Published Monday, October 21, 2002
or back country legends?
Herald Staff Writer
As the Halloween season creeps up on us, and kids and dentists get ready for the huge influx of all things candy, a few of us adults working at The Herald decided to go in search of some our region's fright sites and their stories of hauntings.
An editor, photographer and I decided to drive into Butler County and see for ourselves if some places we had heard were haunted were actually visited by visible spooks.
Daylight crept away as we drove on back roads toward our first destination at the junction of state routes 173, 528 and 8. We set the mood by swapping ghostly stories from our childhoods.
Our appetites were whetted by the time we got to the Old Stone House, a restored former tavern built in 1822 at what were the first two public roads in Butler County -- the Pittsburgh-Franklin Pike (now Route 8) and the Butler-Mercer Pike (now Route 173.)
The building and its grounds are now owned by Slippery Rock University and will be the site of a family-friendly Halloween tour and tales in each room between 6 and 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
Our plan was to take a few pictures and see if we could find any of the ghosts featured in several tales.
One story of recent years is that the Old Stone House was locked up with its alarm set and dominos were left in a jumble on a gaming table. No one was in the house overnight, but when a student came in the next morning, the dominos spelled the ominous warning to "get out."
As we toured the house with the help of an SRU student and a candle, we didn't see any spooks, but the candle's flicker against the walls, the age of the building and a really creepy wreath of flowers made from hair (which was popular in that time period) kept us all on edge.
Someone mentioned that a bridge just past a nearby church and cemetery had a haunting of its own, and we decided to visit there next. In the dark, the cemetery was eerie as we passed nervously by.
When we got to the bridge, we talked about the story of a bride said to have died in the water after a crash on the bridge. The legend is that you have to park your car with its lights out on the bridge, then look in the rear view mirror and a vision of the dripping-wet bride should appear.
Yes we are intelligent, educated, street-savvy women, but we parked the car at the bridge approach and left the lights on because, well, you just never know.
As we walked on the very little wooden deck, I slipped and fell against the side rail of the bridge. Naturally, I screamed which prompted answering yells from my partners in creepy crime. They chewed me out for scaring everyone, but we were all laughing as well.
We decided to try out the bride legend and two of us started to run toward the car, thinking all three of us were together. We weren't and our photographer told us in no uncertain terms never to leave her behind like that again.
We parked on the bridge, and turned out the lights but the rear-view mirror conjured nary a bride nor groom.. Maybe it would be hard for anything that goes bump in the night to creep up on three friends who were laughing and having such a good time being deliciously scared.
We headed toward our third destination by following Route 528, getting onto U.S. 422 west and then taking U.S. 19 south until you come to state Route 68 and hang a left, looking for signs that say Historic Harmony, until you come to the Historic Harmony Inn.
Okay, that's the route for people who like to get to places in a safe and timely manner. We got lost for 45 on smaller and smaller back roads until we finally ended up in Evans City, east of Harmony. The few houses we saw on our travels seemed to have lots of Halloween decorations, such as graveyards and orange lights and the rain and wind were taking their toll on my compact car.
We were thankful when we pulled into the well-lighted, warm-looking inn in quaint Harmony. The town founded in 1804 is registered as a National Historic Landmark District.
Inside the two-story wooden treasure of an inn, we sat down to delicious appetizers of seafood quesadillas, french fries topped with chili con queso, jalapenos, bacon bits and ranchero sauce (among other things) also known as cholesterol-lover's carb, and of course an order of supremo nachos. That was because those learned in ghost-hunting lore, know that Mexican food is the ultimate ghost-quencher.
But besides munching, we were on a mission because the inn is known for its hauntings. The stories tell of set tables later found in disarray, bar stools being thrown across the lounge after everyone but the bartender had gone, and the television talking to an employee and telling him to "get out of here right now!"
A picture of the inn's stairway on the wall shows a ghostly child peeking around the banister. Though we didn't see any ghosts, a tour by a manager showed us the odd corners of a distinguished building with lots of character and creaking floors.
A few days later, my editor and I and friends visited another haunted place in Butler County which is creating an urban legend of its own.
Cheeseman's Fright Farm off U.S. Route 19 just north of Portersville is a definite hot spot for dressed-up ghouls and specters. A haunted hayride that takes you to a haunted house is worth the $10 fee. They also have a hay maze, straw tunnels, and pettable farm animals for kids.
According to a former resident of the area, the house over the hill burned down years ago and he and his friends were always afraid to go near the place in their younger days.
Such are the things that legends are made of.
For more information about the Old Stone House, call (724) 738-2408; for more information about the Historic Harmony Inn, call (724) 452-5124; for more information about Cheeseman's Fright Farm, check out www.cheesemanfarm.com