Well, here I am again, reporting on more of that paranormal activity on Boyertown’s Philadelphia Avenue corridor. Past activities, that is, from the 1960s as told to me by three of my cousins, whose names and address shall remain anonymous, but they, and many of their friends, will know who I am talking about!
They grew up in a half-a-double on Philadelphia Avenue, a block from the corner where the Rhoads Opera House had been before the infamous fire. Their building had been owned by a doctor, half his residence, half his office. Dates unknown.
My cousins’ mother (my aunt) was known to keep a glass candy dish filled with hard candies on their coffee table. One day it went missing! Absolutely none of the kids took it. Months later, the dish reappeared on the coffee table still filled with candies. Hmmmm!??!
As a habit, my aunt would take off her slippers and leave them in the living room. Again, one day they were gone, later to reappear. The café curtains on their downstairs windows were always kept open until one morning (and several times later) my aunt came down to find them closed. Obviously she blamed the kids, but nope, wasn’t them!
And then there was the checkbook. It was always kept in the same spot on the desk. My aunt went to write a check, and the checkbook was gone. Everyone looked for it, thoroughly, especially through the desk. Sometime later that very checkbook was found right on top of the desk in clear view. Hmmmm!??!
The youngest of these cousins kept a glass jar of money on her dresser. Coins she would just throw in the jar. Guess what? Yup, that jar went missing, only to find its way back again still full of coins. Hmmmm!??!
My older cousin injured his hand and had been in the hospital overnight. The next night, after going home, he was sleeping and woke with the feeling that someone or something was in the room. He opened his eyes and saw a white haze hovering over his bed. He broke out in a sweat, a panic, and a scream that brought his parents running. Hmmmm!??!
And then there was the night my cousin had a friend sleep over. During the night her friend awoke to notice a man walk into the room and sit down on the edge of a sofa in the middle room next to the living room they were sleeping in. In the morning, her friend questioned my cousin as to why her dad was sitting there, just sitting there, during the night. My cousin assured her it was not her dad or anyone else in the house.
Same incident and sighting with another friend years later. That friend had never heard that story prior. In both cases, the friend saw someone just sitting on the edge of that same sofa! Hmmmm!??!
Another aunt and uncle were visiting there and spending the night. The shades were pulled down but there was enough light from the street lights to show a man standing on the landing between the two bedrooms. Thinking it was her brother-in-law from the other bedroom, she asked him if he was getting up to go to the bathroom. No answer.
In the morning she asked her brother-in-law if he had gotten up to go to bathroom. He said he had not, that he didn’t want to disturb them in the next room, and that it definitely was not him on the landing.
My uncle was painting the other half of the house, prepping it for renters, when he heard my aunt’s footsteps but saw no one. Questioning her later, nope, wasn’t her, she was nowhere near that side of the house.
Years later after my uncle passed, his son, went upstairs to go through his dad’s hunting stuff, and when he opened the bottom bureau drawer, he felt a cold draft go through the room. If that didn’t stir up emotions!
Never evil, just mischievous!
Let it be noted right here and now that in all these “sightings,” nothing, no one was ever seen by an immediate family member that was living in the house. Only outsiders! Hmmmm!??!
Well, folks, that concludes my miniseries on paranormal activities in Boyertown. There are many, many more stories but I chose to stick strictly with the Philadelphia Avenue corridor. There is a lot of interesting history here in our town.
Take Historical Stroll of Boyertown
Old Soul Stroll is the name of Boyertown’s growing-in-popularity event. These tours are nonprofit events and all proceeds go directly back into the Boyertown community.
Adriane Zapien of Revamped Salon, 119 E. Philadelphia Ave., said these aren’t just ghost tours, but informative historical strolls on Boyertown itself.
As the brochure says: “Mysterious questions people always ask: Why has this little town made international headlines and forever changed laws? Why are there Bears everywhere? Why is Boyertown creepy at night?”
The Old Soul Stroll will be held every month for two Saturday nights and one Monday night. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Boyertown Area Historical Society and the stroll starts at 6:45 and goes until 8:30 p.m. ending at Revamped Salon. Parking is available on Chestnut Street near the historical society or in the Town Center Parking Lot. Tickets are $12, though attendees are asked to also tip their Stroll Tour guide. No children under the age of 10.
Tickets can only be purchased online. Visit boyertownhistory.org/old-soul-stroll/ or email oldsoulstroll@gmail.com for more information about the Old Soul Stroll.
Column submitted by Sandra Moser of Boyertown who researched and wrote a four-part series on paranormal activities on the Philadelphia Avenue corridor in Boyertown related to the 1908 Rhoads Opera House fire, stories that she claims are factual, not made up for publicity.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment