Haunted History Walking Tours in the city of Washington, Pennsylvania, was inspired by Clay Kilgore and his friends at BPS (Bassettown Paranormal Society). Kilgore is the historical director for The Bradford House (www.bradfordhouse.org) in Washington, built in 1788.
Kilgore, along with his friends Bryan Cunnings and Pete Stefansky, have conducted various paranormal investigations in the area. Bryan works as a full-time architect. Pete is the downtown business manager for the Washington Business District Authority (www.washbda.com). These men from BPS are history scholars and enthusiasts along with being historical reenactors. They became fascinated by the numerous ghost stories regaled and recorded from the area. This piqued the group’s interest enough to want to share some of those stories with the public and led to conducting haunted walking tours in Washington. This is their fourth year; last year, it drew over 300 people.
According to all three, Lemoyne House, also located in Washington, has the highest paranormal activity than any other single structure they have investigated. Physician Dr. Francis Julius Lemoyne built the house in 1812 and was extremely involved in the Underground Railroad. Bryan stated they caught a Class A EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) on tape at the Lemoyne House.
With a recorder turned on, Bryan entered a room at the Lemoyne House and asked, “Is there anyone here?” They couldn’t make out the static, but later when they played it back, they heard, “You walked over me.” The recording was very clear.
They agree that Lemoyne House, because of its historical use as a hospital and nursing facility where operations were conducted and home to the Underground Railroad, produced such an intense emotional environment that spiritual energy remains in this structure. When the group conducts their experiments using the latest paranormal devices, they capture and record high levels of fluxes in the electronic fields.
Types of Hauntings
According to BPS there are two types of hauntings.
1. Intelligent Haunts: Spirits can communicate with you directly. There is a presence, maybe even physical. These spirits have an ability to present themselves to an investigator with full knowledge of their surroundings. They find channels to communicate with investigators. 2. Residual Haunts: A lingering energy. A spiritual imprint. You have a strong feeling when entering the structure. You are experiencing an emotional spiritual residual of energy left behind. It can be so intense to a perceptive individual that it can cause extreme discomfort, without direct physical contact or communication.
The Haunting Walking Tours are October 25 and 26. Tours leave The Bradford House every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. Admission is only $5 for an hour and half tour. Additional information is available at www.bradfordhouse.org.
You can lodge at the historical and also haunted George Washington Hotel, which is also part of the tour. www.TheGeorgeWashington.com
More information on Bassettown Paranormal Society can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/bassettownparanormal/.
