History & local legend
In August 1912, boys walking near Schuylkill Haven’s old canal boatyards reported encountering a white figure that beckoned them closer. An August 29 newspaper account placed the incident at a spot known as Quarley Point, near the street then called Canal Street.
The figure had a small head and held both arms out. When it began advancing, the boys fled up the street and told their families. The next evening they armed themselves with stones and clubs for another visit, but none would agree to lead the group back.
Older residents associated the apparition with Jacob Smith, a man who had drowned during the town’s boatbuilding years. According to their recollection, Smith disappeared shortly before a canal boat was launched. The vessel then went into the water sideways and nearly filled. Searchers spent days looking for Smith, but his body was never recovered. Decades later, his name supplied an identity for the figure frightening children near the abandoned yards.
