The Haunted Halls of Minquas & Alert

This past Tuesday evening was a night much like any other summer night in bucolic Downingtown, PA. Groups of kids were out playing some hoops down at Kerr Park. Of course there were the usual lines at the counters at Rita's. The aromas of barbecued dinners were wafting through the air on every block in town. Small town America at it's finest, to be sure. But all was not normal on this particular sultry summer's night, for Downingtown's very own team of ghostbusters, D.A.P.I. had set out to investigate the rumored ghost sightings of both of our illustrious fire halls, Minquas & Alert. D.A.P.I., is short for Downingtown Area Paranormal Investigators. Who knew? As it turns out though this sort of thing is not as far out as you might expect. It turns out that the Chester County Night School currently offers seven courses in the upcoming semester related to ghostly endeavors.
The folks at D.A.P.I. have been enlisted by the Downingtown150 committee to help us put on our first (and hopefully not last) ghost tour which will take place right in the heart of Downingtown on Saturday Oct. 24 & Sunday Oct. 25. It's all part of the Downingtown Historical & Parks Department's ongoing celebration of the 150th anniversary of the chartering of the Borough of Downingtown. So if your going to have a ghost tour, it stands to reason that you're going to need some ghosts. So, "Who ya gonna call?!" D.A.P.I., of course!
On Tuesday evening, about 10 members of D.A.P.I. , along with several members of the Downingtown150 committee, were met by Lieutenant Jeff Stevens of the Alert Fire Company, who gave us a tour of the station, along with a brief history of Alert. Later in the evening our investigation moved over to Minquas Fire Station, where Assistant Chief Steve Miller played the cordial host. At each location our intrepid ghost hunters, armed with an array of scientific equipment (more about that in a future blog), spread out in search of spirits from the netherworld. What did they find? You didn't really expect me to tell you that here, did you? To find that out and much more you are going to have be at one of our Ghost Tours on October 24 & 25, or both nights- if you dare!

The Changing face of Dtown.

I have a story as related to me by one of the long time residents of Downingtown who does not want to be identified. He showed me this photograph of the Log House that he took the other night while he and his wife were walking along Rt. 30. I looked at the photograph and said this could not have been the other night! the Log House does not look like this, those trees are no longer there, there is no roof overhang on the front of the house. he said I know. He said he could not understand why the photograph looked so different. He said that he still had the original in his digital camera and I asked if he would show it to me. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was the same photograph. I've taken several photographs of the Log house and could not recreate that photo that this man had. All my photos looked the same, like the Log house looks today.

Help wanted. DAPI is in need of anyone who has a story of ghostly origin from within the Downingtown Area. If your family has lived in Downingtown along time they may know of a ghostly story or to. Maybe your grandparents lived in Downingtown and you visited as a kid and your grandfather would tell you about that haunted house around the corner. You remember, he would tell you the story right before it was bed time.
Then when it was over he’d say ok let’s get to bed. You would head up the stairs with your knees knocking; eyes wide open and hearing every little creak and groan. Then the moment of truth. You would be standing by the light switch near the bedroom door trying to figure out how you were going to be able to jump from the door way to the bed so that whatever was under the bed couldn’t get you.

If you have any interesting storyies please contact us at. info@downingtownparanormal.com

Got Ghosts?

Somebody call the fire department! Actually, there's no fire. But we are looking for those affiliated with either of Downingtown's two illustrious fire departments, Alert & Minquas, in the past or present to see if anybody has any unusual tales to tell. OK, no sense beating around the bush, after all this is the blog for the Downingtown Ghost Walk. We are looking for ghosts and ghost stories. Do you perhaps have an uncle who used to be a fireman who told you about the time.... Or was good ol' Aunt Gertrude setting up for the Ladies Auxilary Bake Sale when all of the sudden she felt a chill down her spine?

The Downingtown Ghost Walk

Just a quick update., The Downingtown Ghost Walk will be on Saturday October 24th & Sunday October 25th.

The walks will start at 5PM and run until 6:30 for familes with small children. During these times we will present spooky stories that are geared toward the smaller ones.

From 6:30 to 9:30 the walks will change to more adult oriented stories.

Just a little sample to start getting you in the mood. In the picture above we captured what appears to be a woman in the window, top right pane.

Keep checking back often for updates and sneek peeks.

Downingtown Public Library

The Downingtown Library will also be featured on the Ghost Walk with some very interesting
and spooky history.





.

The Twin Tunnels of Downingtown

I'm not going to say much about the Twin Tunnels of Downingtown. You will have to come take our ghost tour in October to find out the scary details. We won't be going to the tunnels. but we will have some interesting information as well as photographs. Anyone who lives around here knows that you take your life in your hands when you try to walk through the tunnels. I will just say this, The Tunnels have several stories of gruesome happenings over the years dating from the late 1800's to 1990's.

Downingtown Log Cabin

The Downingtown Log House was built about 1705 by John Hickman. For the rest of the story you will have to come to the Dtown's Ghost Walking tour on October 24th & 25th. You will have an awesome time.