History & local legend
The Eight Square School at Old Bedford Village was built in Fishertown in 1851 and moved to the museum with its original floor and foundation. Its eight-sided shape inspired a memorable explanation: with no ordinary square corners, the devil would have nowhere to trap a child.
That tradition was already in print in Pennsylvania Heritage in 1980. The same article offered a practical explanation from guide Evelyn Kirsch: the design improved lighting, distributed heat more evenly and made room for more pupils. The school remained in use in the Fishertown area until 1932.
Later ghost stories describe a man in old-fashioned clothing sitting in the doorway. The regional Pennsylvania Haunts & History collection also recounts an investigation by Patty Wilson, who left a recorder overnight and reportedly heard children laughing on the playback, with a man’s voice behind them.
Sources
- Wendel Liska, Preserving Yesterday’s Life for Tomorrow, Pennsylvania Heritage, Summer 1980. Interviews guide Evelyn Kirsch and records the devil tradition and the school’s move
- Pennsylvania Haunts & History, Conemaugh collection, Old Bedford Village Schoolhouse, identifies Patty Wilson’s recorder report and the figure in the doorway
- Society of Architectural Historians, Old Bedford Village, original slate blackboard, Fishertown provenance and reproduced benches and stove
- Museum operator, Old Bedford Village visitor information
- OpenStreetMap, individually surveyed eight-sided building, distinct from the nearby Kniseley School
