History & local legend
Beside Eckley Road on Buck Mountain, a group of rocks forms a seat known as the Stone Couch. Local folklore gives it a three-part curse. In one common version, sitting once brings scratches or bad luck; sitting twice brings death to someone close to you; a third visit ends with your own death.
One explanation places the rocks' arrangement during the influenza epidemic of 1918. A man was driving his sick wife and child toward a doctor in Weatherly when the car broke down. He made them a resting place from the stones and continued on foot for help. By the time he returned with a doctor, they had died.
The story varies between tellers, as do the consequences assigned to each sitting. Residents have also described a figure on the road and headlights appearing unexpectedly near the stones.
Sources
- Donald R. Serfass, Times News, October 25, 2014, interviews with local residents and folklorist Bob Vybrenner
- Melanie Akren-Dickson, comparison of local reporting from 1991 to 2021 and firsthand visits to the stone
- The Pennsylvania Rambler, 2020 field visit and recollections from Hazleton resident Deb
- Fotospot, location photographs and published feature coordinates
