Hiding in the hills of the abandoned mining town of Barclay sits a cemetery and the foundation of a long-fallen church. Amongst these falling-down graves walk the former residents of this forgotten town. Wiped out by the Black Plague and the Industrial Revolution, the once bustling town is now appropriately named a ghost town.
The first time Ghost Hunters Incorporated ventured into this cemetery was back in 1999, and it would be the stepping stone from which all of our other investigations would grow. Greg Newkirk, one of our team members, had discovered the cemetery while researching a location to conduct our first real investigation. He led us on a late-night excursion there.
The cemetery has a history of strange occurrences unrelated to the paranormal, including grave robbing and, disturbingly, a murder. Standing at the very front of the cemetery is a large gate with the name of the graveyard you are about to enter. As you cross this gate, you begin to notice how vastly large and spread out this resting place really is.
Now mostly overgrown and barely remembered, it is here that many hear the sounds of human footsteps when no one is there. It is also where people have claimed to hear the sounds of tunes being whistled in the night when no one is around to do so. Some have reported seeing phantom women dressed in long, white gowns walking amongst the trees there. Others have claimed to have heard the sounds of children laughing.
One particularly odd event that has taken place many times during our numerous investigations there is the sounds of pickaxes hitting the ground in a town that has not had miners in it for more than 100 years. The unmistakable clang of the metal hitting the ground resonates through the air, leaving the hair on the back of your neck standing on end.
Nick Foust of Ghost Hunters Incorporated recounts the first night he experienced something in the cemetery:
“Barclay Cemetery is located basically out in the middle of nowhere. As we entered, I was really uneasy about everything. It seemed like this place was forgotten about a long time ago, and when you can’t really see that well—yeah, you can say that I was scared. As the night went by, all of sudden you could hear a noise out in the woods, and everyone just stopped dead in their tracks and listened. As we listened, Greg said, ‘You know this town was full of miners!’ or something like that. Not two seconds after he said that— PING!—it sounded exactly like someone hitting a rock with a pickaxe.”
Barclay is a definite hot spot of haunted activity with a dark past full of plague, death, and obvious heartbreak. The spirits who walk the grounds have made their presence felt and continue to carry on in the afterlife. Will they ever find peace and be able to cross over, or is this their eternal fate to walk the abandoned hills of their once-busy town?
Written by — Jason Gowin Ghost Hunter, Ghost Hunters Incorporated
BARCLAY CEMETERY
APPROXIMATELY 3 TO 5 MILES UP BARCLAY MOUNTAIN OFF ROUTE 514
BRADFORD COUNTY
LEROY, PENNSYLVANIA
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger
I received an email from Brian :
It’s a common myth that the town was affected by the black plague. What happened was the the mountain was completely logged. Neighboring LaQuin had one of the biggest sawmills in the country at the time. One the resources were gone, people just left. Even the homes were stripped for wood, leaving only foundations. It’s actually an interesting story, but it wasn’t the plague. Lots of first hand accounts exist as well, since it was a pretty bustling area.
If you want any more info I’d refer you to the Leroy Heritage Museum, there’s some good info on their youtube channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/@LeRoyHeritageMuseum