Pennsylvania’s history reaches far beyond the founding of the United States. Long before Europeans arrived, the region was home to the Lenape, Susquehannock, Erie, and other Native peoples. Rivers such as the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny served as travel routes, hunting grounds, fishing areas, and centers of trade.
Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, and English settlers later established communities in portions of the region. In 1681, King Charles II granted the land to William Penn, who planned a colony where Quakers and members of other religious groups could live with greater freedom. The colony eventually attracted German-speaking settlers, Mennonites, Amish families, Scots-Irish immigrants, Welsh Quakers, and people from many other backgrounds.
Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the United States Constitution on December 12, 1787. Its cities, farms, forests, mountains, mines, lakes, and battlefields have since produced an enormous collection of legends.
Some Pennsylvania folklore grew from the dangers people faced. Sailors feared sudden storms on Lake Erie. Families remembered soldiers who never returned from war. Old burial grounds inspired stories about spirits guarding the dead. In other cases, a frightening tale was repeated so often that separating history from fiction became difficult.
Here are several of Pennsylvania’s best-known legends.
The Storm Hag of Lake Erie
Lake Erie can change quickly. Calm water may be followed by strong winds, high waves, lightning, and dangerous conditions. Before modern forecasting equipment, sailors could be caught on the open lake with little warning.
Along Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie shoreline, especially near Presque Isle, people told stories about a creature known as the Storm Hag.
According to the legend, she lives beneath the surface of the lake. Some descriptions give her pale green skin, glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth, long fingers, and claw-like nails. Sailors are warned to listen for her song, which may begin quietly before a storm.
Once the Storm Hag rises from the water, the story says she summons violent winds and towering waves. Lightning shoots from her mouth as she screams over the lake. Ships caught in her storm may disappear with everyone aboard.
Some versions connect the Storm Hag to Jenny Greenteeth, a water spirit from British folklore. Stories about Jenny Greenteeth were often used to warn children away from ponds, rivers, and other dangerous water. Settlers may have carried similar traditions to North America and adapted them to the Great Lakes.
The Storm Hag gave sailors a name and a face for something they couldn’t control. A ship might leave port under a clear sky and never return. Families left behind had few answers. The lake had taken their loved ones, and the legend helped explain its sudden violence.
The Storm Hag is still part of Lake Erie folklore. When dark clouds gather near Presque Isle and the wind begins to rise, some people remember the old warning and listen for her song.
The Guardian Ghost of Washington Square
Washington Square in Philadelphia appears peaceful today, but thousands of people were once buried beneath it.
The land was originally known as Southeast Square. During the 1700s, part of it became a potter’s field for poor residents, strangers, prisoners, and people whose identities weren’t known. American and British soldiers were also buried there during the American Revolution.
In 1793, Philadelphia suffered one of the deadliest yellow fever epidemics in American history. More than 1,300 victims were placed in the already crowded burial ground. Burials ended soon afterward, but many of the graves were never marked.
One Philadelphia legend tells of a young Quaker woman named Leah. According to the story, she watched over the burial ground when she was alive and tried to protect the graves from robbers. Medical schools needed bodies for anatomical study, and grave robbing was a genuine fear during this period.
After Leah’s death, people began reporting the figure of a young woman walking through the square. She was said to appear near the graves, continuing the work she had done while alive.
Historical documentation for Leah is difficult to find, and her full identity has never been firmly established. She may have been a real person whose story changed with each retelling, or she may represent the many unnamed people who tried to protect the dignity of the dead.
The burial ground itself is real. Thousands of people remain beneath Washington Square, including soldiers, epidemic victims, and Philadelphians whose names have been lost. The park’s Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier now honors those who died during the struggle for independence.
The Ghosts of the General Wayne Inn
The former General Wayne Inn in Merion has stood since the early 1700s. During its years as a tavern and inn, it welcomed travelers moving between Philadelphia and communities farther west.
The building operated under several names before being renamed in honor of Revolutionary War officer General Anthony Wayne. Well-known visitors reportedly included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Edgar Allan Poe.
With so many travelers passing through its rooms, ghost stories became part of the inn’s reputation.
Guests and employees reported seeing Hessian soldiers, a British officer, and other shadowy figures. Doors supposedly opened without assistance, unexplained footsteps crossed empty rooms, and glasses or dishes appeared to move without anyone touching them.
Edgar Allan Poe became one of the spirits most closely connected to the building. Poe lived in Philadelphia for several years, and tradition says he visited the inn. Later stories claimed his figure could sometimes be seen walking through its halls.
The inn received national attention for its reported hauntings, but a real tragedy eventually became part of its history. In December 1996, co-owner and chef James Webb was shot and killed inside the building. His business partner, Guy Sileo, was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The building stopped operating as an inn and restaurant and was later converted into a religious and community center. Its long history as a stopping place for soldiers, writers, travelers, and local residents remains, along with stories about those who may never have left.
The Screaming Woman of Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin stands along the Delaware River near Philadelphia. The fort played an important role during the American Revolution, when American defenders delayed British ships attempting to carry supplies into occupied Philadelphia.
It was later used during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. During the Civil War, military prisoners were confined there. Disease, harsh conditions, and violence added to the fort’s grim history.
