History & local legend
The abandoned iron-mining village of Scotia, near State College, has a ghost story tied to the murder of Hulda Baudis in October 1910. Bert Delige was convicted of killing her on a road near the village and was hanged in Bellefonte on April 25, 1911. Local tradition places his burial near Scotia’s former African Methodist Episcopal cemetery.
In the 1970s, visitors came to the Centre County Library and described an encounter among Scotia’s ruins to historian Hugh Manchester. They said a figure had repeatedly appeared and disappeared while they were walking, and that everyone in the group had seen it. When they described where it vanished, Manchester recognized the location as Delige’s supposed burial place.
The figure became associated with Delige in local ghost lore. Other walkers have described the sensation of something keeping pace with them as they leave the old ironworks at dusk.
Sources
- Town&Gown, The Black Ghost of Scotia, Hugh Manchester’s account, Baudis, Delige, trial and testimony
- Centre Daily Times, regional reporting on the people and ruins of Scotia
- Centre County Historical Society, Scotia Barrens, ore workings and State Game Lands 176
- PA Bucket List, field account and GPS for the game-lands parking area
