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Weird Pennsylvania

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Next weekend, I'm going to be appearing in a parade in Ocean City, NJ (in the States on the east coast). I'm going to take a leisurely drive out there on the old Pennsylvania Turnpike. I've allotted myself two days (Thursday and Friday) for the drive out, as I want to take my time and see stuff as I go.

So far, I'm planning stops to see:

Kecksburg, PA, where the UFO allegedly crashed in 1965 - they've got a fibreglass model there now.

Centralia PA, a city which is slowly being consumed by a coal fire beneath the town - there are huge subsidence holes and cracks with smoke issuing from them, and I'm told that some of the graves in the cemetery smoke as well.

The Mutter Museum - a medical museum filled with all sorts of birth defects, medical anomalies, etc - like a carnival sideshow, but politically correct because it's 'educational'.

I may also stop and walk about a bit in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

What I'd like to know is if any of the readers can give me advice on other Fortean sights to see in Pennsylvania or New Jersey (preferably ones close to the Turnpike or Atlantic City Expressway), or alternately, if anyone has already been to one of the things I want to see and found it a waste of time. Thanks!
 
Where are you starting from?

Not neccessarily weird, but if you're into Frank Lloyd Wright, Falling waters is not far outside Pittsburg. And apparently there's another FLW house, Kentuck Knob, open to the public not far from there. Be forewarned, Falling Waters is very popular, hence busy. They have very controlled tours through the interior, they don't just let you wander around. Plan ahead, get there early, and avoid weekends if at all possible. Read the WPC for specifics about visiting.

Roadside America in Shartlesville is kind of weird in a kitch-ey way. I thought it was worth an hour of my time. Not near the turnpike, though. (BTW, that "Roadside America" link is for a unrelated book of the same name. The book, and site are a good source for weird & wonderful things to see on roadtrips through the US.)
 
There is a website... i THINK it is "weirdnewjersey.com" or "weirdnj.com" that has a bunch of slightly odd NJ sites. Sadly, I don't know of an equivalent weird PA site... although there is plenty of weirdness in PA, think the populace is mainly to blame ;) (meant in a good natured way folks!)...

If you are going to be in Philly, however, keep in mind that in addition to all the historical sites, the Academy of Natural Sciences has a great dino exhibit, and I beileve the U of Penn has some fairly reknowned Egyptian artifacts and mummies. Not TRULY Fortean, but still fun.


Shadow
 
weirdnj.com supposedly just spun off weirdusa.com , but I can't seem to find it. They probably haven't had time to collect too much information yet, anyhow.
 
I went to the mutter museum today. They have a whole exibit on conjoined twins. I saw the skeleton of a fetus of conjoined twins that had two bodies that joined to form one head. I also got to read all about conjoined twins in history and different types of conjoined twins (and justv because I want to mention it, I also got to see the soap lady and a giant colon.)
 
RainyOcean: I moved your post from twins to here as it has greater relevance to this thread (there is a conjoined twin thread it could have also gone into but this way I get to post on the Museum again ;) ). It sounds great and I'd love to visit it, although goegraphy rather precludes that in the short term :( - anything you'd recommend?

I mentioned the book here:

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=313818#post313818

and there is more on it over at Roadside America:

The Mütter Museum: Siamese twins, secret tumours and the Soap Lady

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


The Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia promises — and delivers — an afternoon of esoteric and incredible sights. The sophisticated, high-ceilinged gallery that houses this collection of medical monstrosities helps us rationalize our interest in it. Designed for perusal by present and future members of a dignified overpaid profession, the museum is two floors of dark wood-trimmed display cases with a library-like stateliness. Shouts of "Will ya look at this MONSTER BABY?" are entirely inappropriate.


The Mütter Museum collection of pathological specimens is well-known in medical circles, long ignored by the general public (though we may have contributed a bit to raising current awareness). Where else can you see a plaster cast of Chang and Eng — AND their actual attached livers? Or the Chevalier Jackson Collection of objects swallowed and removed — you don't say! Brains of murderers and epileptics — I guess we could take a peek . . .

President's Tumor and Assassin's Thorax

Two celebrity body parts are must sees: the "Secret Tumor of Grover Cleveland," and the "Thorax of John Wilkes Booth." Grover's growth floats in a small jar, surreptitiously removed from his jaw while he was in office. Lincoln's Assassin's thorax was procured during the post mortem aboard a ship at the Washington Navy Yard. It ended up here.