Visitors and employees have reported many unusual experiences at Fort Mifflin. They include footsteps in empty rooms, shadowy soldiers, slamming doors, unexplained lights, and the sound of a woman screaming.
The woman is often identified as Elizabeth Pratt.
The most familiar version of the legend says Elizabeth became estranged from her daughter after the young woman became involved with a soldier. Before mother and daughter could reconcile, the daughter died from disease. Overcome with grief, Elizabeth supposedly hanged herself at the fort. Her screams, according to the story, have echoed through the Officers’ Quarters ever since.
Researchers have found serious problems with this account. Surviving burial and family records suggest that an Elizabeth Pratt connected with the fort lost children to illness but didn’t die by hanging. The suicide and estranged-daughter portions of the story appear to have been added later.
That doesn’t explain the reported screams. It simply means the identity of the Screaming Woman remains uncertain.
The official Fort Mifflin organization acknowledges the site’s paranormal reputation and holds programs where visitors can investigate the reports themselves. The fort leaves the final conclusion to each visitor.
The Congelier Mansion: A Haunting Built from Fiction
One of Pennsylvania’s most disturbing haunted-house stories concerns the Congelier Mansion, also known as the House on Ridge Avenue in Pittsburgh.
According to the legend, Charles Congelier built a large mansion during the 1860s. In 1871, his wife discovered him with a household servant. She supposedly killed her husband with a knife and murdered the servant with a meat cleaver.
The house then stood empty as neighbors reported hearing screams and crying from inside.
A doctor named Adolph Brunrichter supposedly purchased the property years later. After an explosion inside the house, investigators allegedly discovered that he had been conducting experiments on severed human heads. The doctor disappeared, leaving several victims behind.
The legend grew even larger when Thomas Edison was added to it. Edison was said to have visited the mansion while working on a device that might allow people to communicate with the dead.
Finally, the house was supposedly destroyed during a massive Pittsburgh gas explosion in 1927. According to the story, little remained except a deep crater where the mansion had once stood.
It’s a powerful tale, but historical research has uncovered a different account.
No records have been found for Charles or Lyda Congelier, the murders attributed to them, or Dr. Brunrichter’s experiments. There’s also no evidence that Thomas Edison visited the house.
A property at 1129 Ridge Avenue did exist, and members of a Congelier family lived there. However, it was an ordinary row house rather than a grand mansion. The house survived the 1927 gas explosion with relatively minor damage and stood for several more years before redevelopment changed the neighborhood.
The Congelier story is still important to Pennsylvania folklore because it shows how legends are created. Real names, places, disasters, and historical figures were mixed with invented crimes and supernatural events. Each retelling added another detail until the fictional house became known across the country as one of America’s most haunted places.
Folklore and Pennsylvania Family History
Folklore shouldn’t always be read as documented history. Ghost stories and local legends change as they pass from one person to another. Names are added, dates are moved, and ordinary events become more dramatic.
Yet folklore can still lead genealogists toward useful records.
A story about an old burial ground may point to cemetery registers, church records, city reports, or newspaper accounts. A military ghost story may lead to service files, hospital records, prisoner lists, or pension applications. A supposed haunted house may be investigated through deeds, tax lists, city directories, census records, and death certificates.
The final answer may be different from the family or local legend. That doesn’t make the search less interesting. Discovering how a story began, who first told it, and how it changed can reveal just as much about a community as the legend itself.
Pennsylvania has been home to Native peoples, colonial settlers, soldiers, farmers, miners, industrial workers, immigrants, and generations of families. Their experiences helped form the stories still repeated around Lake Erie, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the smaller towns between them.
Some stories preserve memories of real people. Others grew from fear, loss, or imagination. Together, they remain part of Pennsylvania’s long and unusual folklore.
Learn More
Pennsylvania Department of State, “About the Department of State”
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dos/about
Yale Law School Avalon Project, “Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Pennsylvania”
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ratpa.asp
National Archives, “The Real Constitution Day?”
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2013/06/21/the-real-constitution-day/
American Folklore, “Storm Hag”
https://www.americanfolklore.net/storm-hag/
National Park Service, “Washington Square”
https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/places-washingtonsquare.htm
National Park Service, “Petition to Pennsylvania by Six Free Black People, April 2, 1782”
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/inde-1782-petition-potters-field.htm
Ghost City Tours, “The Ghosts of Washington Square”
https://ghostcitytours.com/philadelphia/haunted-philadelphia/haunted-washington-square/
Lower Merion Historical Society, “The General Wayne Inn”
https://collections.lowermerionhistory.org/home/full-text/contents/general-wayne-inn/
University of Pennsylvania, “Quantitative Investigation of a Haunting: The General Wayne Inn”
https://web.sas.upenn.edu/ghosts-healing/files/2017/04/general_wayne_inn-2my6u9b.pdf
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Guy Angelo Sileo Jr., Pennsylvania Superior Court
https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/superior-court/2011/e01006-11.html
Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, “The History of Fort Mifflin”
https://www.fortmifflin.us/the-history/
Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, “About Fort Mifflin”
https://www.fortmifflin.us/about/
Sherlocking the Paranormal, “Correcting the Haunted History of Fort Mifflin”
https://sherlockingtheparanormal.home.blog/2019/12/13/correcting-the-haunted-history-of-fort-mifflin/
American Hauntings, “The House on Ridge Avenue”
https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/ridge
