Moggie's Ghost on Knowlton Road

In the late 1800's near Aston, Pennsylvania, at the place where Chester Creek met Knowlton Road ford was a grave of a girl who became known as Moggey.  It is unknown why she died, whether she drowned at the ford somehow or died elsewhere, but she was buried near the mill at the crossing.  

Travelers have said that on occasion when crossing the ford, they could see the form of a girl standing in the spot where Moggey was buried.  The phantom took on a transparent appearance and many traveler's were frightened by traversing the ford on a moon light night for fear of seeing Moggey's ghost.  

The location of the old Moggey's Ford where travelers traversed Chester Creek is now a stone bridge

Over time this place became known as Moggey's Ford.  In the present day, a stone bridge now traverses Chester Creek at the former Knowlton Road crossing.  The mill is no longer and not much remains to be seen.  Not even a hint of ruins of the old place.  However, you can still see remnants of the old ford under the bridge where rocks were stacked neatly in rows on end.  

Remnants of Moggey's Ford can be seen under the existing stone bridge that spans Chester Creek on Knowlton Road near Aston, PA

You can hear about the tale of Moggey every fall at the nearby Linvilla Orchard's "haunted" hay ride as well as other tales of ghosts living on the farm.

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White Lady of Essington

Years ago a couple was traveling on the Tinicum Island Road in Essington on their wedding night.  Near the airport there was a terrible accident and both the bride and groom were killed.  People through the years have said that they have seen a lady wearing a white dress standing or walking along that same road at night.

Tinicum Island Road circa 1946  Photo: delawarecountyhistory.com

This female spirit seems to have a special attraction to single men traveling along this stretch of road.  So watch out guys, beware of "the white lady".

The area near Tinicum Island Road today

Upper Darby High School – Upper Darby, PA

The Upper Darby High School in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania is not your average high school.  It has a history that is rather tormented in some parts.  Or at least in the Performing Arts Center anyway.

Upper Darby High School

People have seen the apparition of a hanging body in the theater and have encountered many strange occurrences within the building.  Supposedly years ago, a boy hanged himself because he was influenced by evil spirits.  The spirits are supposed to haunt the attic as strange noises and poltergeist activity have been reported.  Items have been moved about the school overnight when no one else is around. 

Upper Darby HS Performing Arts Center

Saint Alice School – Upper Darby, PA

Located on Sansom ST & Hampden Road in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, the auditorium of this school used to be a chapel where funerals were held. In addition, there have been some rather untoward happenings in this area of the school.

Saint Alice School in Upper Darby, PA

Radnor Hotel (St. David’s Inn) - Radnor, PA

At The Radnor Hotel, formerly known as St. David's Inn there is a guest who seems to never leave.  

The Radnor Hotel, Radnor, PA

Cabrini College - Radnor, PA

The  Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus established a charter for Cabrini College in 1957.  Named after the founder of their religious order,  Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini.  The grounds were formerly an estate owned by John Dorrance. His daughter Mary, fell in love with the stable boy. The Dorrances did not permit their daughter to see the stable boy any longer who hung himself in Grace Hall, which used to be a stable. Out of sorrow, Mr. Dorrance’s daughter killed herself by jumping off of the balcony of the mansion.  It is said that she was carrying the unborn child of the stable boy.  Both were buried in what was then the peach orchard.

Cabrini College - The stables

Occasionally the apparition of Mary is now often seen wondering the grounds wearing a blue dress.  She is most often seen near Woodcrest Hall which is where the peach orchard used to be.  In the winter time when there is snow on the ground, foot prints have been found in the snow that suddenly end near the mansion. 

Woodcrest Hall at Cabrini College is the area which most hauntings are said to occur

Some say the rope which the stable boy used to kill himself still hangs from the rafters.  They say it has been seen to be swinging back and forth when there is no wind to make it move.

Fair Acres Geriatric Center - Lima, PA

Though Fair Acres Geriatric Center in Lima, PA has had it's share of people passing through, there is only one story of a haunting that has taken place in this retirement facility.  