The Big Colon

One highlight is a giant colon that looks like a sand worm from Frank Herbert's Dune — arranged with one end rearing up from the tastefully underlit display. Doctors were applauded for being able to correctly diagnose this whopper a gross enlargement of the colon and not as a tumor — without using X-rays. This digestive distention serves as an inspiration to new generations of doctors, and a warning to those of us who sometimes feel a little backed up.

Objects Swallowed and Removed

The Chevalier Jackson Collection of over 2,000 items is neatly organized in narrow lie-flat drawers. Dr. Jackson was an expert in this subspecialty, and many of the instruments he designed and used to extract foreign objects WITHOUT SURGERY are on display here. Some drawers are marked "bones"or "coins", others offer "Nuts, Seeds, Shells or Other Vegetal Substances." "Dental Material" is proof that sometimes people do swallow their dentures.

[bThe Soap Woman [/b]

Perhaps the oddest attraction is the body of the "Soap Woman." This is the body of a woman who died of Yellow Fever sometime in the 19th century and was buried in soil with certain chemical properties . . . that turned her into soap! An accompanying display shows an x-ray cross-section and tells her story. A "Soap Man," buried alongside the Soap Woman, is occasionally displayed at the Smithsonian Institute.


After every visit, our notebooks are brimming over. Here are some of the exhibits:

Skeletons of a giant and a midget
Broken bones
Pott's Disease Skeletons
Skull Collections, including the Muniz collection of trephinated (holes cut in them) Peruvian skulls
"Brain Of A Murderer" - John Wilson hanged in Norristown, PA
"Brains of epileptics"
Longitudinal slices of the head, showing brain
Brain of animals arranged from tiny frog to man, often with eyes attached
Large collection of baby deformities.
Hearing apparatti of mammals in butterfly collection-like cases.
Photo of Lyndon Johnson lifting his shirt to show off his gall bladder operation scar
Wax Renderings of Eye Disease Problems
Iron Lung in the polio exhibit

---------------
(Mütter Museum: Philadelphia College of Physicians, 19 South 22nd Street, between Chestnut and Market Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 12-4pm. regular, student discounted rates available.)
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http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/PAPHImut.html
 
Originally posted by Shadow
although there is plenty of weirdness in PA, think the populace is mainly to blame ;) (meant in a good natured way folks!)...
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The population of PA IS quite weird, but not usually in a good way... :eek:

Falling Waters is great! Despite the fact that I have a deep hatred of tours, I suggest anyone visiting to take the tour of the inside. Incredibly cool, especially the short stairs that go from the living room right down to the water. :)

If anyone knows of any other things of Fortean interest in western PA, especially around the Erie area, please share. I need stuff to do during boring weekends at college. :p
 
Well, I can testify that just going to the grocery store (here in PA) is a trip into the freakin' Twilight Zone itself. I've seen some weeeeeeeeeeeeeird chit, maaaannnn......... :D
 
Posted on Wed, Oct. 27, 2004

Local legends

by Megan Rowlands

Strange and chilling folklore unique to Northeast Pennsylvania

Being chased by a chain saw that can't really cut and getting groped in a dark corridor by a pimply teenager wielding a rubber axe only generates scares on a synthetic level. Thrill seekers, if you want your heart to beat on a pee-your-pants scared level, you aren't going to get it from a daycare center-turned-slaughter house.

For a real scare, you'll need to turn to the region's slew of local myths and folklore. Lucky for those interested, northeast Pennsylvania has a wealth of disturbing options, thanks to its rich coal mining history and, well, unfortunate situations. We've selected a few local myths guaranteed to scare you in all the right places.

The Carbon County Jail, 128 Broadway St., Jim Thorpe (570.325.5259)

More than 125 years ago, a man who claimed his innocence until the bitter end was hanged at the Carbon County Jail. To bear the burdens of guilt upon his accusers, Alexander Campbell slapped a dirty hand print on the wall of cellblock 17 as he was being led to the gallows, declaring the mark would remain forever to shame the county for hanging an innocent man. Campbell, a wealthy hotel owner and liquor distributor, was accused of killing a local mine boss.

For years, the grimy hand print could not be wiped of cleaned from the dingy walls, until in 1930, according to legend, a town sheriff had the entire wall torn down and a new one erected in its place. Sure enough, the hand print reappeared in the very same spot the following day. Since then the wall has been washed over, painted over, plastered over and even dug out, but the hand print never fades.

