PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania is one of the oldest states, and it’s also one of the most captivating. Some stories of a creepy past are peppered with traumatic events, accidents, and gruesome murders.

There are numerous abandoned prisons, asylums, and schools that make it the perfect scary movie. Here are some of the most haunted places in Pennsylvania.

PENNHURST STATE SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL, SPRING CITY

The Pennhurst school was originally called the Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic. Operational in the ’20s for about fifty years, the hospital was closed off from the rest of Pennsylvania, then quickly became overpopulated and out of control. The Pennhurst has been opened again for attractions starting in the fall of 2018, where you can go visit the old school/hospital.

For more information go to Pennhurst Memorial.

CENTRALIA, COLUMBIA COUNTY

A community of roughly 1,500 was supported by the seam of coal that ran beneath the town. However, in 1962, a fire was lit in the town dump that spread beneath the entire valley and threatened the community’s existence. Over the next few years, the fire continued to burn, increasing the levels of toxic gases, like carbon monoxide, to dangerous levels. By 2012, there were only 10 people left in Centralia.

For more information go to history.com 

THE LIGHTNER FARMHOUSE

Built in 1862, this Civil War-era home saw use as a field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg, where it was the location for some truly gruesome amputations and surgeries. It’s now said that ghosts from the battle haunt the grounds.

 EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY

Eastern State Penitentiary, where ghostly beings are said to roam freely throughout its halls. After 142 years, the penitentiary closed its doors in 1971. It has since been named a National Historic Landmark. The experiment to reform criminals through strict isolation, other than daily visits from the warden and guards, soon became a model for prison design worldwide.

 For more information and tour, date click here.

BRANDYWINE BATTLEFIELD, CHESTER COUNTY 

Largest single day of the American Revolution where nearly 30,000 soldiers undertake on a ten square mile area of roughly 35,000 acres. 2000 of the men fighting died on what was the bloodiest day of the revolution. To this day visitors still say they can hear the battle echoing around them. Multiple sightings of soldiers and horses can be spotted. 

For more information visit BRANDYWINE BATTLEFIELD.

 THE OLD JAIL MUSEUM, JIM THORPE

This old building is best known as the site of the hanging of several Irish coal miners known as Molly Maguires in the 1800s. Today Historians feel the Molly trial was a surrender of state sovereignty. However, the men claimed their innocence and even to this day Historians believe the condemned men were falsely accused of murder. One man before his execution put his handprint on the wall and proclaimed ” This handprint will remain as proof of my innocence.”  The handprint is still visible today for everyone to view even though past wardens tried to eradicate it by washing it, painting it, and even taking down part of the wall and re-plastering it. 

For more information on the jail click here