| Centralia | Centralia Underground Coal Fire | Irene writes to suggest a trip to this site, a Pennsylvania community that has been consumed by an underground coal fire which has been burning for over 40 years. A fascinating modern ghost town. |
| Eckley | Eckley Miners' Village | JuteCat
recommends this site: "A few years ago I visited Eckley's miner town,
in Eckley, PA. I found the whole place to be rather creepy as some of
the buildings are falling apart, and there is all this gigantic machinery
looming in the distance. Unfortunately the tour was rather disappointing,
being that they didn't really bring up anything morbid. So I took over
and bit and explained a little too loudly to my best friend, that places
like these used to have people hauling black pushcarts at the end of the
day filled with that day's dead. It was a miner wife's worst nightmare
to have them knock at her door. The tour guide looked rather annoyed (nyahaha).
Another strange thing is the restored doctor's office, an old church,
and the fact that some people were doing a dig over there. Although some
people still live there, the place still has a creepy feeling to it. The
gift shop was pretty neat, and they had a regular museum as well." "Oh yes, another lil morbid note. My great uncle worked at the mine in Eckley, he later died of black lung." |
| Gettysburg | National
Military Park A Comtesse Travelogue! |
A completely uninformative and self-indulgent stroll through the muddy battlefields of Gettysburg. |
| Johnstown | The
Johnstown Flood Museum Johnstown Flood National Memorial |
In 1889, the city of Johnstown, PA was wiped out in a matter of seconds by a wall of debris and water rushing down the valley from a collapsed dam, killing thousands of people. You can learn all about the tragedy at these sites, which are on my "Must-Visit" list! |
| Philadelphia | Byberry Mental Hospital | Janey
wrote to tell me about this abandoned asylum: "Dearest Countess ~ In Philadelphia, PA, on Byberry Rd is Byberry Mental Asylum. The Asylum has been closed down for over a decade, and it is the LOUDEST haunt that I have ever wandered through! "The Asylum is one of the oldest in the country, and was in buisness during the darkest hours of psychiatric practices. The 'patients' that lived there were subjected to horrific 'treatments', and the whole place echoes with their stories. "Byberry Asylum is spread out over quite a lot of ground. It consists of half a dozen or so huge brick and stonework buildings built at odd angles to each other. There is a medical building, (I wandered all through the morgue myself) dormitory and solitary living quarters, a children's ward (very very unsettling place!) two buildings that are entirely stone walled on the inside, and several others that I was not able to stay long enough to explore. The administrative building is like a mansion, it's a gorgeous huge grey monolith that all the old paths eventually lead to... There is some sculpture work on the turrets that might have once been gargoyles, but have decayed past recognition. "All of the buildings are connected by a catacombs, which water has seeped through the floors and birthed an odd burgendy colored mold that looks like drying blood at first glance by flashlight! "[On the downside], the entire property is gated and patrolled by a security company and there are some seriously dangerous people who spend a lot of time there." |
| Eastern
State Penitentiary A Comtesse Travelogue! |
The beautiful and decidedly creepy ruins of the country's first large-scale penitentiary. | |
| Civil
War & Underground Railroad Museum |
Andrew recommends this museum: "Philadelphia has a civil war museum. Its in an ordinary house and has about 3 or 4 floors loaded with things from the civil war. I was there about 5 years ago. You could easily open file cabinets and find packets of letters that were donated to the museum from family membes of war participants. There are tons of sheet music, cookbooks, helpful hints on how to help out in the war, you can't believe how much was devoted to this conflict on the local, practical level for that 4 year period." | |
| Mütter
Museum A Comtesse Travelogue! |
A definite must-see! 10 on the morbid scale! | |
| Edgar Allan Poe House | When
I was in Philadelphia, I tragically missed visiting the home in which
Edgar Allan Poe had spent his most productive years. Next time, I won't
make the same mistake. This is the house in which Poe resided from 1833-1844
and where he wrote such classics as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and
"The Fall of the House of Usher." And it was here that Poe's
wife Virginia became ill with the Tuberculosis that would claim her life
and hasn't the despairing self-destruction that would lead to Poe's demise.
A must-see for all enthusiasts of the macabre. Free admission too! (Thank you to Blackalis for the suggestion.) |
| Pittsburgh | Frick Museum | Liz recommends this supposedly haunted old complex of museums and historical buildings located on over five acres of lawns and gardens in Pittsburgh's residential East End. The Center is devoted to the interpretation of the life and times of industrialist and art collector Henry Clay Frick. Exhibitions of fine and decorative art are also presented at the Center. |
| Mexican War Streets | Joe recommends this site: "If you'll be in Pittsburgh around Halloween, there's a guided tour of the Mexican War Streets that's supposed to be really good. The town is known for it's turn-of-the-century lore; Carnegie, Westinghouse, etc. Apparently, a lot of the well-to-do had some interesting stories, i.e. murder, suicide, affairs, and the like. The shame of it is is that it is a beautiful part of town, but the surrounding area has taken a turn for the worse. My ex-roommate's sister & brother-in-law live there now. Do NOT travel there by yourself at night!!! There's a park across the street that's known for its rapes, murders, & drugs." | |
| Pittsburgh Playhouse | Liz recommends this "extremely haunted" site. |
| Strasburg | Ghost Tour of Lancaster County | Shonagh suggests this tour: "In Lancaster County, about an hour from Philly, you can go on a ghost tour. It is a walking tour and is a lot of fun. And yes, you need a reservation about a week in advance. It gets packed quickly." |
Urban Exploration Links!
 Wicked Words... |
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