"There's no logical explanation for it. It looks like a child's hand print on a white wall," James Starrs, a forensic scientist from George Washington University who has investigated the mark, said on Visitjimthorpe.com.

Visitors today can still tour the jail and catch a glimpse of the mysterious hand print that marks cell 17.

Fear factor: 2 out of 5. Sure, the mysterious hand print and the fact that several men were hanged right where you stand are creepy enough. But the jail is a fairly popular tourist attraction for the town, so chances are you won't be alone with any haunts.

(Caption for image: Curator of the old Carbon County Jail Tom McBride talks about the mysterious hand print (upper left corner) on the wall inside cell No. 17. Times Leader Staff Photo/PETE G. WILCOX )

Wilkes-Barre/Hollenback Cemetery, North River Street, Wilkes-Barre

Perhaps it's the rickety, rusted gates that stand sentry at the entrance to the North River Street burial grounds. Maybe it's the watermarked gravestones that still bear the effects of the heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in the 1970s. Or maybe it's the eerie backdrop of rolling hills and scraggly trees through which the moonlight creeps between bare branches.

Going by looks alone, the Wilkes-Barre Cemetery, which contains headstones from the mid-1800s, could easily be one of the region's most chilling final resting places.

But when you hear firsthand accounts of the transparent yellow and green glow that burns near the back corner of the cemetery, shallow whispers that echo through the air or the presence of a restless soul with non-human features, the place wins hands down as somewhere you couldn't pay us enough money to visit after dark.

The Luzerne County Historical Society is offering guided (phew!) tours of the Hollenback Cemetery (located directly next to the Wilkes-Barre Cemetery) on October 30-31 at 11 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Make reservations at 570.823.6244.

Fear factor: 4 out of 5. Avoid the serious spook factor -and getting into a whole lot of trouble- by taking the daytime tour instead of scaling the fence after dark.

3. Avondale Colliery Grounds, near Route 11, Plymouth Township

The Avondale mine fire of 1869 marks the most tragic anthracite disaster in Pennsylvania history. A fire started in a coal breaker at the single entrance to the mine, trapping 108 men and boys underground. As the fire raged on and the building collapsed at the surface, two rescue volunteers were killed while 108 people suffocated to death underground.

When the fire was finally extinguished three days later, the most difficult task arose yet: Carrying the bodies up from the mine shaft, one by one.

The Avondale grounds recently attracted attention for the tragedy's 135th anniversary when the Anthracite Living History Group held a memorial service in honor of the lives lost on that fateful day, says amateur historian and ALHG founder Joe Keating. The mining grounds have also attracted the attention of local and regional paranormal groups, such as the Spirit Society of PA, which asserts that there is a high level of paranormal activity on and near the disaster site.

Keating, who has worked beside and tagged along with paranormal researchers, says he has seen some strange activity on and near the site.

"One night it was pitch dark, and I did see little lights about the size of a half dollar moving along slowly. They had names for the little circles. Orbs, some type of past life form," says Keating.

Fear factor: 5 out of 5. Just take a look at the pictures Keating took with his own digital camera. While the surrounding area is said to have paranormal activity, be sure to avoid trespassing on private property, where the actual mine lies.

4. "Suscon Screamer," Suscon Road, Suscon

Among the crushed beer cans and the scattered road kill that decorates the highly deer and hunter populated Suscon Road, lie the scarce remains of a narrow, one-lane bridge known as the "Black Bridge," where motorists were told to beep before they traveled through.

Though the bridge was torn down long ago, the tale of the Suscon Screamer is still very alive with local residents. According to legend, a young bride was left at the alter in the early 1900s. The woman was so embarrassed she fled into the woods and hung herself from the Black Bridge, letting out a shrill scream before stepping from the bridge.

According to the tale, if you drive to the remnants of the old Bridge, cut the engine and beep three times you will hear the bloodcurdling scream and a woman dressed in white will appear.

Fear factor: 3 out of 5. Finding the old Black Bridge will be a tough task for those unfamiliar with the wooded territory and windy roads of Suscon. But we've heard firsthand accounts of those who actually claim to have heard a bloodcurdling scream from the depths of the woods.
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http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/entertainment/10023371.htm
 
Posted on Mon, Nov. 15, 2004

Stories, some even true, of weird animals

Wild animal reports not uncommon

You might hear hair-raising howling at the moon late some bitter-cold night and think it's a wolf.

Maybe it is.

