who the unfortunate man was or when he died; all they can tell you is th...

In September of 1924, a shocking act of violence stunned the residents of Carlisle when a jealous man shot his sweetheart and her mother before turning the gun on himself in the back yard of the Dotter family home at 118 Elm Street. The ghastly act was said to have left such an impression that witnesses reported seeing the ghost of the killer near the scene of the crime just weeks after the traged...

The tiny borough of Hawley, in Wayne County, was the scene of horror on March 4, 1904, when the body of an elderly widow was found drenched in a pool of blood on the floor of her candy shop on Marble Hill. Although a veteran of the Spanish-American War was later arrested and tried for the crime, the evidence against him was flimsy at best, and the suspect was eventually acquitted. To this day, the...

There is a statue in a Lancaster cemetery that is said to come alive at night and descend from her pedestal when the moon is just right. It is the statue marking the final resting place of Augusta Harriet Bitner, a young woman whose death in 1906 has spawned many rumors and ghost stories. But is there any truth to this local legend?

During the 19th century, one riverfront tavern served as the secret hideout for some of Pittsburgh's most dangerous criminals. There was Brocky McDonald, the bank robber who would eventually meet his demise at the hands of his own gang. There was Booby Adams, Blinky Morgan, Kid Munn, Patsy McGraw, Dutch Tony and an assortment of criminals whose exploits were known all over the country. There was a...

Welcome to Natalie (pop. 371): A small town with a big murder problem.

Of the hundreds of murderers who have hanged for their crimes in Pennsylvania, o nly a handful have been female. Lena Miller, who was one of these women, also holds the distinction of being the first person sentenced to death in Clearfield County. This is the story of one pioneer woman who went to considerable lengths to kill her seemingly destructible husband. 

Once a thriving lumber camp on the banks of Potato Creek in McKean County, the village of Betula lies halfway between Smethport and  Emporium. The few people who call this backwoods location home are friendly folks, who are likely to point you to the best fishing spots or give you directions to nearest gas station. However, during the height of the lumber boom in the early 20th century, Betul...

On a sunny Sunday in June, 1907, a pretty little girl with golden hair walked the short distance home from her grandfather's farm near the  village of Avondale in Chester County. Accompanying five-year-old Mary Robbins Newlin was her little sister, Fannie. At a fork in the road where an old, abandoned church stood, the sisters parted and it was at this lonesome spot where Mary was last seen a...

The history of the Pennsylvania Coal Region wouldn't be complete without one, or several, chapters devoted to organized crime. During the Prohibition Era, crime rings could be found in just about every nook and cranny of the anthracite region. The nefarious plots of many mobsters were hatched in dozens of area "houses of ill repute", such as the notorious Sunset Inn in Numidia, which was just one...

Somewhere in the historic Cross Creek Cemetery in Washington County, about thirty miles west of Pittsburgh, there is a lost grave that holds the dust of a frontier wife named Mary Wallace, whose death in 1782 led to one of the most famous, and horrific, massacres in American history.

This is the story of famed balloonist Wash Donaldson and how he came to be buried thousands of miles away from home, in a graveyard north of the Arctic Circle. It is also a tale of unsolved murder; many believe that Donaldson intentionally "disappeared" after throwing a passenger from the basket of his hot air balloon in 1875.

Seventy-five years before the Wright Brothers flew into the history books, a pair of eccentric brothers from Dauphin County built a flying machine.

On a hot July evening in 1921, a mysterious fire claimed the lives of Reverend Felix Nowak, his wife, and their three children. Was this a case of arson or a tragic accident? Those who encountered the ghost of the dead preacher are likely to say it must have been a case of cold, premeditated murder.

On the cold, dreary Monday morning of January 10, 1916, two sets of parents awoke to discover their children were missing. Those who knew Clayton Mengle and Helen Hepler insisted they had gone to Maryland, where Helen's tender age wouldn't be a deterrent in obtaining a marriage license. Whether they ever reached Maryland is unknown; for three months no one saw or heard a thing from either Clayton...

Like his father, Erasmus Godfrey Rehrer seemed destined for success. After serving honorably as an officer in the Union Army's  engineering corps and attaining the rank of captain, he entered the coal mining business. As superintendent of the Tremont Coal Company, Captain Rehrer, along with two partners, saw an opportunity to strike it rich. After discovering a previously unknown vein of coal...

It's impossible to say how many generations have been enchanted by the beauty of Wildcat Falls in York County, but it is known that hundreds of years ago the Susquehannock tribe had a village here, where Wildcat Run cuts a magnificent gorge through the rocky hills before taking a 150-foot plunge on its short course to the Susquehanna at a point across the river upstream from Marietta. It was here,...

Across the river from Pittsburgh, on the southern banks of the Monongahela, lies the suburb of Homestead. Here, on a quiet street, lived a quiet boy named Charlie Cawley, a teenage genius who seemed destined to one day join the ranks of Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham  Bell and Cyrus McCormick in the pantheon of great American inventors-- until he inexplicably slaughtered his mother and sibli...

Somewhere just over the Columbia-Luzerne county line, on a hill overlooking the scenic valley north of Beach Haven, lies the mortal remains of one of the most eccentric citizens to ever call Salem Township home. Benjamin Remaley passed away in 1885 and the age of 75, but not before making out a detailed will with several bizarre stipulations-- like his demand that two holes be drilled into his cof...

Old-time railroaders in western Pennsylvania often told tales about Wild Tom Skelton, whose ghost was fond of standing on the tracks as the locomotives bore down on him, leaning on his long gun with a forlorn look in his eyes, cursed to search for all eternity for his beloved Maria. The tragic tale of Tom Skelton is one of heartbreak on the wilderness frontier of present-day Indiana County, but wh...

The coincidental timing of the science fiction craze and the Cold War inspired millions of Americans to keep their eyes glued to the night sky for Soviet missiles, flying saucers, and all things in between in the decade following World War II. Just three years after the Roswell crash, a peculiar UFO sighting in Clearfield County on March 15, 1950, made national headlines. The fact that this "flyin...

The trials and tribulations of Albert Large, a Civil War-era hermit who found peace living inside a hilltop cave... that is, until his hideaway was discovered by nosy locals.

In a lonesome spot on North Mahanoy Mountain, near the No. 3 Reservoir on Waste House Run, lies a grave with a peculiar history. This is the final resting place of Jost Folhaber, a Jewish-German merchant who became the first known murder victim in Schuylkill County. This spot, known locally as "Peddler's Grave", has been one of the Coal Region's best-kept secrets ever since Folhaber's gruesome dea...

Peter Hauntz was the stage name of James H. Sharp, a Civil War veteran from Clinton County who rose to prominence during the latter half of the 19th century as a master puppeteer, ventriloquist, magician and stage performer. Trained in the German tradition of the famed Eisenstadt Puppet Theatre by Professor de Rotschkoff-- a man who believed the key to making realistic puppets was by using real hu...

In 1884, a peculiar series of murder trials took place in Cambria County. Two men, both of whom were named Mickey, were convicted of murder in the same week. Both men not only shared the same first name, but also the same handicap-- they both had wooden legs. But  what makes this bit of historical trivia even more interesting is that  both judges in these respective murder trials, Judge...