Our journey to find a good story to make people think I’m interesting (ghost-hunt) began at Wopsononock lookout. We were right en route to the bend where the White Lady’s carriage fell, plunging her into the depths of a ravine, which is obviously the best way to start a hiking trip. After an inspiring photo session (evidence for the police, just in case), we found our way stumbling down the forest on Wopsononock mountain. 

As the legend goes, the White Lady was staying at the Wopsononock Hotel for her honeymoon. Now, the Wopsononock Hotel burned down far, far before we ever got there. But there was one thing that could never join it in the flames- the train tracks. These train tracks were exactly what made the hotel so accessible which exponentially increased its popularity. And there was a pretty good chance they hadn’t been removed. 

Our thought process was that if we find the train tracks, we find the hotel, and we can find where she fell, and perhaps anything interesting about what happened to the White Lady. Seems solid, right? 

Well, in a shocking turn of events, there is in fact no hiking trail on Wopsy Mountain that will bring you to abandoned train tracks, since the only person who would want such a thing would have to be crazy (shoutout to my group mates, and of course, Professor Tuttle). This meant that we got lost almost immediately since paper maps are supremely unhelpful in discovering which is left and which is right when all you have to navigate is a wide variety of the exact same tree. 

By the time the sun set, we’d ended up falling from low cliffs, stumbling upon stone chairs, and climbing down the mountain onto the literal highway, and yet, no sign of the White Lady. We decided it was time to bring out the big guns: actually driving down Devil’s Elbow. 

A constant in the White Lady’s legend is that while you drive alone along Devil’s Elbow in the dead of night, all alone in your car with only the stars for company, a pretty woman dressed in white will ask for a ride. She will be quiet and kind, and once your car leaves the highway, she will disappear. 

In yet another shocking turn of events, (debatable) she didn’t show. Which was actually kind of disappointing because I was actually hoping to see her, just a little. Perhaps we should’ve taken the trip one at a time, each of us driving alone. But since the vast majority of us could not drive (and the ring problem of not having an actual car) it didn’t end up working out like that. 

For all that we ended a ghost-hunting trip notably ghost-less, there’s something exciting about running around a mountain and designating every fallen scrap of metal and brick as a relic of the Wopsononock Hotel. We may not have been able to meet the White Lady, but I think we learned a lot about her on our trip. Maybe next time she’ll see fit to say hello and give us a bit of a fright. Where’s the fun without a few near-death experiences?

  The location may be known as the Devil’s Elbow, but she is an angel. An angel in the Devil’s Elbow. 

At an unspecified time in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a couple was riding on a horse-drawn carriage in the Wopsy Mountain.  According to the most common version, the father of the bride was chasing them in anger, which startled the horse and resulted in it picking up speed. When the horse lost control, the carriage went over Devil’s Elbow. The husband was killed and decapitated, while sources claim the woman survived. The head of the husband was never recovered. 

  Shortly after this tragic accident, locals reported seeing a woman dressed in white wandering not far from the crash site. She has been observed carrying a lantern or candle and has a distraught expression. Other eyewitnesses claim they had offered rides to a woman in white, who’s reflection didn’t appear in any of the car mirrors, and who always disappeared after a while with no signs of escape. None of the sightings were able to offer a rational explanation or motive about this strange figure, with the most popular consensus being that the woman is looking for her husband, or his decapitated head. 

What makes the White Lady of Wopsy Mountain unique is not just the image of her as a supernatural spirit, but that she isn’t meant to be scary. Unlike the archetypical depictions of supernatural myths that are flying spirits or bloodthirsty monsters, the White Lady appears to be a weary depiction of humans being cursed to wander forever. In a way, she represents unattainable desires and is a reflection of our desperate needs to accomplish a task. 

It took us almost an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at the site near Devil’s Elbow. Once we arrived at the spot, we began our hike into the woods. The mountain and forest scenery made Penn State University Park look like a booming metropolis. I laughed with the others at the fact that people said that our university was in the middle of nowhere. If only they could come and visit this part of Altoona. 

