HAUNTINGS WITH CHARLES ADAMS III
―October 24, 2009―

 

                From Doylestown:                                           From New Hope:
                Departure Time: 7:45 A.M.                             Departure Time: 8:15 A.M.
                Return Time: Approx. 7:15 P.M.                     Return Time: Approx. 6:45 P.M.

Cost: $108.00 due at time of reservation

Reservation deadline is September 28, 2009

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’s back!  Charles Adams III, that is.  Author of more than 25 books on the supernatural, Charles returns to lead Guided Tours Unlimited, Inc.’s annual ghost tour.  His 2004 “The Ghosts of Bucks County” tour was enthusiastically received and his return visit is anxiously awaited.  Charles has led ghosts tours from New York City to Scotland, from Philadelphia to Wales, and from Cape May to England.  He has served as commentator and consultant on the History Channel, A&E, The Learning Channel, and the Travel Channel on programs delving into the paranormal.

Your morning begins in New Hope where a local innkeeper will relate the story of “Sarah”, believed to be a runaway slave who haunts an underground tunnel beneath his property and visit a unique shop that offers many curiosities for sale, among them an antique Civil War era wooden coffin, Victorian mourning jewelry and clothing, and Georgian Memorial Folk Art made of human hair.

Then it’s off to Tamaqua for lunch at the Train Station Restaurant, a focal point of unexplained activity attested to by contractors who have worked within its walls, on its platforms, and in its tunnels.

You will then travel to Jim Thorpe, which many surmise is a vortex of energy created when two mountains merge dramatically together and are separated by water.  Here you will hear the story of the town’s grand dame who haunts St. Mark’s Episcopal Church; of the interesting spirits at The Inn at Jim Thorpe that continue to reside in Rooms 211, 310, and 311; and of the phantom of the Opera House who rehearses in its balcony.  You will see the 1874 Harry Packer house that was the inspiration for the Haunted Mansion at Disney World.  A highlight of your day will be a tour of the Carbon County Prison.  Located high on a hill, the two-story prison built of hand-cut stone and set into the side of a mountain opened in 1871 and was in operation until 1995.  It contained 28 cells housing two prisoners each, 16 dungeon cells for solitary confinement, and the warden’s living quarters.  Known as perhaps the most haunted jail on the East Coast, its Cell 17 reveals a mysterious handprint of a man wrongly hanged over 100 years ago.  Seven of the famous Irish coal miners, the Molly Maguires, were sent to the gallows in the prison.  Four were hanged on “Black Thursday: The Day of the Rope”, June 21, 1877, one on March 28, 1878, and two others on January 14, 1879.  The Molly Maguires joined together to form a union to fight for better working conditions in the local mines.  Since the Irish were not well regarded by many facets of society at the time, one of the few jobs open to them was work in the mines. But life was hard for a miner.  There were long hours and frequent accidents.  Wages were paid in script and averaged three dollars a week.  Most, if not all, of a workers’ salary was spent at the company store where they had to buy their own equipment and pay rent to the coal barons who owned their homes.  In some cases a miner was in debt to the store, causing him to work for free.  As the union grew larger so did the anger of the bosses.  Eventually violence erupted.  Several of the Mollies were found guilty of murdering coal managers and vandalizing mines and mining equipment.  They were sentenced to be hanged in the Carbon County prison.  Moments before being hanged, one of the imprisoned men ran his hand along the dirt floor of his cell, proclaimed his innocence, placed his hand on the wall, and vowed his handprint would always remain as proof of his innocence.  The eerie mark can still be seen today even though many attempts have been made to remove it from the wall.  The bodies of the doomed miners were then placed on a train headed for Tamaqua to await burial the next morning.  Due to the late arrival, the remains were stored overnight in wooden boxes packed with ice in the men’s waiting room of the Tamaqua train station.  Two years later the station served again as a holding area when the alleged ringleader of the Molly Maguires, John “Black Jack” Kehoe, was hanged in Pottsville and his plain pine casket was brought to the train station before burial in a nearby cemetery.

The tour includes deluxe motorcoach transportation, admission, lunch,
and all taxes and gratuities per itinerary.

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