History & local legend
The former Mary W. Devine Elementary School in Croydon, Bucks County, had a woodland ghost story posted in September 2002. It described bonfires and children's cries behind the school around eleven at night. The tale cast the children as missing pupils and imagined the teacher who took them still moving through the trees.
The school's actual namesake was longtime educator Mary Devine. She began teaching in 1923 and became principal of the George Taylor school, which was renamed for her in 1962. The building was demolished in 2015.
Sources
- Unsolved Mysteries, September 16, 2002 posting, Croydon/Children of Mary
- LevittownNow, 1962 interview from the Levittown Times, school naming and demolition
- Bristol Township comprehensive plan, 2007 school inventory, Mary W. Devine Elementary on Keystone Street
- USDA, 2008 aerial showing the former school and neighboring tree cover