After taking in the scenery, we began our hike. The first order of business was to try and follow a trail and locate an estimate to the spot where the White Lady fell. This was my first time hiking in many years and so far, it had been like a special comeback. Wearing a hoodie and jeans and trekking through hard sticks and leaves in semi-hot weather. Clearly, someone underestimated the outside temperature.

One of the first significant challenges we faced was a sheer cliff that descended to a lake at the bottom. Thankfully, one of our group members had a rod that he used as a grip for us to carefully get back on the trail with. A couple of times, we needed to place our feet on a rock and test it to see whether it wasn’t going to slip. Some rocks were adhered to the dirt and some were waiting to break free. Thankfully, we were able to clear the pathway. Definitely need to take more hiking lessons before going on another adventure. 

  Back in the woods, we observed that the surrounding area wasn’t entirely like we predicted. Rather than being a dense forest, we were surrounded by skeletal trees and scattered broken leaves. Bushes covered every angle we tried to move through and this hindered our view. At a few areas, we saw what appeared to be an abandoned lifeguard chair. Brown and rusted up, it was just standing in the middle of the forest. At this point, the forest appeared to be more like an abandoned theme park. The site where we proposed the White Lady’s cart crashed looked less like a part of the road(the road was actually 10 minutes from the spot) and more like a random spot where she fell. 

Hiking through the bushes was the only way to get to the main road. As we descended, we decided to record a few videos where we would showcase our appreciation for chasing the White Lady and during the videos, I constantly yelled “SHOUT OUT TO PROFESSOR TUTTLE!” I mean, come on. We’re college students who are spending our weekend out in the woods chasing a supernatural legend. What better assignment to shout out our professor with? 

Getting to the main road was difficult. We could see the silver outline of the road, but to get there, we needed to descend down another steep, bush-covered, drop. We decided to keep walking on the mini cliff and locate a less steep descent. The minutes passed by till we realized that the only way to get to the road was down the cliff. Once again, the grueling task of descending down an incline presented itself. I struggled a little bit more with this incline as every rock for foot support seemed to break off at the slightest touch. It took us nearly 20 minutes to get down on the road and watch for cars. Thankfully, we were very rural and were able to get to the other side of the road unarmed. Just imagine the White Lady wandering around and watching these four college students get lost in the woods. 

Overall, we didn’t exactly find what we were looking for. The Devil’s Elbow wasn’t exactly how we pictured it, but the surrounding area did give off an eerie vibe that something did happen here. Maybe, not necessarily the White Lady’s death, but instead, people could have gotten lost here and only a select few made it out. Well, maybe we’re the lucky ones.

The Eastern State Penitentiary is a large prison located almost in the city center, which is a very interesting thing because I thought the prisons should be located far from the city center.

When I first arrived here, I was surprised by the towering walls. As a prison, such high walls are too exaggerated. If a moat is excavated and a suspension bridge is built around the prison, it will be an indestructible castle. There are still traces of peeling on the pitted walls. Give people an ancient and oppressive feeling. I’m curious if such a building is located in a city. Would anyone really like it?

The interior of the prison is divided into 7 areas, and the style and creation time of the cells in each area are different. There is one of the largest areas, with a structure of 3 floors or higher, because that area is not open to the public and it is very dark, which I cannot see clearly. But I think that area is the most worth visiting. Because increasing the height without changing the width of the building only makes the prison feel more oppressive and suffocating. Moreover, during the spring break, the weather is very cold and windy, and the cold wind passes through the long, straight corridor of the prison, making me feel even colder inside than outside. This is very interesting. In this place, not only do you feel your body losing its freedom, but when you see the unparalleled walls around you, your heart will also be trapped here, which is an emotional torment and pressure.

In short, I highly recommend that you visit the Eastern State Penitentiary when you have time. The visit duration should be within 2.5 hours.

