May-June 1919 Pottsville, PA
When people yearn for haunted entertainment, the most ideal time seems to be after the sun drops below the horizon and the nighttime drowns the day. This is the time the dead are said to leave their graves to wreck havoc, or at least remind the living about their presence. Naturally it makes sense for the nighttime to be the right time. People instinctively become uneasy when the lights go out. This stems way back to when humans were traveling nomads and had to deal with nocturnal predators just to ensure their survival.
But what happens when the safety and security of a well-lit room or the piercing sunshine does not deter specters from making their presence known? In May 1919, this hypothetical question became a reality for several headstrong Pottsville business men.
The beginnings of May 1919 did not differ from the expected in Pottsville. The city was bustling with business and downtown was congested. A beautiful stone structure occupied 7 North Centre Street. The building was right amid the hustle and bustle of the city's business district. Within, there were a series of small businesses that called this stone structure home. The selling of goods and legal services were found within this particular location. The men who worked within the building were well known within in the city as a strong-minded lot. Business was always paramount, and customers' requests were always granted.
On a cool spring morning in May 1919, several of the business owners and lawyers began to arrive at the stately structure and prepared for the day. As the morning sun continued its ascent in the sky, final touches were in the process of completion before unlocking the doors.
One early rising lawyer had been working away in his office preparing for his upcoming clients. This time of day was invaluable to him. The city was just awakening and quiet. The perfect time to get his mind right and his work under wraps. The man plunged into his paperwork. For a short amount of time, he was able to give his undivided attention to the task at hand. While dotting i’s and crossing t’s, the vigilant man suddenly paused. An odd sound coming from inside the structure could faintly be heard. It sounded as though someone or something was in great distress. Alarmed, the lawyer left his desk and walked into the hallway. There he stood statue-like, listening. The sound slowly became more amplified. The lawyer walked down the hallway attempting to locate the odd noise’s source. It seemed as though the sound was heard throughout the entire building. Heard, but with no visible cause.
As the lawyer stood silently, he heard the main door unlock, open, and close. Another of the business owner’s had arrived for the day. The lawyer briskly made his way towards the approaching man. He stopped the fellow tenant and asked if he too heard the same sound coming within the building. Both men stood frozen in time listening. Sure enough, both acknowledged a moan gradually increasing in volume. The two men searched the building attempting to locate the sound’s source. Unfortunately, the men were unsuccessful. Gradually the sound died away into silence.
Other inhabitants entered the building throughout the day and went about their daily chores and responsibilities. All seemed quiet.
The city awoke with people rushing to and fro conducting their own affairs. The stately building sitting in the center of the business district became a hub of activity. If the moaning sounds were present, most likely they were drowned out by business transactions and friendly banter.
The business owners were busy conducting transactions too consumed to even think about what they had heard that morning.
The workday quickly came to a close, and the building became quiet. Final procedures were completed and preparations for the next day began.
Sitting at his desk, the young lawyer was toiling away attempting to complete paperwork for an eager client. His concentration was torn away as the pained sound heard that morning suddenly was present again.
A low moan gradually increased in volume. The lawyer, remembering the sound, halted his work and sat up straight in his chair. Increasing in volume, the moan sounded as if someone were in dire need of assistance within the building. The lawyer rose from his desk, walked into the hallway and peered down. Standing there were other building inhabitants, wide-eyed trying to make sense of the same foreign sounds.
Over the course of the next several days the sounds were heard fluctuating in volume. They would increase to a wail and suddenly die off to a whimper. Patrons who came into the building experienced the same otherworldly cries. Some even refused to return, convinced the building was indeed haunted.
There had to be a rational explanation to explain these sounds. The men banded together and sought out its source. Perhaps a stray cat had been trapped within the walls. Old pipes could be giving off an unearthly sound as air passed through. Or perhaps the men were subject to a prank to drive business away to a competitor. The men searched. They found no cause.
Word leaked out about the ghoulish sounds within the building in Pottsville’s business district. People were intrigued. The sounds continued to come and go with no explanation. These seemed to be a precursor to the physical events the men experienced soon after the harrowing sounds began.
When the building was quiet and the rush of the business day had ended, the inhabitants heard footsteps and witnessed the opening and slamming of doors. Every time the sounds were investigated the result was the same - no visible source could be found.
Over several days the men continued to hear footsteps, opening and slamming of doors, and a new haunting experience that baffled their reasonable minds. The men claimed to see an apparition gliding through the building.
Sitting within his office, one of the business owners had an uneasy feeling as though he was not alone. As he looked up towards the door, a whitish, semi-transparent-apparition glided by. Horrified, the man jumped from his seat, ran towards the hallway, and cautiously peered out. There was nothing or no one there. The apparition had disappeared into thin air.
The activity only intensified over the next several days. With no answers, the businessmen had no choice. The city police were called to investigate.
Initially, the police listened to the claims and were obviously skeptical. Surely the business owners were nothing more than victims of some sort of prank. Confident they would debunk the claims quickly and solve the ghostly mystery, the officers thoroughly searched the building. The police officers were astounded and baffled as they spent time within. They too claimed to hear the same wailing and see doors opening and closing as had been reported. The officers just could not see who or what was responsible for the activity.
Surprised, but committed to do their job, the police department patrolled the building several times. They were consumed in finding the source of the activity. Whether it was a lucrative prank or otherworldly activity, an arrest needed to be made. At one point the officers conducted a stakeout to find those who were responsible. No one was ever arrested.
For several weeks the activity continued with no rational explanation. The experiences were so frequent the businessmen even had a wall opened up to see if an animal was entombed within. There were just no answers.
Time went by and it seemed the inhabitants accepted their new tenant’s presence. Business slowly began to go back to normal, however the experiences continued.
The building’s reputation was well talked about. Newspapers around the country, as far West as Kansas as far South as Louisiana carried reports of the haunted business building. Headlines pronounced "Pottsville’s Haunted Business Baffled the City's Police".
As time went on the newness of the story began to wane, however an article surfaced, in of all places Indiana, that claimed to shed some light on the mystery.
The article stated a young Pottsville boy took it upon himself to vanquish the ghost. The boy claimed he discovered the culprit of the activity. Armed with his slingshot, the young boy said he chased a screech owl out of the ventilation system in the building. The newspaper proclaimed this animal surely caused the supposed ghostly activity. The businessmen were asked their thoughts in regards to the boy's claim. They adamantly professed there was no way the owl caused all the activity. The men held steadfastly to not just what they had heard but also what they had seen. With their own eyes, the men vehemently said a ghostly, translucent whitish being could be seen gliding within the building.
The excitement of the story gradually died out. And, over time, new tenants called the building their businesses home. Sadly, the building was ultimately razed and its former location is now a parking lot. Whether a screech owl was responsible for the experiences or indeed, there was a specter laying claim to the building, the mystery was never fully explained. However, for several weeks in the late spring and early summer of 1919, Pottsville was abuzz with hopes for a paranormal arrest. What truly was the source of the sensation? An otherworldly ghost? An inquisitive owl? A lucrative prank? Or perhaps just overactive imaginations? Over a century later, there still is no clear-cut answer WHO🦉 the true culprit was.