This month, the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers turn fifteen years old. Not each individual member, of course – I passed fifteen quite a while back – but the entire team. LHPS was founded in October 2007.
The Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers are the most scientific, reliable paranormal investigators in Clinton County, and perhaps the entire I-80 Frontier. I’m the field leader, and then we have Millie Crawford, Ashlin Cronmiller, Heather Madle, and Tami Brannan. And recently, we decided to take a little road trip down the Pine-Loganton Road.
The Pine-Loganton Road runs from McElhattan to Loganton, passing very near I-80 on the south end. It’s got a cemetery roughly on each end, and is considered the most haunted road in Clinton County. There are more old legends along this stretch of road than anywhere else, and the book “Mountain Folks” by Homer Rosenberger details many of them, even containing a map of the road showing where the ghosts are said to be.
All photos courtesy of Tami Brannan
There are said to be ghosts in each cemetery, as well as the ghost of a murdered servant girl who takes the form of a dancing cupboard for some reason. There have been Bigfoot sightings along that road. There’s a legend of a man who froze to death trying to hike to see his girlfriend. And an old legend of a horned serpent near Sulphur Spring, on the south end. So naturally, it was the place for us to take a ride and investigate.
We began with the Stamm Cemetery in Wayne Township, which is not precisely on the Pine-Loganton Road, but close to the north end. We took some photos and did a couple of tests, but didn’t find anything too exciting, so we got on the road and did a little driving.
We took Heather’s vehicle, and I directed her to roughly where the Dancing Cupboard was said to be. (When you’re tracking down legends that are over a hundred years old, the directions are not going to be exactly precise.) According to the old story, a servant girl was walking home one night and was killed by a rejected suitor. From then on, she would appear in the form of a cupboard, dancing in the night, and would frighten pedestrians.
We got out and took some photos, did some recordings, and took a few readings. I did discover a cold spot, where the temperature went from the mid-eighties to twenty-six, just for a minute, and then rose back up again, and that was strange.
It may have been an indication of a ghost, but we also didn’t see any Dancing Cupboards. We did ask on the recording why the ghost is said to look like that, but we didn’t get any discernible response.
Down the road, we stopped at a likely-looking spot to search for either ghosts or Bigfoot. We found some light-colored hairs on the ground that were almost certainly deer hair, but I took a sample anyway.
“I’m going to check on this,” I said. “I haven’t quite yet given up hope of a blonde Bigfoot.”
After that, we drove down to Sulphur Spring. Just north of Loganton, Sulphur Spring is under a little pavilion. As the name suggests, the water from this spring tastes very strongly of sulphur. The Native Americans believed it to have healing abilities, but I’ll personally never know as I can’t get it down.
There is a legend, written down by Henry Shoemaker, of a serpent that was created in the area by a comet. (It makes a little more sense if you read the story, but not much.) I tested the water, which came out a little bit alkaline, and we took a bunch of photos. We didn’t find any sign of the serpent, but you never know.
After that, it was getting late, and we got back in the car and rode home along I-80. We hadn’t managed to track down any ghosts or monsters, but we’d had some fun together as friends, and we’d all needed that.
“Ghosts of the PA Wilds” describes a series of ghost stories from the region written by historian Lou Bernard, who also revels in folklore and the paranormal. Each Monday of October, and leading right to Halloween, the PA Wilds Are Calling blog will feature a new ghost story to celebrate the spooktacular season upon us.
Know of another good PA Wilds ghost story worth investigating and sharing? Let us know in the comment section below!
Author: Lou Bernard
Lou Bernard is a freelance writer, historian, explorer, outdoor enthusiast, and paranormal investigator. A resident of Clinton County, Lou is a staff member at the Annie Halenbake Ross Library. He is a member of the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers, and investigates old legends and stories from the past.