History & local legend
Reynolds Mansion in Bellefonte was built in 1885 for Major William Frederick Reynolds. His nephew, also named William Frederick Reynolds, inherited the property and married Louise Hoy. Louise used a wheelchair after a lengthy illness and died in 1931. Later stories identified a heavy rolling sound in the house—sometimes compared to a bowling ball—as her chair moving over the floor.
A more recent account comes from investigator Steven Mason. His team placed a camera in Mrs. Reynolds’s room, and he said the footage showed a partly formed figure appearing beside the bed at 10:15 p.m. It moved forward four steps and vanished at the bathroom doorway.
Sources
- Town&Gown, Centre County Hauntings, investigator Steven Mason’s first-person account
- The Pennsylvania Rambler, Mysteries of the Reynolds Mansion, Louise Reynolds and the wheelchair tradition
- Centre County Historical Society, Reynolds Mansion history
- Historical Marker Database, plaque at 101 West Linn Street