My group decided our Pennsylvania Ghost Tale adventure would be based on the Werewolves of Pennsylvania. Wolves were once very prevalent in the area and many of the first settlers in Pennsylvania were from European decent, where werewolf tales were already prevalent. Many of the werewolf tales made their way to Pennsylvania due to the high wolf population. The tale we decided to focus on was about a werewolf in Schwaben Valley in Northumberland County in the 1800s. A young girl, May Paul, would spend her days tending to her family’s flock of sheep. A strange man began to hang around May and her sheep, which made many of the locals very uncomfortable. Rumors began to spread that the old man was a werewolf because May’s flock of sheep always remained safe from wolves due to her protection of the old man. Many of the other sheepherders in the area did not have this same luck, so her parents did drive the man away. The wolves began to attack even during the day, causing many of the locals to keep watch at night with their rifles. One night, a man saw an old wolf crossing the road, so he decided to shoot it. The wolf ran off into the woods, and when the man followed the trail of blood, he came across the old man who loved May. The man accounts for the very hairy body of the man and his razor sharp teeth, which led him to believe that the old man was without a doubt a werewolf. The man’s body was buried in an unmarked location, but his grave reads: “die Woolf man’s grob“.

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On Saturday, May 6th, my group and I decided to travel to Northumberland County in Pennsylvania to find the wolf man’s grave as the story had been told by Henry Shoemaker in his gothic tales. Henry Shoemaker tells the story of a werewolf who had grown an attachment to a human girl named May Paul, who was hunted by a neighboring villager. It was said that werewolves would travel back to his grave to pay respects to their king and the girl he loved. None of us had previously used w physical map to get around which proved a challenge and we found ourselves getting turned around a few times. Through the help of locals, we were able to find our way back and local gravesites we weren’t able to see on the map. Through research, we were able to find Himmel’s Church near Schwaben Creek which is the exact location it is rumored he was buried. Though the grave would have been unmarked so we would not know if we had found it, the adventure itself was nonetheless engaging. None of the townspeople we spoke with seemed to be familiar with the disappointing tale but it did not stop our journey.

Planning for this trip and our research in advance was the foundation that held our trip together. It was difficult to find resources outside of Henry Shoemaker as the tale of the “Line Mountain Werewolves” doesn’t seem to garner much attention, especially in modern times. It was said that during this time farmers feared the wolves that would come and steal their sheep at night. There was one family, of which May Paul was a part, that didn’t suffer from these attacks. A connection was made between the older man who would come around May and the wolves that raided the farm. According to Shoemaker’s tale, a man one day had shot an old world but the “…next day, the man went to find the wolf for the $25 reward…Instead, he found the Paul girl’s aged lover stretched out, lying on his back, shot through the heart.” After he was buried they say wolves came from all over to visit his grave and that no wolves ever bothered the Paul family’s farm. In our research we found the main places of interest being Schwaben Creek, Northumberland County, Line Mountain, and Himmel’s Covered Bridge. There were a few grave sights near churches in the Schwaben Creek area so we decided to stop there first. Following those stops we went close in town to an antique shop, with hopes that the locals there may have some information or memorabilia from the period.

The journey itself started smoothly as we stayed on one road for about an hour. Once closer to the town, and trying to navigate the different hotspots noted through the articles we’ve read in addition to local guides is where we fell into some trouble. We made it to the first grave site pretty easily but found no indication of this place’s relation to wolf-mans grave. Having no experience using a physical map and taking a trip to an unknown part of town certainly proved a challenge, but with local help, we were able to find our way. We went to about two grave sights, one called Wolf’s Cross Grave, and another named Sunbury. We saw a lot of headstones but nothing stood out particularly. After the first grave, we went closer to town to see some of the locals and ask if they may have known anything about this story. After finding a nearby antique shop we felt that if anyone were to know some old stories it would be them. We explained our trip and asked if they had ever heard of Henry Shoemaker or wolf man’s grave. Though they were not directly familiar with the story they had pointed us towards Himmel’s Church where there was a cemetery. We had recognized the name from a past article in our research as others that had traveled noted arriving in that area. After grabbing some lunch we headed towards where we were directed in collaboration with our map. After around ten minutes we arrived at Himmel’s Church which is photographed below. There was a wooded area nearby as well as a gravesite which gave us hope that this could have been where the wolf man was killed. I remember seeing that there was a death record for May Paul’s family confirming that she and her family had once lived in that county, furthering my curiosity about the foundation of this tale. I found it interesting that a baseball field was merely a few feet away from where it’s believed werewolves had once roamed. On our way out of Himmel’s Church, we did find some trouble finding our way back to Penn State since it was far away from the road we had originated. We drove in circles for a few minutes before reaching a residential area. Making a sharp turn, we came upon an older couple out on their lawn and asked for directions back to Penn State. They told us to head straight and what exit we should turn to and we were able to find our way back.

