The Ghosts of Hersheypark

by James Waldron

 

     

     

 

     Once the guests have left the fun and excitement of Hersheypark, the last cotton candy has been sold, the sweet smell of kettle corn begins to dissipate in the humid summer air, and the flashing lights of the rides turn off one ride at a time, the park takes on an apocalyptic feel.  For a security guard walking around on his rounds at night, the park is a setting that is eerie and incomprehensible with the absence of people. On such nights as these, security guards have admitted--unofficially, of course--seeing a man walking the tracks of the park’s rollercoasters, while their lift chains run at full speed, or the Grand Carousel, with its lights ablaze and the Wurlitzer Military Band Organ piping out “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” revolving in the wee hours of the night. The guards have also admitted smelling the strong and unmistakable smell of cigar smoke, believed to be the ghost of Milton S. Hershey, who was a connoisseur of cigars, possibly checking in on the progress of his creation.

     

       According to the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts website, Hershey Park was created by Milton S. Hershey, in 1907, as an outdoor recreation center for his factory workers. The park was an ideal setting for picnicking and boating ("Hershey, The Sweetest Place on Earth"). In the years following, amenities were added including a swimming pool, an outdoor amphitheatre, and rides. Admission to the park was free, but the attractions had a pay-as-you-ride policy.

     

     A pool complex was added in 1929, consisting of a bath house and four pools with a concrete island containing a lighthouse. In 1971, the pools were filled in and all that remains is the lighthouse which can be seen near the entrance of the park, across from the Chocolate World complex ("Hershey Community Archives"). According to legend, several children drowned in the pools over the years. Their ghosts, wearing old-fashioned bathing suits and carrying beach towels, have been seen frolicking around the lighthouse by park employees in the dead of the night.

     

      During the 1970’s, HERCO (Hershey Entertainment and Resort Company) decided to turn the park into a world class amusement park by expanding the park and fencing it in to charge a one-price admission. New rides were installed including the SooperDooperLooper, the first looping rollercoaster on the East Coast. The new coaster cost three million dollars and had mechanical problems from the start. On opening day, July 4, 1977, the coaster broke down, with the park’s CEO in the front seat, stranding the passengers on the lift hill. All the VIPs had to climb out of the train and walk down the precarious catwalks to safety.

    

      During that inaugural season for the SooperDooperLooper, William Harter, a sixteen-year-old Lebanon High School senior, was in a vocational training program, working at Hersheypark as a maintenance man. On August 25, 1977, Harter was working on the SooperDooperLooper, removing bolts from a magnetic control device switch which normally stops the train. He was standing between the track’s rails with his back towards the train. The train suddenly started to move and ran over him. (Reading Eagle, 3). The Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s investigation of the fatality resulted in different findings than what the park reported and HERCO was fined $2000 for serious safety violations, including the fact that the main electrical disconnect for the ride was not locked out to attain a zero mechanical state while maintenance work was being performed. HERCO agreed to pay the fines and acknowledged that Harter “was not negligent and no way was at fault” (Reading Eagle, 15). The ghost of Harter has been spotted walking the tracks of the coaster that ended his life, still inspecting the ride in the afterlife.

     

     There is another resident ghost who was not involved with any mishaps in the park. In Christopher Wolf’s book, Ghosts of Hershey and Vicinity, he details his interview with a park manager, who explains that, in 1970, the houses next to the park, where the park expansion was to occur, were bought and demolished. An older woman who was a long time resident of one of these homes, distraught over the pressure of having to sell her home, committed suicide in the attic of her home. Part of her house remains in the park, across from the Kissing Tower, and currently houses a Boardwalk Fries, souvenir shop, and other eating establishments. Park employees and guests have reported hearing a woman moaning in pain, the moans emanating from the second floor of the building (36-38).

     

     The next time you visit Hersheypark, upon exiting the tram that brings you to the park entrance from the parking lot, take a look at the lighthouse where the pool was located, and if you see any children wandering around with beach towels, it’s not your imagination. Take a ride on the Looper, and don’t be frightened if you see the translucent figure of a maintenance man wandering the tracks. When you stop to buy some fries before riding the Kissing Tower and you hear the disembodied moans of a woman in pain, don’t fret. As for the carousel running in the middle of the night...well, ghosts need to have fun too.

 

Works Cited

"Hershey Community Archives - Hershey Park."Hershey Community Archives. WordPress, 26 Aug 2010. Web. 23 Nov 2010. 

       <http://blog.hersheyarchives.org/?cat=39>.

"Hersheypark." Hershey, The Sweetest Place on Earth. Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2010

          <http://www.hersheypa.com/about_hershey/our_proud_history/about_hersheypark.php>.

"Hersheypark Worker Killed When Roller-Coaster  Starts ." Reading Eagle 27 Aug 1977: 3. Print.

"Park Fatality Probe Ends." Reading Eagle14 Sep 1977: 15. Print.

Wolf, Christopher E. Ghosts of Hershey and Vicinity. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2009. 36-38. Print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOODY MARY

by Amanda Vargas

 

  

 

Bloody Mary!

Bloody Mary!

Bloody Mary!

 

            She was old witch-like woman who lived deep, deep, into the woods and made her living by selling herbal cures to all the locals around the town. No one ever dared to cross her path, as she dealt out curses just as good as cures. Everyone in the town believed she was a witch. Soon enough, some of the village’s young girls began to disappear one after another. All the townspeople searched and searched all around town, down paths, in old buildings, and even in the woods, but no luck was found in any of the places they could think of to look. The townspeople gained up enough courage and went to her house, questioning her about the kid's disappearances.

