History & local legend
Pittsburgh's National Aviary occupies ground once used by Western Penitentiary. In August 1863, the prison held more than a hundred Confederate cavalrymen captured following John Hunt Morgan's raid. That history has become part of the ghost stories told about the North Side aviary.
In a 2024 Pittsburgh City Paper interview, Shawn Kelly of the Pittsburgh Paranormal Society described an investigation in which his group saw floating lights in the Wetlands exhibit. He also said someone recorded a shadow resembling a soldier.
Writer Patty Wilson collected other accounts from aviary employees, including unexplained footsteps, moving shadows, and noises in the basement. One employee preparing food for the birds said a radio switched itself on and its tuning dial moved.