The legend we chose focused on the tale of werewolves and their interactions with humanity in the past. Inspired by the unknown, we chose to travel to the rumored grave sight of a known Pennsylvania werewolf. We were unable to find exactly the spot where he might have been buried but got pretty close to the area that the story stems from. It was something new and exciting to find myself on a supernatural hunt and relying on the people around me to endure a successful trip. Although we may not know if we made it to his grave, the exploration in itself was exciting. It forced us to rely on people and pay close attention to our surrounding areas both going and when we were lost in that area.

Himmel’s Covered Bridge

In Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, legend holds that there lies an unmarked grave—not remarkable on its own, for there lie many unnamed graves there, in the many cemeteries in the area. But this grave is special: legend has it that it belonged to a man with a wolf spirit. The legend goes that a community of sheepherders was having a wolf problem; one day, a strange man entered the town and became infatuated with a young girl named May. While he was around, May, her family, and her flock of sheep remained untouched by the wolves, while other families had their livestock ravaged. One lone night, hunters in the area shot and killed a large wolf. When they followed the blood trail to reclaim the body, they found not a wolf, but a man. His body was subsequently buried in Schwaben Valley, Northumberland county, remembered under the local legend of the Wolfman’s Grave.

Our journey to Wolfman’s Grave started out uneventful. The four of us packed into my car and we drove out to Schwaben Valley as a general starting point, with a few marked cemeteries to look out for based on our research. On the way—not at all relevant to the legend, but noteworthy nonetheless—we stopped at a Planet Fitness to use the bathroom, and in doing so found out that the “Lunk Alarm” was a real thing. Who knew.

Anyways, we planned to stop at a few cemeteries and look around, either for the grave of May, the girl from the story, or for the unmarked Wolfman’s Grave, of which we had little more than a vague physical description. It was more difficult than we anticipated; we drove in circles, through sparsely populated woodland and farmland, searching in vain for our next destination. At one point, once we crossed off our first few primary locations, we simply started looking in any cemetery we passed, desperately hoping we may stumble onto the grave by chance. The legend research we did left us with a vague area of where the grave might be, but no definite address. Our best guesses led us to a few cemeteries along Schwaben Creek, which was, according to legend, where the wolfman was originally sighted.

One of our stops, the Wolf’s Cross Road Church and cemetery, was our most hopeful. The name itself made us think we were getting close; and, as it turns out, we were. We just didn’t know it at that time.

After looking around, we realized that the grave wasn’t there. Dejected, having spent a few hours at this point driving around, we decided to stop at a local antique store for help. We figured if anyone would know about local legends, it would be the owners of an antique store. So, in Sunbury, we stopped and entered a quaint little store and asked the owners for advice. They pointed us towards Himmel’s Church, where legend has it the wolfman was sighted at a nearby bridge in werewolf form. We did take our time leaving the store. It had a lot of old Pennsylvania Dutch items, cool crystals and minerals, as well as items from other local legends.

Eventually—after a lunch stop at a Burger King nearby—we packed back in my car again and set off for the final destination of our trip. It was about thirty minutes deeper into rural Pennsylvania than we already were. By that point, the only thing along the main road were churches, cemeteries, and the occasional home. Side roads ran out to farms, but other than that, it truly felt like we were out there all alone. When we got to Himmel’s Church, we expected a challenge, or at least a bit of a hike, to find the alleged bridge. Instead, it was visible from the parking lot of the church. However, our first stop was the Himmel’s Church cemetery.

We spent some time investigating the cemetery, which had many unmarked graves. It seemed our legend trip couldn’t come to a full conclusion; we wouldn’t have definitive proof of wolfman’s grave no matter how hard we looked. Instead, we visited the bridge, satisfied to have seen at least a little of the legend, and headed home.

