Haunted Philadelphia: Famous Phantoms, Sinister Sites, and Lingering Legends

by Darcy Oordt

Overview

Philadelphia is known for many things: brotherly love, Revolutionary War history, passionate sports fans, cheesesteaks, and Rocky are merely a few of them. But the Founding Fathers didn’t just walk the streets of Philadelphia 200 years ago, many still walk here…or so the story goes. Along the streets of Philadelphia you can find the ghosts of Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, Alexander Hamilton, and Edgar Allen Poe. But those are only the famous ones. There are a few less known ghosts creeping around the historic streets. Nearby Fort Mifflin certainly has its share of hauntings, given its long history of sheltering soldiers and holding prisoners from the Revolutionary War up to the Civil War. And given all the cemeteries that have been established and then relocated—or not—it's almost a given that thousands of disturbed graves might stir up a ghost or two.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493015795
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2015
Series:	Haunted
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	656,925
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Darcy Oordt grew up in a ghostly desert: not one known haunted house in her hometown of Blue Earth, Minnesota. It wasn’t until she moved to Tennessee that she experienced her first ghost while working as a tour guide for a “ghost” tour. Her first book Finding Success After Failure: Inspirational Stories of Famous People Who Persevered and Won Out, tells about the early failures of famous people and how they overcame them. In her free time, Darcy enjoys swimming with sharks, flipping houses, and exploring museums in exotic locations…if by “enjoy” you mean watching it on television. When she is not writing, you will usually find her making jewelry or crafts, fussing with one of her freshwater aquariums, or spending time with her pets. Darcy currently lives near Cherry Hill, New Jersey, across the bridge from the many phantoms of Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Introduction vii

Part 1 Old City and Independence National Historic Park 1

Chapter 1 The Many Ghosts of Ben Franklin 2

Chapter 2 Famous Revolutionary Houses 9

Chapter 3 Revolutionary Buildings 19

Chapter 4 Historic Buildings 30

Chapter 5 Never Wed 38

Chapter 6 Around Old City 48

Part 2 Center City 58

Chapter 7 Center City Squares 59

Chapter 8 Society Hill 68

Chapter 9 Holy Trinity of Ghosts 77

Chapter 10 Washington Square West 83

Chapter 11 Off Broad Hauntings 90

Part 3 Northeast Philadelphia 98

Chapter 12 Northeast Hospitals 99

Chapter 13 Civil War Museums 107

Part 4 North Philadelphia 113

Chapter 14 Fairmount Park 114

Chapter 15 Eastern State Penitentiary 127

Chapter 16 Around North and Northeast Philadelphia 141

Part 4 Northwest Philadelphia 147

Chapter 17 Battle of Germantown 148

Chapter 18 Driving Down Germantown Avenue 157

Chapter 19 Baleroy Mansion 166

Part 6 West Philadelphia 172

Chapter 20 General Wayne Inn 173

Chapter 21 Universities 185

Part 7 South Philly 194

Chapter 22 Fort Mifflin 195

Chapter 23 Ships 206

Chapter 24 USS Forrestal 214

Part 8 Haunted Burial Grounds 223

Chapter 25 Haunted Cemeteries 224

Chapter 26 Former Burial Grounds 234

Chapter 27 Digging Up the Dead 238

Bibliography 260

Ghostly Glossary 265

Index 271

About the Author 278