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Deadly Fun, Part 3: Pennsylvania Amusement Park Fatalities
Hersheypark's SuperDooperLooper (Credit: MexicanLlama400/Coasterpedia)All this month we've been exploring Pennsylvania amusement parks, some still popular and others long forgotten, and the dark...
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Deadly Fun, Part 2: Pennsylvania Amusement Park Fatalities
One of the few surviving pictures of National Amusement Park in Blawnox, showing the mill chute ride.Last week we explored some forgotten tragedies at Pennsylvania amusement parks. This week, we look...
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Deadly Fun, Part 1: Pennsylvania Amusement Park Fatalities
The demise of the Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park (Photo: Shannon Roae, Meadville Tribune) Despite state-of-the-art roller coasters that hurl riders at speeds of nearly 160 mph (such as Falcon's...
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The Lost Head of Ernest Gouker
On the morning of Monday, December 9, 1929, a fire devoured a one and a half story log home four miles south of Gettysburg, just off Taneytown Road near Barlow. The inferno raged with such ferocity...
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Mamie Toogood and the Burning Boarder
Ercildoun, the birthplace of Mamie Toogood Few places in Pennsylvania played as important a role in black history as Chester County. With its large pro-abolition Quaker population and close proximity...
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Morbid Real Estate: August Edition
403 Daly St., PhiladelphiaAmong the most famous lines written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the adage, "there are no second acts in American lives." This month's installment of Morbid Real Estate dispels...
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The Mysterious Death of Polly Schraeder
In January of 1924 the city of Lebanon was shocked by the mysterious demise of an elderly fortune-teller. While the official investigation determined that Mary "Polly" Schraeder had died of natural...
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A Suicide at Bala Cynwyd Junior High
Opened in 1939, Bala Cynwyd Junior High School (now Bala Cynwyd Middle School) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with its...
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The Diplomat's Widow: The Urdanivia Tragedy
It's not every day that the widow of a Peruvian diplomat makes headlines for being a mass murderer, and it's even rarer when the widow of a Peruvian diplomat commits a mass murder in Pennsylvania-- but...
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The Tragic Leap of Lois Marshall
During the Great Depression, millions of Pennsylvanians found themselves facing an uncertain financial future, and many sought enterprising ways to keep the dark shadows of poverty at bay. Some risked...
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Faustin Wirkus: The Coal Cracker Who Became King
On Sunday, April 19, 1931, a huge crowd assembled at the train station in the small mining town of Dupont in Luzerne County to catch a glimpse of royalty. They watched in anticipation as the passenger...
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The Disappearance of Johanna Logue
In a house on the corner of 22nd and Summer Streets in Philadelphia, just west of Logan Square, was born a man who would rise to notoriety as one of America's most infamous criminals. Born in 1837 to...
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Morbid Real Estate: May Edition
1211 Macon Ave., PittsburghWelcome to another exciting edition of Morbid Real Estate, where I hunt down homes for sale that come with a tragic history. Like many states, Pennsylvania doesn't require...
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A Mystery in Mutton Town
In the 19th century, there was once a mining village south of Pittsburgh known as Mutton Town, which stood about a half-mile north of Coal Valley near present-day Jefferson Hills. This little...
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The Dissection of Anna Castner
During the early 20th century the portion of the Avoca borough to the east of Interstate 81, near the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, was a mining community known as Brown's Patch. Like...
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The Altoona Railroad Spike Murder
Roy Lockard and Margaret KarmendiA black sedan with out-of-state plates barreled down Jaggard Street in Altoona on the night of April 21, 1936. As the car sped toward the intersection of Jaggard...
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Morbid Real Estate: April Edition
3 S. Market St., ShamokinApril showers bring May flowers, but this month also brings a slew of real estate opportunities for those seeking a home whose walls reverberate with the echoes of forgotten...
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The Wheelerville Murder
Ernest Hipple Home to some of our most stunning state parks and known for its abundance of wilderness beauty, Sullivan County is the second-least populous county in Pennsylvania. The county seat of...
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The Strange Case of the Felonious Fumigator
Leah Minerva Dilley (Listen to the audio version here) On June 3, 1934, the four-year-old daughter of George and Edna Dilley vanished from her home in Mercer County. Leah Minerva Dilley was last seen...
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