‘Haunted’ South Hills
Things that go bump in the night. Unexplained voices. Creaking walls and apparitions. These are just a few of the things that excite paranormal investigators all year long – not just around Halloween.
While there are a few “haunted” places in the South Hills, so-called ghost hunters, or paranormal investigators, as they are sometimes referred, often have to venture outside the area for investigations. Finding a public place to investigate has its challenges, as the owners of many spots suspected of paranormal activity choose to remain anonymous.
One local spot that is open about its strange occurrences is the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie – or the Carnegie Carnegie. The library, which was built in the early 1900s, is the fifth-oldest Carnegie Library.
According to T.J. Porfeli of Eighty Four, lead investigator and founder of the Western Pennsylvania Paranormal Hunters, or WPPH, the library is “legitimately haunted.” Porfeli’s group has investigated the building numerous times, most recently this summer.
“There’s been paranormal activity in a couple different places,” he says of the library. On one occasion, Porfeli says the group “captured 18 voices in four hours” using EVP recorders. EVP, or electronic voice phenomena, are sounds detected on electronic recordings that resemble speech.
Ghost hunters employ a variety of equipment, including night-vision video cameras, digital cameras and EMF, or electromagnetic force, detectors. The WPPH team, in fact, has a van bearing its WPPH logo in which its equipment is stored.
According to WPPH, the investigators theorize that “spirits” can manipulate EMF fields, which can assist in locating them. High EMF levels also can be caused by stimuli such as power lines.
WPPH uses motion detectors, negative ion generators and two-way radios for investigations. As for the library, “Every time we’re here, we walk away with some sort of evidence,” says Porfeli, who recalled an unusual occurrence involving a flashlight that seemingly rolled on its own and whose beam grew brighter without anyone touching it.
Adele Barton of Washington County, also a member of WPPH, has been on many tours of the library. She recalled one occasion, while in the dressing room below the music hall’s stage, “it sounded like someone was pushing something heavy on the stage.” She said some of the people there went up on the stage and tried to be very loud, but nothing could be heard in the dressing room. There were also reports of a shadow mass appearing on the balcony of the music hall.
During their most recent investigation of the library, Porfeli says, “We believe we captured a man’s face with a beard and a top hat in the library.” The team posted a photograph of what it believes is evidence of the apparition on its website.
Porfeli says different voices have been picked up by the EVP recorder, depending on where they are recording. For instance, only male voices have been recorded in the library’s Civil War room, while both male and female voices have been detected in the music hall, he said. Even children’s voices have been picked up in the main library, according to the investigator.
Some of the best voices captured by WPPH include a scream in the music hall that Porfeli says “we heard with our own ears.” He says the team also has captured what sounds like a voice saying “come near you” in the music hall, and the name “Dave” four times in succession, each time getting louder. “This was captured while no one was in the room,” Porfeli added.
While most of the “evidence” is captured at night, Porfeli said the team has detected unusual occurrences in the daytime as well.
“The main reasons why we ghost-hunt at night is we all have day jobs,” he said. “The other is most of the equipment we use is for filming at night. They say that night vision and full-spectrum equipment can capture a spirit or ghost better than in the daytime.”
Broughton School
Another South Hills location that is said to be haunted is the now-closed Broughton School in South Park.
“We were the first team to go into the building,” Porfeli said. Currently, no trespassing is allowed on the school grounds. However, Porfeli said a couple of years ago the building was open and investigations were allowed to take place.
“We heard all kinds of voices,” Porfeli said of the school, which was built in 1929 along Brownsville Road Extension in South Park.
The school is said to have been built on the same grounds where people died during the Whiskey Rebellion. The 1929 school was not the original school on the grounds. The first school dated back to the 1800s, but according to South Park resident Nicole Weisbrod of Allegheny County Paranormal Investigators, because of a miners’ strike, the original school was shot up and torn down and another built there.
Besides the Whiskey Rebellion deaths, Weisbrod says, “There are several other deaths that are reported to have taken place on the grounds after the school was built, but there are no reports of any deaths having actually occurred in the school.” Many who have investigated reported hearing children’s voices inside.
Porfeli says his team has reported heard faint voices, including “psst” while walking into one of the classrooms.
“I personally have had a couple word conversations with a spirit in the gym,” Porfeli said. “I heard a voice and said, ‘Hello.’ Immediately I heard, ‘Hi.’ I said, ‘How are you?’ and got a response back but could not make it out.”
“Broughton School was amazing,” Weisbrod said.
Weisbrod added, “My group has investigated this building twice and caught many EVPs and heard the children with our own ears,” including the sound of a crying child.
Porfeli said when the school was open to investigations, he and a team from WPPH went there to investigate every week. He said he was at the school at least 50 times.
Other phenomena were also observed by the team at the school.
“We have seen shadow figures dart back and forth from classroom to classroom,” Porfeli said. “We saw a ball in one of the rooms start moving by itself and then roll in a straight line.” He said the team unsuccessfully tried to re-create the rolling pattern.
WPPH team member Matt Hall of South Park said he, Porfeli and the school’s caretaker were there once and were joking about shutting the door to the room they were cleaning. All of a sudden, “the door to the room we were in slammed,” Hall says. “Every door on the whole floor would swing open and closed.” At that time, the generator running the lights to the building ran out of gas, leaving the team in the dark. They agreed that was one of the scariest moments they’ve experienced.
“Over the course of nine months of visiting the school on a weekly basis, I can say I never left the building on any occasion without an experience or evidence.”
The school was closed in 2000, and no one has been allowed inside for investigation since.
Montour Trail
Eerie lights and the apparition of a little girl and a ghost with green eyes is said to have been seen on an area of the trail near a tunnel, says Weisbrod.
Porfeli says back in the late 1800s to early 1900s, a train broke down on the tracks, and its passengers got off and huddled under the tunnel, only to be killed by another oncoming train. Porfeli said it is difficult to investigate the area because it is noisy and is a known teen hangout.
Weisbrod said there are stories of a little girl in a white dress appearing in the tunnel, called Bell’s Tunnel – or Hell’s Tunnell. She said there have also been reports of a short man with green eyes and a white glowing hand appearing there as well.
Walking along the trail during a late-summer afternoon, Weisbrod notes that the tunnel on the actual trail is also said to be haunted.
“Some people say they can see a hanging noose,” she said.
Western Center
Denise Leithauser of the Pittsburgh Paranormal Adventures Society investigated the former Western Center in the Southpointe area prior to its demolition. Built in 1872, Western Center was formerly Pennsylvania Reform School at Morganza, and later became a hospital for the mentally ill prior to closing in 2000.
Leithauser, who has been a paranormal investigator for 10 years, said while investigating what were the workshops at the school, she could hear echoes of a grinding table saw and the sound of stomping boots.
“We were like, we’re out of here,” Leithauser said of her team during that investigation. “A good paranormal investigator knows when to trust their instincts,” she said. “We know when we really need to leave.”
More information on WPPH, along with photos and audio and video clips of the group’s investigations can be found at www.huntparanormal.com. Information on Allegheny County Paranormal Investigators can be found at www.alleghenycoparasociety.webs.com. Information on Pittsburgh Paranormal Adventures Society is available at www.pittsburghparanormaladventuressociety.com
Weisbrod notes that her group and Leithauser’s organization will be combining. Leithauser was recently offered to head up The Atlantic Paranormal Society’s team, or TAPS, in Pittsburgh, called Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society. TAPS teams are located across the country and are given cases from Jason Hawes, founder of TAPS and known for his work on the TV show “Ghost Hunters.” Weisbrod will help run the team along with Leithauser, and it will be made of members of both of their current teams.