Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

I give good haunted tours. Everyone says so. And I try to give my tours for good reasons. This month, if you’re a fan of the paranormal, I have good news for you—I’m booked solid with tour dates, for good causes.
All of my tours will be five dollars per person, and all money raised will be going to good causes. And all the tours will be in different locations and take about an hour, so if you’re interested, you have plenty of choices here.

On October 10th and 11th, at 7 and 9 PM both nights, I’ll be giving haunted tours of the Hill Section of Lock Haven, beginning at the corner of South Fairview and Bald Eagle Streets. These are to help a local family—Friends of mine tragically lost their baby at two months of age. They need help with the burial expenses, so I’m donated any money raised.

On the 17th at 9 PM, the 18th and the 25th at 7 and 9 PM, I’m giving tours of downtown Lock Haven. These will begin in Triangle Park, and the money is for Boxes of Hope, a local breast cancer charity.

And then on the 26th, at 6 PM, I’m giving a tour of Renovo to benefit the Renovo Heritage Foundation. All of these tours are five dollars, which does not seem too high a price to get a fun tour and donate to some good causes. If you have questions, you can reach me at 570-660-4463 or loulhpa@gmail.com.

I’ll be telling some great stories, all of which are historically researched. This part is very important to me—All of my tours are based on actual research, as opposed to rumors or unverified claims. So they’re educational, as well.
I’ll be talking about a lot of neat historic events. One of my personal favorites here is Great Island Cemetery, so let me give you a little preview. Great Island Cemetery once stood in Lock Haven, along Bellefonte venue on the hill. It was founded in the late 1700s and used for well over a century before it began to fall into disrepair.

Even when it was being used, there were stories of the place being haunted. Stories circulated of a woman in black and a woman in white, roaming through the cemetery. This is not just legend exactly; there were articles about these ghosts in the local newspapers. (Back then the papers were happy to report on ghosts, too.) In one 1901 article in the Clinton Republican, the woman in black was said to have run out into the street and grabbed a man by the wrist.

This was especially troubling to the man, because the woman in black was said to predict death. Supposedly, if you saw her, it meant that you or someone in your family was going to die. The woman in white was okay to witness, apparently. I haven’t been able to document what happened to the man, but as this was from 1901, it’s probably safe to say he’s dead by now.

Great Island Cemetery was in bad condition by the early 1900s, and the city made the decision to move the cemetery. In 1919, graves were dug up, headstones were moved, and the cemetery was closed. Highland, Dunnstown, Cedar Hill, and Flemington Cemeteries all got some of the bodies moved there.
Oh, and some of them don’t appear to have moved at all.

You know how some government jobs are done by the lowest bidder? Yeah, this one was like that. Some of the stones, and the bodies, never made the trip. To this day, interesting things turn up. A couple of years ago, I was involved when some headstones were discovered to be a part of a local woman’s walkway.

The whole neighborhood, then, is built largely on top of an old cemetery. Does this sound interesting? Want to hear more? Sounds good; pick a tour and show up with five dollars. I can’t wait to see you.