History & local legend
St. Ann’s Drive in Drifton has a local tale about a twisted tree, called either the witch tree or the devil’s tree. According to the version collected by the Haunt Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania, teenagers out for a ride struck it and died. Its odd shape was explained as the result of repeated vehicle collisions.
The story turned the tree into a dare: anyone who touched its bark supposedly risked sharing the drivers’ fate. Even people familiar with the legend disagreed over which tree it meant, so the tale belongs to the road and its local reputation as much as to a single trunk.
