History & local legend
The Pig Lady is a longstanding legend of Cannelton, a former mining community in Beaver County's Darlington Township. Her story centers on Barbara Davidson, a young woman said to have been murdered in the 1790s. Generations of retelling have changed both the circumstances of her death and the appearance of the ghost believed to haunt the area.
In some versions, Barbara returns as a headless woman. In others, she has a pig's head, or appears as a floating head. Children heard the stories around the old cannel coal mines, and the figure became part of the community's shared folklore.
Local residents began celebrating the legend with a folklore festival in 2019. In 2024, a roadside historical marker near Ridge Road and Cannelton Road recognized the Pig Lady and the generations who kept her story alive.
Sources
- William G. Pomeroy Foundation and Little Beaver Historical Society, text and coordinates of the 2024 Pig Lady marker
- Farm and Dairy, reporting on Cannelton’s folklore festival, Barbara Davidson and different generations’ tellings
- Frances Espy McDanel, Milestones, Fall 1982, the headless woman and a wagoner’s four-horse team
