Ghosts of the PA Wilds: Underground ghosts in the I-80 Frontier

Let’s face it – cemeteries are spooky places. These acres of land where we go when we die, a small stone memorial of each of us. It’s creepy and scary, and perfect for Halloween.

Some people go so far as to buy decorations and make their own lawns into cemeteries. Before collecting their candy, children have to brave the gauntlet of plastic stones with names like “I.B. Dead” and “Boney Corpsealot.” But in the I-80 Frontier landscape of the PA Wilds, there’s one neighborhood where it’s not necessary to create a cemetery – it’s already there.

In Lock Haven, the county seat of Clinton County, along the south side of Bellefonte Avenue, there’s a neighborhood where there was once a cemetery. And, in spite of what people think, some of it is still there.

Great Island Cemetery was established in the late 1700s, before the I-80 Frontier, before Clinton County, before Lock Haven. Many of the prominent settlers were buried there, on the hill overlooking the small settlement. Great Island Presbyterian Church was founded along the banks of the Susquehanna, near Great Island, but soon moved and built their church on the hill. Not long after, the church itself moved down to Water Street, leaving the cemetery by itself.

In September of 1901, the Clinton Republican ran an article about a man who was walking by, and claimed that the woman in black ran out into the street and grabbed him by the wrist. An article at the time said the ghost was, “Looking at him searchingly before releasing her hold on his arm. She then disappeared.” He was quoted anonymously, which means I can’t look him up and find out what happened to him. Though as it was 1901, it’s a safe bet that he’s dead now.

Clearly, both ghosts were likely women buried in the cemetery. Though their identities were never documented, there are clues to who they may have been. And the whole thing makes the story immensely creepier.

By the early 1900s, Great Island Cemetery had fallen into neglect. There had been vandalism, and the overgrown grass surrounded broken, fading tombstones. City Council made the decision to close Great Island Cemetery and move the bodies, and over the next couple of years, that effort was underway.

There are lists of the people known to be buried there, and what happened to them. The word “unfound” comes up a lot. Bodies were exhumed and moved to other cemeteries, but a lot of them weren’t found and remained behind. Later on, homes were built on the land where the cemetery had been, and there have been a disproportionate amount of hauntings reported in those homes. To this day, gravestones and other items routinely turn up in lawns.

During the move, two of the bodies were found to have been petrified. Both female. The Clinton County Times reported, “Two bodies were found to be petrified… In the case of a woman interred 18 years ago the petrification was complete, even the clothing and a corsage of flowers being in good state of preservation. The body weighed about 800 pounds and much difficulty was experienced in removing it.”

One of these bodies was Madeline Yost, and the other was Catherine Phillips. Both were moved to Flemington Cemetery nearby. And it’s possible that they were the female ghosts.

By the way, Conley’s headless body was one of the many unfound ones, likely still under one of the homes built there. So today, Lock Haven has a residential neighborhood built on top of a cemetery, with several ghosts roaming around. If you’re interested in haunted places, it’s a good spot to visit.