 

     Bloody Mary stood without fear in her and denied any knowledge of those poor missing girls.

     The villagers became suspicious.

 

They begin to notice that Bloody Mary’s face had changed, she started to look younger to them. It is said, that one night, the Miller’s daughter got up from her bed and left her house. Her mother and father tried to stop her on the way, but she tore out of the grips they had on her and headed out of the house and into the woods. The sounds of their struggle awoke the quite town and the people all followed the girl to see where she was headed. As she walked far, far, into the woods she walked towards a light that beamed out of the forest. They all had witnessed that at the end of the light was none other than Bloody Mary herself. She had pointed a bright wand towards the girl to draw her into the spot she wanted her in. Before she could do anything to the girl, one of the townsmen had fired a shot using his gun into the old witch-like woman. As she fallen down to the ground the villagers picked her up and carried her back to the town with them. The townspeople put up a stake and burned her. While she burned at the stake she called out a curse among all of the people. If anyone were to mention her name while looking into a mirror, she would come back and claim their souls forever.

 

     Some believe, some disagree, I dare you to go to a mirror, say her name three times and see if you end up to be eternally trapped in the mirror with her.

 

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/legend-bloody-mary/trailer

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pennsylvania Hermit

By Rebecca Miller

      

 

          William Wilson became a figure of folklore in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the late 18th century to early 19th century. He is referred to as The Pennsylvania Hermit.

  

          William and Elizabeth Wilson were born to a family of respected farmers in Chester County 13 years before the Revolutionary War. Their family, unfortunately, sided with the British and their respect was lost along with much of their land, forcing Elizabeth and William to seek work.

           William apprenticed as a stone cutter and Elizabeth took a job as a barmaid in Philadelphia. A patron of the tavern left her pregnant just as the war ended and when her condition became obvious she was forced to leave her job. She returned to her parent’s home where she gave birth to twins sons (Patrick, p.94).

           As soon as she recovered enough to travel she returned to Philadelphia to look for her lover. With a promise of marriage, she returned to the farm to gather her children and rendezvous with her groom-to-be. The happy meeting never happened. Elizabeth disappeared for a week and when she finally did surface she was disheveled and incoherent. Her children were not with her. Their bodies were discovered buried beneath leaves a short time later. She was placed under arrest and scheduled to be hung to death.

 

          William, unaware of what happened, found out and rushed to her side. Elizabeth finally related the details as to what happened, to her brother. 

           Rather than meeting her in Philadelphia, her lover surprised her in the woods. He asked to see the babies, and then ordered Elizabeth to kill them. She refused so he trampled them to death, then held a pistol to her chest and made her swear that she would never reveal what he had done.

           On the day of Elizabeth's execution, William traveled to Philadelphia taking Elizabeth’s statement with him, he plead before the Governor for a pardon for his sister. His desperate pleas were heard and he hurried to deliver the pardon to the Chester County sheriff.  However, a rainstorm had caused flooding of the river separating him from his sister. Several hours later, William made it across the river, arriving minutes too late; Elizabeth had been hung to death. His horse reared in the air and tossed William at his sister's swinging feet. The sheriff cut her down and they tried to revive her, to no avail. 

  

          It is said that when Wilson arose, his hair had turned white, his face had become lined and he could only utter gibberish. He was in a state of delirium for months, and when he recovered he had lost all interest in society (Unknown).

 

          In 1802 after his sister death he wandered westward along present Route 322 from Chester County to Hummelstown, Dauphin County, withdrawing  from society and settling in a cave (Known today as Indian Echo Caverns). He lived off the land and traded millstones to a local farmer for supplies.

                                                                                                          

     

     Inside the cave he attached a rope ladder to the cavern wall; this allowed him to reach a level ledge which stuck out over the cavern floor 10 feet off the ground. Soot blackened the walls and the underside of the ledge from the fire he used to warm his rocky bed from below (Patrick pp. 94-95). Wilson's room can be seen during the tour of India Echo Caverns.

          William Wilson lived as a hermit in the cavern for 19 years till his death in 1821. He wrote frequently, usually on religious matters. He kept himself clean but wouldn't shave and acquire a long, white beard. Writings were found among his  belongings in his cave. These writings were later published as the book "The Sweets of Solitude".     

                                                                                                              

             The Wilsons' story inevitably inspired several ghost stories. For many years local residents claimed to see and hear a spectral horseman galloping across Chester and Delaware Counties up to the old jail (Tufts, Meredith Peterson).

 

          When trees were cleared to make a parking lot for Indian Echo Cave, it was said that the newly-opened space revealed Elizabeth Wilson's wandering spirit. This ghost story is unusual in that, while living, Elizabeth never set foot anywhere near the area she was alleged to haunting (Tufts, Meredith Peterson).

 

Work Cited

 

Patrick, Kevin. Pennsylvania caves and other rocky roadside wonders. 2004. Pp. 93-95. Print.

 

Tufts, Meredith Peterson.  A Matter of Context: Elizabeth Wilson Revisited. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 131.2 (2007): 48 pars.

 

Unknown, . The Pennsylvania Hermit. Philadelphia: Smith and Carpenter, 1839. eBook.