The Pennsylvania collection
Blair County
20 places. A county full of stories.
Discover local legends, historic places and the stories of sites you can explore virtually.
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Bridges & railwaysAltoona-side portal
The road tunnel below Horseshoe Curve near Altoona has a legend about a young Irish woman waiting for a railroad worker who never came home. Local…
Historic homesBaker Mansion
Baker Mansion in Altoona was built in 1849 for ironmaster Elias Baker. Its best-known ghost story concerns his daughter Anna, who never married and…
Baughman Cemetery
Baughman Cemetery lies up a hollow past the Tyrone Sportsmen’s Lake in Blair County. Visitors’ stories describe sudden gusts among the graves even…
Bridges & railways · Aerial viewBennington Curve
On February 18, 1947, the Red Arrow passenger train derailed at Bennington Curve near the Gallitzin Tunnels while traveling from Detroit to New York.…
East Hannah Lane railroad crossing near the former Hannah Furnace station
The railroad crossing at East Hannah Lane near the former Hannah Furnace station is associated with an old woman searching for her family. In the…
Former Woodbury Clay Company pit
The former Woodbury Clay Company workings near Oreminea in Blair County include a large water-filled pit identified by geologists as Oreminea No. 1.…
BattlefieldsFort Roberdeau Road
Fort Roberdeau’s ghostly sentinel belongs to the road approaching the historic site through Sinking Valley’s fields. Older versions of the story…
OutdoorsGanister
Ganister, a former quarry village at the foot of Lock Mountain in Blair County, has a story about a house that appears after its demolition. The…
Historic Cove Forge grounds
Cove Forge near Williamsburg in Blair County was an ironworking settlement where workers turned pig iron into bars. A later story concerned a house…
OutdoorsJanesville Pike (PA 453) at Cambria Street (PA 253)
Janesville Pike, Route 453 between Tyrone and the mountain communities to its north, is associated with a bride called Sylvia. Tyrone historian…
OutdoorsLeap-the-Dips
Leap-the-Dips at Lakemont Park in Altoona is a figure-eight wooden roller coaster dating to 1902. Its ghost story begins with riders noticing a man…
Inns & businesses · Historical imageMishler Theatre
The Mishler Theatre in Altoona opened in 1906 under founder Isaac Mishler. Its ghost stories commonly identify him as a presence still interested in…
OutdoorsNinth Street and Washington Avenue
On Sunday, September 24, 1950, smoke from Canadian forest fires darkened Pennsylvania in the middle of the afternoon. Around Tyrone, the light began…
Bridges & railways · AI illustrationPapermill Road beneath the Everett Railroad
The Paper Mill Bridge in Roaring Spring carries the Everett Railroad above Papermill Road. Two different ghost stories use the bridge’s two levels: a…
Bridges & railwaysRailroaders Memorial Museum
The Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona occupies the Pennsylvania Railroad's former Master Mechanics Building, where materials were once tested…
Historic homesRoyer Mansion
Royer Mansion near Williamsburg in Blair County was the home of an ironmaking family. Its best-known apparition is associated with Carrie Hartman,…
Outdoors · AI illustrationShort Cut Road at Lower Piney Creek Road
Short Cut Road is a rural link off Lower Piney Creek Road near Williamsburg in Blair County. Drivers told of a girl walking ahead of their vehicles…
OutdoorsSpringfield iron mine district at Oreminea
The Springfield iron mines at Oreminea in Blair County are associated with stories of glowing figures continuing the miners' work. The Pennsylvania…
Inns & businessesU.S. Hotel Tavern
The U.S. Hotel Tavern in Hollidaysburg occupies a building reconstructed in 1886 by Bavarian brewmaster Engelbert Gromiller, whose brewery stood next…
OutdoorsWopsononock Mountain
Wopsononock Mountain above Altoona is home to the White Lady of Wopsy, a vanishing hitchhiker associated with its twisting roads. In a familiar…