Haunts & Hexes

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Hex Barn Art Tour or
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BRACE YOURSELVES

A ghostly family on Bloody Spring Road?
Nocturnal spectral revelry on Witchcraft Road?
A mysterious castle on Spook Lane?
A haunted covered bridge (actually, two of them)?
An eerie theater, school, park, graveyard, stadium, restaurant, inn, bed and breakfast, attraction, shop, farm, and museum?

Welcome to the “other side” of Greater Reading – where history and mystery intertwine. Few regions can claim the intensity of reputedly haunted places as Berks County. Several mansions in Reading’s Centre Park Historic District harbor ghosts, and throughout the countryside are dozens of private and public places that have been documented as “haunted.”

This is a land where locals still call on the mystical faith-healing known has “pow-wow.” It is where “soul holes” and “devil doors” can be found on ancient farmsteads and where an entire self-guided driving tour provides a map to the enigmatic “hex signs” and other curious architectural quirks that adorn big, bank barns in the county’s fertile farmlands.

SPECIAL TOUR
Click here for a self-guided itinerary of “Walpurgisnacht”-related and haunted sites in northeastern Berks County.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Take a self-guided tour to Reading’s most mischievous destinations. Enter each place at your own risk. Once there, staff can answer your questions. But beware; Greater Reading is more haunted than you think.

Greater Reading Convention and Visitors Bureau recognizes that legends, folklore and ghost stories are very much a part of our culture. Contact us and we will gladly help you plan a trip to haunted sites where spirits are said to dwell.

VISIT THESE PLACES

Here is a link to our Ghost Trail Rack Card

Aulenbach Cemetery
Berks County Heritage Center
Crystal Cave
Dreibelbis Station Bridge
Dutch Hex Tour
Hawk MountainSanctuary
Historical Society of Berks County
Kutztown Area Historical Society
Town of Hamburg, Our Town Foundation
Reading Liederkranz
Reading Phillies
Wertz Mill Covered Bridge
William Penn Memorial Fire Tower

Aulenbach Cemetery: A child, Rosy, watches over her resting place marked by a headless, one-armed statue. This cemetery has been explored by several amateur ghost hunters who have caught glowing orbs in their photos, so make sure you bring a camera to this stop.
20^th and Perkiomen Avenue
Mount Penn, PA 19606

Berks County Heritage Center: In 1875, pregnant Louia Bissinger, drowned herself and her three children in the Union Canal. Their sorrowful spirits may be felt or seen along the Union Canal Towpath Trail between Gring's Mill Recreation Area and the Berks County Heritage Center.

The Union Canal Towpath and Berks County Parks are closed after dark.
1102 Red Bridge Road,
Reading, PA 19605
610-374-8839

Crystal Cave:Four ghosts have been seen on the grounds of the park and in an old nearby hotel.
963 Crystal Cave Road
Kutztown, PA 19530
610-683-6765

Dreibelbis Station Covered Bridge:This covered bridge is home to the spirit of a man whose head was sliced off by his horses’ reins when it was spooked while crossing the bridge in the late 19^th century.
Covered Bridge Road
Lenhartsville, PA 19534

Dutch Hex Tour: This tour passes by Bloody Spring, Witchcraft Road and Dragon Cave. Many stops on the tour are associated with Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and legends. Pick up a guide/brochure at the Greater Reading Visitors Center in the Goggleworks and take the tour.
Maps can be found at the Greater Reading Visitors Center in the Goggleworks.
Old Route 22
Bethel to Allentown
Berks County, PA
1-800-HEXTOUR

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary:Hawk Mountain is said to be one the most intensely haunted areas in the county. Spirits from an 18th century Indian massacre have been felt and seen on the trails. Stop by the Hawk Mt. Visitors Center and explore the trails. Or click on hawkmountain.org to find information on hours.
Hawk Mountain trails are closed after dark.
1700 Hawk Mountain Road
Kempton, PA 19529
610-756-6961

Historical Society of Berks County
940 Centre Avenue
Reading, PA 19601
The Hendel House, 746 Centre Avenue, in Reading, is owned by the Historical Society of Berks County. The ghost of a little girl has been spotted on the landing of the main staircase. Spirit energies have been recorded in the yard adjacent to the Hendel House, a mansion in Reading's Centre Park Historic District.

Kutztown Area Historical Society:The historical society was a public school for 85 years and is the site of numerous reported encounters with the paranormal. These viewings range from faces in windows and voices in the walls to touches from invisible hands.
Normal and South White Oak Street
Kutztown, PA 19530
610-683-7697

Town of Hamburg - Our Town Foundation:Spirits dwell in many of the restaurants, hotels, homes and businesses in the town. The ghost of a railroad worker remains near the bridge where he died in the early 1900s and the spirit of a man who died in an elevator accident has been seen by many around the town.
335 State Street
Hamburg, PA 19526
610-562-3106

Reading Liederkranz:A ghost (christened “Charlie” by members) makes his home at the Liederkranz, specifically on the second floor of the building and in the dining club.
Visitors must ID themselves to the bartender and will be shown around by an officer.
143 Spook Lane
Reading, PA 19606
610-373-3982

Reading Phillies FirstEnergy Stadium:Technical difficulties such as blank screens and deaf mikes have been attributed to a young boy whose ashes were spread on the outfield after he succumbed to terminal illness.
1900 Centre Avenue
Reading, PA 19612
610-375-8469

Wertz’s Mill Covered Bridge:The ghost of a former toll-taker still visits this bridge.
Wertz’s Mill Bridge and Berks County parks are closed after dark.
Red Bridge Road
Reading, PA 19605

William Penn Memorial Fire Tower:The site of a destructive fire, the Fire Tower and adjacent remains of the Mountaintop Hotel have captured the interest of paranormal experts. Photographs taken at this location show images of a young woman and recordings captured a voice calling, “Don’t do that!” Other explorers have heard echoes of big band music and laughter near the Mountaintop Hotel remains.
Visit during regular hours or call Corrie Crupi for an appointment at 610-370-9096.
98 Duryea Dr.
Reading, PA 19604
610-375-6399

MEET THE EXPERT
These scary locations have been provided by experienced ghost hunter, Charles J. Adams III. He is a Berks County native and resident who has spent more than 30 years chronicling ghost stories in his more than 32 books on haunted places in Mid-Atlantic States. He has presented at numerous paranormal conferences and has led ghost tours in the United States, Caribbean, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. He has also been interviewed on radio and TV stations in the US, Great Britain, and South Africa. He has served as an “expert” on television shows on the History Channel, Travel Channel A&E, MTV, Learning Channel, and Japan’s Nippon Network. For more information on books and tours by Charlie J. Adams III, visit www.exeterhousebooks.com

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2525 N. 12th Street, Suite 101, Reading, PA 19605 • 610.375.4085 or 800.443.6610
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Haunts & Hexes Ghost Trail