Fair Acres Geriatric Center in Lima, PA is thought to be haunted by a ghostly woman who can pass through walls

It is said that an old woman with long, gray hair wearing a gown haunts the hallways of building number 4.  How do they know that this is not one of the paying residents you ask?  Not only does she walk the hallways, but she moves through doors and walls!  I don't think your average retirement home resident can manage that.

The Grist Mill - Glen Mills, PA

The landowner of the grist mill became angry when his stable boy fell in love with his daughter.  There have been several variations of this story to this point. I don't know for sure which is true.
One account claims the mill owner killed the stable boy in a fit of rage. Another states he denied the daughter the right to see the stable boy and he killed himself in the barn.

The Grist Mill - Glen Mills, PA

Regardless of which is the truth, some claim that to this day you can hear the boy crying for her in the barn. 




If you have any more details or clarification on this story, please post a comment.

Garretford School – Drexel Hill, PA

Previously, the site was the location of a holding house for prisoners long before the school was constructed. There are tales of mistreatment of the prisoners who were brutally beaten and sometimes left to starve.  Many murders and deaths took place there in the prison.  The dead prisoners were buried at the grounds in unmarked graves. Years later, the school was constructed on the site. Apparently, sometimes at night you can see the prisoners walking the school grounds.  Many strange noises and reports of poltergeist activities have been reported within the school.



If anyone can add any more details, please post a comment.  This sounds like  a really creepy haunting... 

Archbishop Prendergast High School – Drexel Hill, PA

This school was also formerly known as Monsignor Bonner High School.   Serving several different purposes over the years, this building has had some share of bad history.

A nun committed suicide by hanging herself in the bell tower.  Although the tower has been sealed off for years, she can be seen looking out of the tower on occasion.  The tower bell will also sound unexpectedly and candlelight can be seen in the windows.

Archbishop Prendergast High School – Drexel Hill, PA

Pennsylvania Institute of Technology - Media, PA

The Pennsylvania Institute of Technology in Media, PA used to be a convent long ago known as the Notre Dame School for Girls.  A former mother superior haunts the bell tower.  She can be occasionally seen though the lighted tower windows at night.  Supposedly when the tower is closed off. 

Indian Rock Park - Springfield, PA

Years ago a girl died while camping with some friends in the woods along Darby Creek in this park.  The cause of her demise is unknown, but out of all the camping excursions with her friends, she did not come out alive on her last one.

Apparently, now and then you can see the ghost of a girl walking through the woods at night. You can see the glow of her lantern as she strolls along through pathway that runs through the park.  Perhaps her soul was never allowed to leave when her life came to a sudden end in this place.

Williamson Trade School - Media, PA

Founded in 1888 by Isaiah Vansant Williamson, his school was originally designed to allow poor, young men who otherwise would not be able to afford an education, to learn a specific trade and become a productive member of society.  This institution has a long rich history including  fire in 1957 that destroyed most of the buildings.  Along with the history are a few ghosts...

Isaiah Vansant Williamson, founder of Williamson Trade School

Main Building - Apparently, the founder was buried under the main steps of this school. Folks experience strange feelings at night when standing there and supposedly your shadow is cast in 4 different directions for no apparent reason.  Some say they have seen an apparition believed to be that of Isaiah Williamson.


Longstreth Dormatory - There is a hand print on a window that never disappears. When it is cleaned off, it reappears just like it was.




Know any more information about this?  Please post a comment:

Heilbron Mansion - Media, PA

At the site of an old mansion along Rose Tree Road, there supposedly lived a family whom one day found their daughter dead in nearby Ridley Creek. The death was blamed on a servant that worked for the family. He was immediately hanged in a tree outside.

Heilbron Mansion before it was destroyed in a fire

The mansion was supposedly haunted by three different ghosts. One was a little girl that haunted the upstairs. The second was the girl’s mother whose presence was felt in various locations . The third is the servant that was hung who haunts the driveway and front porch.


I have a friend who says as a teenager, he and some friends entered the abandoned mansion on a dare. As they entered a certain part of the house, their flashlights all went out at the same time!