You might catch sight of something from the corner of your eye early one morning on a foggy country road and swear to the Almighty it was a cougar, long tail and all.

Maybe it was.

You might see some huge thing flapping by on outstretched wings and convince yourself that it was no bird ever seen in Pennsylvania.

It could very well have been.

Wild and weird creatures are found on the loose now and again in Pennsylvania, but that doesn't mean there's a thriving population.

Most likely such beasts escape from captivity and manage to survive. In the process, rumors get firm footing and myths start their long, storied evolution.

Last year, a deer hunter killed a wolf in Great Bend Township in Susquehanna County.

The huge paw prints of the 105-pound animal had been seen by hunters for years. Nobody ever said too much about it, but local folks surely harbored justifiable fears.

It turns out the wolf had once been in captivity and was scraping out an existence in the Susquehanna County wilds.

This year, a bowhunter I know - a good friend - reported sighting a wolf while perched in a tree stand. The huge animal was spotted, let us vaguely say, in the woods west of Nanticoke.

Hearsay has it the animal was shot days later by a hunter who believed it to be the mother of all coyotes. As the story goes, a taxidermist refused to mount it, as the behemoth was evidently not a coyote.

The state Game Commission recently busted a man in Franklin County for having a timber wolf without a permit, and, earlier this year a Philadelphia man was nailed for the same thing. It's not a far stretch to imagine how such animals come to roam the woods.

Wild cougars?

There have been too many sightings reported to catalogue, and some of those reports have come from dependable folks with significant outdoors experience.

Yet no hair, droppings or photographs of the animals or the animals' tracks ever manage to turn up for scientific scrutiny.

Tame cougars in the wild? Not too long ago an exotic dancer reportedly released the cougar she used in her dance routine.

Undoubtedly those who caught a glimpse of it running free thought it to be a wild animal.

Big birds?

In 1974, something very unusual winged past Hawk Mountain Sanctuary near Kempton. It was later identified as an African steppe eagle. The giant bird had escaped from a licensed falconer.

It's always intriguing to learn of these reports of offbeat animals turning up where they are not supposed to be. I'm usually skeptical - but I keep an open mind.

I remember 1996, when a wild moose believed to have come from New York mooched around Monroe County before presumably returning to the Empire State.

Believe it, for many saw it.
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http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/sports/10181994.htm
 
Meanwhile, I am back in touch with one of my favorite January correspondents, Stan Gordon. He's just as faithful as the IRS and his compilation of the UFO sightings and unexplained happenings of the past year are a lot more fun.

Stan, a Greensburg resident, has been investigating reports of UFOs, Bigfoot, mysterious sounds and other unexplained phenomena for 45 years now, and I first encountered him as a young reporter almost as far back.

He has credibility that others in his field lack, mainly because Gordon is quick to point out natural explanations for strange lights in the sky, such as the brilliant orange-red object with a burning trail reported at about 10:50 p.m. last June 26 by observers from Pittsburgh to Greensburg, as well as by people in eastern Pennsylvania.

Later it was confirmed that the object was Russian space debris reentering the earth's atmosphere, Gordon said.

UFO sightings this year past have not been that exciting, but he did note that a woman in the Punxsutawney area saw a square object about 30 feet off the ground and 50 feet from her window. "The object looked as though it was made up of multitudes of light bubbles," Gordon reported. Suddenly it began to rise slowly higher until it looked like a light in the distance.

On April 4 in Washington County, near California, a witness reported observing a large triangular shape over a nearby house. The object had a blue light on each corner and seemed to glow.

At about the same time, another large object appeared in the sky, this one shaped like a glass rod. Then a strange fall of sparkling material dropped from the sky just as the triangular object traveled quickly north.

In March, in Westmoreland County, passengers on a rural road said their headlights picked up an object in the road. It turned out to be a small metallic cigar-shaped object that rose off the ground, turned right and flew away.

As for Bigfoot, Gordon has turned most of that hairy fellow's research over to the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, which received 2004 sightings in Carbon, Beaver and Fayette counties. August through October were busy with sightings in Beaver County, including one woman who claimed to have seen three creatures moving across a road.

Gordon said he received several Bigfoot reports around Westmoreland County, but a more interesting observation was reported in Tioga County on July 20.

There a man on a construction crew said he saw a dark hair-covered creature, seven to eight feet tall, standing near a road.

The creature crossed the road in three long strides and continued into a swamp. The ground cover in the area was smashed down where the creature had been seen.

