Three Scary Chesco Places Hide Tales Of Death And War

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Historic haunts Chesco revolve around the Revolutionary War, and the legends arise from those war stories.

The Battle of Brandywine Creek leaves a spooky legacy. It's said that after the 11-hour battle on Sept. 11, 1777 between the armies of Gen. George Washington and Gen. Sir William Howe's British and Hessian troops, blood from the battlefield flowed a distance of 2 miles to the Brandywine Creek.

Today the site is home to Thornbury Farm on Route 926 in Thornbury Township, where produce is sold. But seekers of the paranormal are fascinated with reports of ghost sightings, the restless souls who died in the bloody American Revolutionary War battle. Outbuildings on the property were used as temporary prisoner-holdings, and the farmhouse became a make-shift field hospital.

"Ghost Classes" and guided tours can be arranged by calling (610) 793-2933.

War hospitals were the place of unsettling deaths and another such haunt is in West Chester. The building that today houses Iron Hill Brewery on Gay Street in West Chester was long ago a hospital for Revolutionary War soldiers.

Legendary spooky sounds are said to echo in the building when it's not filled with lively, talking customers.

West Chester's Lincoln Room is among the county's famous haunted dwellings, also. The tale is of a horse thief whose ears had been cut off as a punishment; the tortured man made such commotion in the jail that he was relocated to a nearby cottage, called the Lincoln Room. There, it's said, his cries turned to strange laughter before he died there.

Visitors might still hear the chilling wail of the thief John Tully in what is today a lovely tea room at 28 W. Market Street.