Pennsylvania Ghost Towns

[P.B. and Dylan]

Don't know if this was posted on here before. A Friend loaned me this book called Pennsylvania Ghost Towns by Susan Hutchison Tassin. Published in 2007 for $10.95. He got it from the library.
Here is a list of the towns:

McKean County:
Teutonia
Betula
Norwich
Gardeau
Clermont

Venango County:
Pithole City
Petroleum Center

Elk County:
Straight
Loleta
Instanter

Clearfield County:
Peale

Center County:
Scotia

Clinton County:
Revelton
Eagleton
Peacock
Rock Cabin
Fort Reed
Keating

Union County:
Alvira

Lycoming County:
Fort Antes
Masten

Northumberland County:
Fort Agusta
Fort Freeland

Potter County:
New Norway
Austin

Cameron County:
Hicks Run

Sullivan County:
Ricketts
Celestia

Bradford County:
Azilum
Laquin

Columbia County:
Centralia

Luzerne County:
Ecklet

Washington County:
Beelor's Fort
Rice's Fort
Well's Fort

Beaver County:
Old Economy Village

Allegheny County:
Couch's Fort
Dillow's Fort

Indiana County:
Iselin
Whiskey Run
Wehrum

Perry County:
Pandemonia

Huntington County:
Greenwood Furnace

Blair County:
Fort Roberdeau

Philadelphia:
Eastern State Penitentiary??

Lancaster County:
Ephrata Cloister

Lebanon County:
Rausch Gap
Cold Spring Resort

Chester County:
Frick's Lock's

It's a very good book and worth the money. If anyone wants more information in the next day or two let me know and I'll post it.

Paul

 

[deepskyal]

I've seen the listing in some manner somewhere.

Just some info....

Pithole: Clearly posted "NO METAL DETECTING" (Made a long drive there for nothing once.)

Old Economy Village: Run by the historical commission...No detecting there either. Person on site most times. (I lived about a mile from here.)

Austin: An active town, not a ghost town. They did rebuild a lot. (Visit this town frequently) But!!! The flood left a lot of debris for miles down the creek. Lost safes, part of the business district wiped out, houses, people etc. Gonna make an attempt to detect below the town along the creek bed hopefully beginning this April when we can take vacations from work. Been studying old and new maps, terraine, etc. Think I might figure out where the goodies ended up. Been a dream of mine for years.

Al

 

[P.B. and Dylan]

Your right Al.

From the book:

Pithole-"It is illegal to treasure hunt here; leave your metal detector at home".
Sounds like this was a wild town in the 500 day's it existed.

Old Economy Village-"Owned and managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission."
I remember seeing this on a website or TV, it looked beautiful.

Austin-"Today the modern town of Austin sits on or near the site of the earlier lumber town".
Good luck finding the goodies.

The lumber towns fascinate me because even if you are not able to get access to the old town there should be sites in the woods near by where the lumberjacks lived.

 

[deepskyal]

Old Economy Village is beautiful! The Penn State Master Gardener's maintain most of the gardens. I was one but I had other assignments. They give a tour and explain the history...well worth it. They now operate on a limited schedule because funding was cut off by the state. Now it's all done by volunteers.

And Austin....you should see the pics of it during the lumbering heydays. Not a tree standing anywhere for as far as the eye could see on the mountains. That's why they finally built the pulp mill that built the dam that burst. Just crap lumber left over to turn into paper. It was this kind of lumbering that finally brought regulations to the lumbering industry. Guess they realized that no trees meant no more lumber and erosion...etc.

Pithole...grrrr!!! Can't believe you can't detect it. Nicely mowed expanse with the obvious indents in the ground where the houses were. Made me want to cry. Guess the nicely mowed part is what they want to protect. Afraid we'll leave gopher holes or something or waiting for the archeologists to dig up the rusted clumps that they waited too long for to retrieve.

Oh well...lots of other good places to go for sure.

Al

 

[stewystarr]

I know of one in Erie County, don't know if it's in that book though. In Western Erie County there was a town called Lexington.It was one of the very first setlements in the area. There is nothing there now except farmland and trees. At one time it had a store, blacksmith, train station, and a church among other things. There are still some houses in the area. I have not yet figured out who owns the property. If you want to go I will tell you where it is but you gotta take me with you, lol.

 

[goochas]

Very cool book indeed.

You can cross the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County off your list. It is very much alive and well, complete with a museum, tours, gift shop, and yes, a fee to enter. Well worth the money, but your metal detector won't have a prayer of making it out of the parking lot!

 

[CanUDigIt]

Frick's Lock is patroled by police, has signs posted and they are really cracking down since some teens set a fire to one of the buildings. The neighbors will also call the cops on you. Truly a bummer! I'm 10 minutes from there...

 

[dogpound]

Frick's Lock is patroled by police, has signs posted and they are really cracking down since some teens set a fire to one of the buildings. The neighbors will also call the cops on you. Truly a bummer! I'm 10 minutes from there...

it was real thick and trashy when i hunted there about 18 years ago but still a cool area to wonder around

 

[Wampum]

Tioga County- Town of Landrus Mid to late 1800's - Located on Landrus Rd between Morris and Arnot

 

[bodkin55]

Tioga County- Town of Landrus Mid to late 1800's - Located on Landrus Rd between Morris and Arnot

FYI - Landrus is on state forest land and your not allowed to hunt it.

