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Right here in Beaver Valley, we are saturated with haunted houses. Dan Bailey of the Pittsburgh area tells about the strange experiences of a local minister, who believes he drove through a ghost.
The minister, who doesn't wish to be identified,
was driving to work early one morning in the early 1980's on Route
288 between Wampum and Ellwood City. As he approached a dangerous
S-shaped curve, he slowed down.
As he did so, he claims a middle aged man suddenly appeared on
the road from the surrounding brush and walked in front of his
car
The minister hit the brakes but it was too late. He hit the stranger,
saw him fall and felt the thud as the body struck the car. He
immediately stopped and leaped.out of his car to discover ...
No body...nothing--just an old blue sweater lying along the road. He searched everywhere, he called the police and they searched everywhere. No body was ever found.
They assured the shaken man that it was just in his imagination. He didn't accept that but finally agreed.
Several months later, early in the morning at the same spot on the road, the minister was again driving to work. He was startled to see the same man stride out of the brush, look at him and smile. He was wearing an old blue sweater.
Imagination? An illusion? A dream? Perhaps the ghastly image of someone who had an accident unreported at this locale? Perhaps.
Darlington oldtimers recall the infamous Old Shot Tower building that collapsed in 1892. Before it was destroyed it had established a sinister reputation.
Young medical students used the building to study their profession and numerous dead bodies were brought to the building fo rdissection and study. Many a person uneasily claimed to have heard ghastly screams and moans emnanating late at night from the dark rooms.
Bernard Dustino owned and lived in the building with his young sister. The beautiful girl fell in love with a., ocal man who journeyed to South..America. Swearing her allegiance, she vowed to await his return.
Sitting in her room by the window, she waited.
She waited and waited until she died.
Some Darlington residents claim her ghost could be seen sitting
by the window, waiting for her lover until the old building collapsed.'
Then there's thd huge, imposing Victorian mansion known as the old Brittain House in South Beaver Twp. It's forbidding-looking structure featuring odd shapes, angles and enormous rooms.
Residents and caretakers report doors opening and closing, lights flickering on and off, eerie sounds from an old elevator shaft, a closet door that refuses to remain closed and the ghastly sound of marbles played on the floor of an empty child's room.
And how about Vicary House on Route 65. Long rumored to be haunted, it has a secret, locked room dubbed "the bride's room" since it was filled with clothes and articles meant for a bride. They were found untouched.
Old Economy Village in Ambridge has an air of secrets.
There is a tragic.tale of a young girl who buried her newborn baby in a wall
A local psychic claims to have to have contacted
the spirit of the troubled young girl, who was named Melinda.
Melinda broke the celebrate rule of teh Harmonistes and became with child. She lost the child and buried it along with her gloves in the hole of a basement wall. Its ghost still resides there.
The wall now stands in the basement of the building housing the Radio Station WMBA. Jason Philips, an Ambridge resident, claims to have seen the ghost of Melinda and subsequently decided to undertake the task of unearthing the rumored remains.
On the day he attempted to dig at the location, there seemed to be a strong wind-like suction that blew off all the screen windows and blocked the stairway out of the cellar.
Needless to say, Philips thought it prudent to cease his activities that day.