As always, reports of unusual happenings can be reported to Gordon at 724-838-7768,
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Source
 
Sasquatch, saucers and spirits! Oh my!

By Jeff Himler
Staff writer
Friday, February 24, 2006

To borrow a catch phrase from a defunct television drama still alive in syndication, "The Truth Is Out There"--in more ways than one.

Long before the "X-Files" became a hit with those intrigued by bizarre happenings and alien conspiracy theories, Greensburg resident Stan Gordon was researching all manner of strange occurrences in western Pennsylvania and beyond.

Specializing in such material since 1959, Gordon has become a noted authority and lecturer on the odd and unexplained.

He's shared his expertise about UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects, or flying saucers in old-school terms) with producers of recent cable TV documentaries: "Unsolved History: Beyond Area 51," for The Discovery Channel; and The History Channel's "Conspiracy? Kecksburg UFO."

He also spoke at the Fourth Annual PA Paranormal Conference last year in Gettysburg.

With the new year now upon us, Gordon has checked in with his annual report on alleged area sightings of unusual phenomena such as Bigfoot and UFOs.

While noting that he's never personally met up with either strange element, he says years of sifting through thousands of cases from across the state has convinced him they may exist.

He passed along the following account of a hairy encounter in the early evening hours of Jan. 2, 2005, in an unspecified locale near Westmoreland County's Chestnut Ridge.

According to Gordon, an unnamed male witness reported hearing the sound of brush snapping in a field about 40 feet away and expected to find a deer.

Crossing the road to take a closer look, the curious fellow instead came upon "a huge man-like creature with dark hair and huge arms." The witness sized up the broad-shouldered, shaggy being at well over 7 feet tall and about 500 pounds.

It "moved uphill, and covered a large distance quickly with its huge stride."

Gordon continues to investigate the mysterious Kecksburg UFO case. The main topic of the afore-mentioned History Channel show, the case involves reports of an acorn-shaped object crashing near the village south of Latrobe. Gordon is seeking information from witnesses to the 1965 incident as well as purported photos of the object.

Interest in the incident is as strong as ever. Hundreds of folks from as far away as Canada gathered at the Kecksburg VFD social hall Dec. 10, for an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the UFO controversy.

If you've spotted something strange, you can let Stan know about it by e-mailing him at [email protected]. Or: write him at P.O. Box 936, Greensburg, PA 15601; call his 24-hour PA UFO Hotline at 724-838-7768.

You can peek into his latest files at www.stangordon.com.

If you'd rather see him in person, he'll be making a presentation on the Kecksburg incident and will be autographing copies of a DVD he's produced on said subject--"Kecksburg The Untold Story"--March 21 at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Route 30 East, Greensburg.

---------------

In a similar, though otherworldly, vein, Ghost Researchers in Pennsylvania (GRiP) will be offering a ghost hunting workshop Saturday through IUP's office of continuing education. The event includes an optional evening field experience at an undisclosed local haunted location.

Based in Indiana, GRiP uses video footage and photographs in an attempt to document the presence of ghosts. The members also listen for EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena).

A university spokesman indicates all seats have been taken for the popular workshop this time around, but another session is being planned for the Fall 2006 semester--just in time for Halloween, perhaps?
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www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvilledis ... 27402.html
 
There may be a better thread for this, but various search efforts didn't turn up anything obvious. Next time any of you are in Philly, stop on in and give us a report!

New Curiosity Shop Raises Eyebrows
July 28, 2012 11:00 AM

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A new curiosity shop near 9th and South Streets is raising some eyebrows. It specializes in the macabre and the unusual.

Chloe is the owner of Requiem on the 600 block of 9th Street.

(PHOTOS: Requiem Shop)

“I have a small jewelry line that I use a lot of insect parts and small animal bones in, so I make those in house and we sell them here,” says Chloe as she worked on a necklace made out of a mouse skull and bones.

There are old porcelain dolls, taxidermy bears and boars and specimens in jars for sale.

“I got fetal pigs, squid, octopus, eyeballs,” explains Chloe.

There are old surgical instruments and things that undertakers use to use.

“I have this make up kit from a funeral home from the 40s,” Chloe says.

She says she collected objects of this sort all her life and it was a natural fit to sell them.

“I think people are really excited to see something new and different on South Street. I think it needed a bit of fresh air,”

For more information visit: requiemshop.com
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http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/0 ... -eyebrows/
 
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