Killer Clowns Terrorizing People in W.Pa. is nothing new its been going on for years some times a prank gone bad many times nothing more than urban legend. like in Oakmont.

Yes even where I live in the community next to  mine Oakmont Pa. there is an urban legend of a Killer Clown living in the woods of Dark Hollow who will chase and kill you and your remains will never be found.
Of course with a name like Dark hollow do you want to explore the area in the first place.The name possibly comes  from Indian tribes who resided in the area and noted the thick heavy woods and dark areas which see little daylite . However its also a beutiful place to explore with several marked trails.

Nothing more than an urban legend like the wood chopper killer in Pnn hills it probably started by a father to scare his kids so they would not go exploring in the dark hollow  area.By them selves which is never a good idea anyways . The whole Killer Clown thing of late thou  has gotten out of hand. the latest children being chased by individuals dressed in clown masks

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/03/04/armed-men-dressed-as-clowns-scare-children-in-west-mifflin/

In most cases it is just teenagers fooling around trying to scare friends and neighbors and ocassional storys pop up in the news around here over the years .
However criminals have been known to put on clown masks or even dress as clowns to deliberately terrorize individuals or when committing crimes so no one knows who they are .

Of course one of the scariest cases of a real serial killer clown was that of John Wayne Gacy who dressed as a clown for children's party's and is responsible for over a dozen young mens deaths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy

Either way its not funny when your the recipient of some ones prank and some ones liable to get killed by some one they scare who is a legal permit holder . So have fun but do so wisely.
http://www.seattletimes.com/life/whats-up-with-these-creepy-clowns/

A little known park inside a J&L Steel Mill built by Steel Workers on Pittsburghs Southside Now lost to History

My dad was one of the lucky  ones being able to retire from J&L which Became LTV steel before it totally closed down in Pittsburgh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_and_Laughlin_Steel_Company

But when it was still running full steam in the 1970's some steel workers on there lunch breaks built a beautiful little park they could eat there lunch at in the south side works somewhere near the old No1# mill. shown in photo below

I have been trying to find pictures of it as it was shown in an article which was published in J&L Steel Workers magazine .But have not been able to find copy's of the magazine or the article and I do not know if anything was ever published about the little park outside of that magazine

Unfortunately those who built it  would know about it would be well into there 80's and 90's if they are still alive.

It took up an area about 100 by 100feet and contained a small walking trail benches and a wishing well made from a sewer pipe and even had a small pond with gold fish

It only lasted a summer or two till vandals got into the mill after operations in that area ceased and destroyed it.

If I find anything on it I will update you on it. 

 

Update : It appears some of the old park was brought over to the 2nd ave Coke Works  but it too fell into disrepair after it closed  

They say death awaits those who see the young man on a white horse in Shotts Cemetery near Ford City Pa.

There is a small isolated cemetery up a lonely country road near Ford City Pa. which has a legend of a young man named Ruben Briney who is supposed to have hanged himself in anguish after losing the love of his life from his white horse on a near by tree

https://hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2009/06/ford-city-folklore.html

its  said he has been spotted riding his horse and if you se him you will die like he did. 

Although the grave was a real grave and he may have in fact committed suicide the rest of the creepy tale appears to be more legend than fact. 

The story coming from the epitaph on his grave stone 

"As you are now so once was I, As I am now so you will be; Remember me as you pass by, Prepare to die and follow me."  

How ever if you want to check it out the cemetery is accessible and close to Crooked Creek State Park. 

Which is a big time gathering place for horse lovers as they hold a yearly rodeo. 

http://pennsylvania.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,2,fid,1187607,n,shotts%20cemetery.cfm

So seeing ayoung man riding a white horse in area is very possible. 

A long abandoned Boat club behind a Springdale Power Plant- Now Lost to History

It was the summer of 1974  as a Boy scout I was participating in a Allegheny Trails Council  Boot & Paddle program which involved taking a weeks long 150 mile trek by canoe from Tionesta Pa to edge of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River a trip no longer available any more since they closed Camp Tionesta in 1977  in favor of new camp heritage built in Farmington Pa.

We would spend several different nights stopped at uninhabited islands or small parks sometimes  beside a dam or marinas.
But one of those stops was like a ghost town a long abandoned boat club behind the West Penn Power station in Springdale . A small slice of ground a 100 feet wide by maybe 200 yards it was filled with little decaying picnic pavilions bath and changing  houses and picnic tables . It looks to have been abandoned in late 50's I do not even know the name of it and access to it now is strictly by boat as the whole area has changed in the 40+ years I was last there. From the satellite pictures it looks like all the structures have been bulldozed and maybe just couple foundations left .

It might have been called the Springdale -Cheswick Boat Club  but locals I asked know nothing about it even existing. The little picnic groves and beach houses you could see where painted with different nautical symbols and  flags and they where probably made to move after the plant converted from coal to oil as several large oil tanks took up much of the area at that point since removed   Then again after building it the river conditions around the plant may have well changed making it uninhabitable.
I wish I would have been able to afford a film camera to record the trip because so much of what I saw along the trip no longer exists  factory's , Oil wells and  railroad buildings and structures  torn down and industry removed as well as marinas and vacation homes and shacks.  Plus the bad flooding after hurricane Agnes and Ivan wiped out large numbers of homes and parts of towns as well as ice flows from winter freezing.
Unfortunately many of those I took the 2 trips down the river with are no longer with us many of the scout leaders  who would now be in their 80's 90's  having passed on including many of the scouts as well having died young from cancer .You know I have to wonder if it was not from what we encountered camping overnite on this  and the other spots ,including my getting bite by a tick with lyme disease which at time Dr.s did not know what they where dealing with .Plusall the other pollution from the river we swam and bathed in  . Once we got below Oil City the river went from clean to oil slicked and polluted.
It may well have helped contribute to my own bout with cancer. I still every once in a while run into one of the guys I went down river with and every time more and more have passed on.Who have taken these trips.

Im 3rd from left

River map travel guide

Map where we stayed the night behind power plant

Neckercheif Slide your awarded for completing trip