Ghosts of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
United States Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
All Pittsburgh
Albrecht Powell
Albrecht is a lifelong Pittsburgh resident who has been writing about his hometown since 2000.
Daderot/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 1.0
Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania have a long, rich history, so it only makes sense that there are probably a few ghosts still wandering around. Abandoned ghost towns, century-old buildings, and old cemeteries play host to a number of Pittsburgh ghost stories, folktales, and legends. These ghostly tales may very well be hauntingly true, or more likely just flights of fancy.
The most interesting story of a real-life Pittsburgh haunted house involves a former Ridge Avenue mansion in the Manchester neighborhood on Pittsburgh's North Side known as the Original Most Haunted House in America. The spooky stories that revolve around this house include murder, human experimentation, and the supernatural—a ghost story so terrifying it seems almost too good to be true. Perhaps, because it is.
The National Aviary, also on the North Side, was built on the site of an old Civil War prison. It is said that the ghosts of the former Confederate prisoners roam through its halls after dark.
One of Pittsburgh's most famous haunted places, the century-old Pittsburgh Playhouse is literally teeming with ghosts, from the Lady in White and Weeping Eleanor to Gorgeous George and Bouncing Red Meanie.
Strange experiences in Room 1201 of Bruce Hall at the University of Pittsburgh are reported to be caused by ghosts.
The large Victorian turn-of-the-century Frick Mansion just looks like the place to be haunted by a ghost, and it doesn't disappoint. It is said that the ghost of Helen Clay Frick has been seen walking its halls, continuing to watch over her childhood home.
The Ghost Town Trail follows 16 miles of abandoned railroad in the scenic Blacklick Creek Valley of Cambria and Indiana counties, past several abandoned ghost towns and the Eliza Furnace, one of Pennsylvania's best-preserved hot-blast iron furnaces. The ghost stories that revolve around this aptly-named hiking and biking trail primarily involve the owner of the blast furnace, David Ritter, whose ghost has been seen hanging in the furnace's entrance.
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