Following the rules was definitely difficult. We had to have the antique store owners write down the directions for us, and even finding the antique store was tricky; we had to drive around town, hoping we’d eventually stumble upon an antique store. Even leaving became tricky. Since our eventual destination was outside of what we planned for, we had to ask a couple we saw on the side of the road for directions towards the highway so we could find our way back home. And, even if we wanted to use our phones, we were so far out into the boonies that none of us had service.

I do think it enhanced my experience on the legend trip. I was able to fully focus on what was going on and throw myself into the fun of it all. I think I would have researched more thoroughly had I really realized what “no phones” meant. Without asking locals for directions, I don’t know that we would have made it to Himmel’s Church. It would have saved definitely a few hours had we known that from the get-go; our trip ended up being ~6 hours, when we all expected it to take around 3-4. I definitely don’t regret it, though! Getting lost kind of made the end result when we did find the bridge and the cemetery all the sweeter.

My visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary, a former prison located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a memorable one to say the least. As I approached the entrance, the imposing Gothic-style architecture of the prison stood tall and ominous, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding, even if it was reduced to a museum. My knowledge of the prison already had me on edge, and I could feel the history emanating from its imposing 10-acre presence and its 30-foot worn stone walls.

Once inside, I was struck by the eerie atmosphere of the prison. The cell blocks were dimly lit, and the only sounds were the occasional creaking of the wooden doors and the echoing of footsteps in the corridors. The cells themselves were small, cramped, and devoid of any personal belongings or decorations, giving the impression of complete isolation. The mandated silence must have added to the already suffocating claustrophobic feeling the prisoners felt back when the prison was still operational.

As I walked through the prison, I learned more about the history of Eastern State Penitentiary and the Quaker-inspired philosophy that influenced its design. The prison was built in 1829 and was designed to reform prisoners through solitude and reflection, with the hope that this would encourage them to become better people. Despite this noble intention, the reality of life in Eastern State was harsh. Prisoners spent up to 23 hours a day in their cells, with no contact with other inmates or the outside world. The silence was only broken by the occasional visit from a guard or a chaplain, and prisoners were forced to wear hoods when they were outside their cells to prevent any communication.

One of the most striking features of the prison was the Al Capone cell, Al Capone’s cell in Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the most famous cells in the prison. Capone, who was one of the most notorious gangsters of the Prohibition era, was incarcerated in Eastern State from 1929 to 1930 for carrying a concealed, unlicensed revolver. During his stay, he was housed in a cell in the Park Avenue block, which was known as the “Kings Row” due to its exclusive and relatively luxurious nature.

Capone’s cell was furnished with some items that were not standard issue in the prison, including a desk, a radio, a rug, a mirror, a lamp, and an armchair. The cell was also larger than the standard cells, with a floor space of around 350 square feet. These amenities were provided to Capone due to his wealth and influence, as he was able to pay off the prison officials to provide him with better living conditions. Despite the luxurious furnishings, Capone’s cell was still a prison, and he was subjected to the same harsh conditions as other inmates. He was required to wear a prison uniform and was only allowed outside of his cell for an hour each day for exercise. He was also under constant surveillance by prison officials, who suspected that he was still running his criminal empire from inside the prison.

After his release from Eastern State Penitentiary, Capone was transferred to another prison in Atlanta before being released on parole in 1939. He continued to be involved in organized crime until his death in 1947. Today, Capone’s cell in Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the most popular attractions in the prison, drawing thousands of visitors each year. It serves as a reminder of the prison’s infamous past and the role that Capone played in it.

Overall, my visit to Eastern State Penitentiary was a haunting and sobering experience that left a lasting impression on me. The prison’s imposing Gothic architecture and eerie atmosphere, combined with the stories of the harsh conditions that prisoners endured, made it clear that this was a place of great suffering and hardship. However, the prison also serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of treating prisoners humanely and giving them the opportunity to reform. The philosophy that influenced the prison’s design may have been flawed in practice, but it still represented an attempt to create a more just and equitable system of punishment.