Fright Nights

... we're familiar with three local "tales of the strange and supernatural" that for us were once first and foremost opportunity to (literally) scare the gals out of their pants...

Giant Indians and The Broadford Witch

... the "ol' pop" worked on the bygone P&LE Railroad... they had a large railroad switching yard, railroad station and roundhouse located along the bottom land adjacent to the Youghiogheny River in the small community of Dickerson Run, PA, from which he regularly worked... he hung out there a good bit even on his days off, and would frequently take us along... we got to hang around the station and, being little kids, the yard crews would occasionally take us out and we'd get to ride around on the switcher engines as they went about their yard business - lots of fun - we even got to drive on occasion, including easing the switchers into the railcar couplers - imagine doing that now in these over protective and litigious times...

(Internet Image)

... historic photo of the P&LE Dickerson Run yard...

... that whole adjacent river bottom was nothing but scrub brush and loaded with pheasant and rabbits, so once we were of hunting age we spent all our time hunting and running the beagle while pop hung out at the station - if he didn't join in... 

... there was an old oddball hermit type who used to walk the tracks all the time - everyone just called 'em the "old nut" - he was full of tales - he'd corner ya' and talk your head off about nonsensical events and such... he told one tale in particular about the construction of the railroad yard and that it was built on a large, ancient Native American Indian burial ground - we could believe that - but then he'd add that when they excavated ("dug 'em up") the graves, the exposed skeletons were all over ten feet tall...?... he'd reference other burial grounds near the "old Indian trail" - which itself is a fact - the ancient 'Catawba Indian Path' crossed the vicinity a short distance upriver (maybe a mile south) near an area called the 'Narrows'...

(Internet Image)

... partial map of the 'Catawba Path' from the book 'Indian Paths of Pennsylvania' (Paul A.W. Wallace - 1965)... a superhighway for ancient Indian tribes... maybe the "old nut" wasn't so nuts...

... he'd then go on to tell of the "old witch" who lived in an old house along Narrows road in nearby Broadford - he claimed that she gathered and confiscated many of the bones from the graves, and would "dig up bones from other grave sites she knew along the river and trail" and would use 'em in her potions and such... more fact - there was an old lady who everyone called the 'old witch' who lived as described - the house has long ago been demolished and the old lady we're sure no longer with us...

... she'd occasionally set on the front porch - she definitely looked the part - a black cat or two lounging about... driving past it was always advised to not make eye contact with her... we'd always wave, to the horror of those riding along ("don't look at her!!")... pop actually knew her and would hunt the hillside property behind her house - he'd never comment on the witch questions (no baloney with that guy) - witch or not, the few times we hunted there with him we sometimes caught ourselves looking over our shoulder...

(Google Earth Image)

... Google Earth Image of the old P&LE Dickerson Run Railroad Yard as it exists today - the foundation footprint of the old roundhouse still visible - the rest of the land reverted to scrub brush...

The Dawson Monster

... rumor had it that a spirit-demon-beast-monster - form was never specified - inhabited a patch of woods located behind a small country cemetery within the vicinity of Dawson, PA... the "monster" was in fact a large stone (marble?) sphere, maybe 3ft to 4ft in diameter, which laid at the edge of the woods, in a ditch, just off the end of the cemetery dirt road - it apparently was an old discarded cemetery monument - a big disappointment to us when first learned... that didn't stop the fun, however... gals didn't know that - so to their reluctance ("c'mon - there ain't nothin' to be afraid of) you'd take 'em there late a night, spewing tales of the monster en route... approaching along the long, lonely dirt road, past the edge of the ominous, awaiting cemetery - itself located on a small knoll rising above the landscape - and proceeding to the dark, deserted woods beyond would really seal the deal...

... viewing the cemetery from along 'Cemetery Road'...

... park and cut the engine - you make an excuse to get out of the car... "gotta' take a leak - be right back"... "don't leave me here alone!!"... "I'll be right back!"... give her some time alone in the darkness and silence - after about five minutes go over and give the rear quarter panel a good whap and shake... "EEK!!"... she starts callin' - no answer - after about another five minutes - with still no answer - you unexpectedly and abruptly open the door and hop back in the car... "where the XXX were you?!!"... "why the XXX didn't you answer me?!!"... "why were you shaking the XXX car?!!" (this all from a gal who ya' never heard utter one swear word)... "I thought I saw some deer over in the field - I went over to take a look"... "I didn't hear ya"... and... "I didn't shake the car"... instantly... "get me the XXX out of here!!...

... a buddy of ours got the tables turned on him one night... there was a movie playin' at the Drive-In at the time about a hooded killer terrorizing a town in Texas (The Town That Dreaded Sundown)... pulling the same cemetery routine, he decides to take a hooded mask along with him... he said that when he popped up at the windshield wearing' that hood, the poor girl starts gasping for air and can't even scream - he's thinking that he's causing her a heart attack - said that it scared him so bad that he started hyperventilating himself... ha... they could have both been found there the next morning having scared each other to death - sounded like a twist ending episode of the 'Twilight Zone'...

(Google Earth Image)

... Google Earth Image of the cemetery and woods - annotation shows the old location of the "monster"...

The Casparis Crater

... we posted about this place previously... reportedly a crash landing site for an alien UFO - the craft supposed to still be buried underground to one day emerge a' la 'War of the Worlds'...

... recent image of the "crater"...

... not so certain about that... it is always full of clear fresh water - we figure from sink and artesian spring activity (the whole area sits atop a near surface bed of karst limestone)... but it's more probable that the UFO penetrated an underground water aquifer (don't want to ruin the narrative)...