 

[Wampum]

Good thing I never went there.

 

[TreasureWriter]

I bought the book and was very disappointed. The author very obviously has simply ripped her information from the Internet and never been to these places. The book is verbatim from websites about these towns. Nothing beats true field work and new information about these places. If you're going to uncover new places or leads to search....it won't be in commercialized books such as these. Get into the archives of libraries and historical centers and read the newspapers etc....Look in the mining records and lumber history.....that's where you'll find the ghost towns of Pennsylvania!

Or you could just go to the groups on TreasureNet and ask to join the North Central Pennsylvania Ghost Towns Group.

 

[mikhen]

Tioga County- Town of Landrus Mid to late 1800's - Located on Landrus Rd between Morris and Arnot

FYI - Landrus is on state forest land and your not allowed to hunt it.

Actually, you ARE allowed to detect on State Forest land, as long as it is not one of their natural areas. Certain restrictions do apply, of course. This info was confirmed early last year, by the DCNR.

 

[bodkin55]

Actually, you ARE allowed to detect on State Forest land, as long as it is not one of their natural areas. Certain restrictions do apply, of course. This info was confirmed early last year, by the DCNR.

I have a letter that states otherwise. If you point me in the direction of where you found that information it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Hosensack]

Your letter specifically states historical areas. The second page of your letter is the policy for non historical areas. Historical areas would be one of the restrictions mik was referring to.

 

[bodkin55]

My letter also specifically states the ghost town of Landrus and they said "No". Which, is what this thread is discussing, right?! I would think the state would consider all ghost towns "historical" and not allow detecting. I just don't want to see anyone get pinched for detecting where they shouldn't be. I'd still like to see the language stating your are allowed to detect that "... was confirmed early last year, by the DCNR."

 

[Hosensack]

I think mikhen and you were on different pages with your thoughts. He is right on what he was referring to, but yes the thread was directed at ghost Towns. If you visit the DCNR site you can find the rules on metal detecting....it is what the second page you have states.

 

[ibjeepn]

I've been visiting Forest county for over 40 yrs and love the history of the area. I have quite a few history books on county as well as Butler County. There are plenty of ghost sawmill towns and others throughout forest county. Sure would like to hunt at one of the ccc camp sites or prisoner of war sites.. lol One can dream ! Found a lone stone fireplace in the ANF a few years back. Just cross country hiking. No roads nearby. What looks to be an old logging railroad bed and a stream 10 yds from the old cabin site. Remnants of blue/white china, a pot belly stove,wrought iron bed, ect are there. Would love to go there... but, the legality of it is in question.

 

[mikhen]

This is the response I got when I asked for clarification on the original info the DCNR gave me. This has nothing to do with ghost towns, but here it is.

Mike,

I will answer to the best of my ability. We all know laws+confusing never go
together right!

-You do not need a permit for regular exploration/ use of a detector on regular
state forest land. However, if you are seeking certain objects that have
historical significance (bullets, mining, logging debris) you would need a
permit. What if you just came across something? I don't know the answer to that.

Each district is responsible for enforcing and interpreting the rules. I would
recommend contacting District 18, and talking to a DCNR Ranger. He would
probably have experience with this, and could give you a slightly clearer
interpretation.

Rick Hartlieb | Forester
Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Bureau of Forestry | William Penn Forest District
845 Park Rd. | Elverson, PA 19520
Phone: (610)582-9664 | Fax: (610)582-9692
www.dcnr.state.pa.us | www.iConservePA.org

 

[bodkin55]

This is the response I got when I asked for clarification on the original info the DCNR gave me. This has nothing to do with ghost towns, but here it is.

Mike,

I will answer to the best of my ability. We all know laws+confusing never go
together right!

-You do not need a permit for regular exploration/ use of a detector on regular
state forest land. However, if you are seeking certain objects that have
historical significance (bullets, mining, logging debris) you would need a
permit. What if you just came across something? I don't know the answer to that.

Each district is responsible for enforcing and interpreting the rules. I would
recommend contacting District 18, and talking to a DCNR Ranger. He would
probably have experience with this, and could give you a slightly clearer
interpretation.

Rick Hartlieb | Forester
Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Bureau of Forestry | William Penn Forest District
845 Park Rd. | Elverson, PA 19520
Phone: (610)582-9664 | Fax: (610)582-9692
www.dcnr.state.pa.us | www.iConservePA.org

Okay, I understand where you are coming from. I think his statement "Each district is responsible for enforcing and interpreting the rules." about sums it up. In all fairness, the DCNR did not make the call in my case the Historical & Museum Commission did. Since it was specific to Landrus I thought I'd share the determination that I received. I was hoping there was somewhere with updated information that I could go and read. I'd love to be proven wrong here and have things work in our favor for a change... not the case.