Not so long ago in 1987, the mansion burned down. It was rebuilt, but the only thing that remains of the original mansion is some of the stonework piers, walls, and foundation.  Current owners do not report any evidence of haunting. However, a housing development has been built on the site of the old estate grounds.  Some people claim to have seen shadow people lurking around Heilbron Drive and the surrounding wooded areas.

Heilbron estate is now a housing development

There is a book titled "Night Stalks the Mansion" written specifically about these hauntings which was out of print for a while.


If you have your own personal experience you would like to share about Heilbron, please post a comment...

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My Experience on Dog Kennel Road

I have never been a big believer in ghosts or the paranormal, but I love a good ghost story. I have lived in the town of Media, PA since 1996. I have heard and read about numerous hauntings in the area including one on Dog Kennel Road. There have been many versions, the main one being that if you drive down that road on midnight, you will see the ghost of a young girl sitting on the side of a bridge where she was supposedly killed. Just to clarify a few misnomers, a lot of folks state that the road is in Newtown
Square, however it is not. It lies near the intersection of Route 1 and 252 next to Rose Tree Park between Media and Newtown Square. I have to say that I did not see the actual ghost of the girl, but I did see something out of the ordinary…



I have driven down Dog Kennel Road many times in hopes of seeing a glimpse of the paranormal only to see absolutely nothing. I have to say I had never driven down that road at midnight, however. One October evening after a family outing to the Arasapha Farms haunted attractions, we were driving home and I was recounting the story of the haunting on Dog Kennel Road to my teenage kids and my daughter’s boyfriend who happened to be along that night hoping to top off the night with a little “real life” scare. It was getting close to midnight so on a whim, I decided I would make the story a little more interesting by actually
going for a drive down Dog Kennel Road which was close by. The road is very narrow and winding and it is all tree covered and dark which is a creepy in itself. The bridges are hard to spot since they are only marked by small concrete barriers on either side so I was driving really slowly. We passed the first bridge without incident. After driving a little further we came to the second bridge. Not really expecting to see anything, I decided to make it a little creepy by slowing to almost a stop and turned the lights off. After appeals from my daughter to turn them back on, I did so and we crossed the second bridge and saw nothing. We approached the third bridge which is close to the end of the road where it intersects with Paxon Hollow road.

As we crossed the bridge, there in front of us crossing the road was a small patch of white mist. At that moment my son said, “OK, that’s just weird”. This would not be a weird sight ordinarily except that there was no fog in sight anywhere except that one spot. The night air was relatively warm for October as we wore no coats or jackets that evening.  The mist was just a small patch that resembled the shape of a 3’ high by 3’ wide ball. We drove through the mist and quickly turned around at the end of the road. At first, we didn’t see the mist again.  But as we got closer, there it was in the middle of the road again in the same spot and it moved off of the road before we got to it. As an afterthought, it occurred to me that the mist never dissipated after we  drove through it as it should have in the wake of the air displaced by our car. It was still there, intact. The thought literally sent chills up my spine! You have to admit, that was really weird…

Dog Kennel Road

Update: 9/17/10


I was out in this area hiking around for a good location to hide a geocache.  I came across the "3rd" bridge.  I snapped a photo of it because I had never seen it from that angle within the woods before.  When I downloaded the pictures I noticed something very odd on the bridge.  I've seen many claims from those that have photographic evidence of ghosts in the form of plasma balls or ectoplasm which are balls of light that show up in photographs.  I have to say that I have taken many pictures before and have never had those show up on them.  However, look at the picture below that I took that night.  Just above the culvert pipe, right center...

The "3rd bridge" on Dog Kennel Road as seen from the forest, note the ball of light, mid right center

This is an untouched photo I might add.  Creepy stuff!


Another update: 10/6/10



I was out hiking in this park again this evening, took another photo just for kicks.  This time from a different angle and distance.  Take a look below at the again, untouched photo taken 2 and a half weeks after the photo above.  You may have to click on it and enlarge it...

Another orb...  same place almost!  I have to say...  now this is really starting to freak me out...


Do you have an experience of your own to add?  Please write a comment and submit it.

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