Rumors of a Secret Government Base under Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park seem to be just that

Lake Arthur a man made lake which was developed in the early 60's is largest man made lake and 3rd largest state park in Pa.




It was built on what was scarred and damaged land from coal  and lime stone mining  and included some farm land .In fact there was a small pond thats part of the lake as well as an old section of US422  and a railroad under it. plus there are several old cemetary about the park  since it was aquired land.





While the lake has a rather bad ju- ju feeling for some people and claims of Big Foot  and UFO encounters and some drownings of individuals who went out on their own  to hunt and fish  .  One of the rumors all these years is that when the lake was being built and all the construction was going on that the government supposedly built a secret faculty under the lake.Using the construction as a ruse

The rumor was started supposedly by one of the construction workers who while drunk one night at a local bar spilled the beans on it and suposedly his work buddys shut him up about it. Which is one of several versions i have heard on the suposed base under the lake .

As you can see the lake is gigantic and goes all over the place  so if you where going to hide something you very well could do it especially with as thick as the woods are and all the swampy areas . But as far as I can tell its nothing more than a rumor like many urban legends you hear about mysterious places.  One of the amazing things is the lake filled at all with all the coal mines in the area so when they built the lakes foundation they did a good job sealing off the old mines which once again leeds credence to the so called underground base since the lake filled faster than expected. But thats what good construction work produces good results. As far as I can determine this is just another urban legend of a story being passed down from person to person. I know as much time as I have spent exploring the lake I never found anything indicating any kind of underground structure.
or even reports of mine subsidence which would indicate digging.




An Orphanage Superintendent who murdered his family with an Axe ? Appears nothing more than Urban Legend

I have looked into this story thats been handed down from person to person about a Axe murder committed by a former Superintendent  at the former Holy Family orphanage .
In which he supposedly killed his entire family in the home known as Seton Hall.
Unfortunately after extensive amount of research I have not been able to find any such murder have been committed.
Plus after working in the home which is private property of holy family  and off limits to public as is the entire campus and they will prosecute.
  I did not experience any type of paranormal activity one would expect from such a property.

The man who told me the story told me it in all honesty, yet I can not find one news paper or other article to back it up. So until I do it goes into the Urban Legend file .
maybe it was a story told to the children who stayed on campus at Halloween time  .If I find anything I will let you know.



A Secret hidden Tank Farm in Beaver County ? Yes during WWII to hide it from the Nazis

Legend say there was a hidden tank farm in beaver county tanks you say like Sherman Fighting Tanks?
No not those kind of tanks but Fuel tanks for Gasoline and Aviation Fuel .

Worried first of all about sabotage but mostly aerial bombardment  The Federal government put a large group of 6 tanks underground where they could not be easily found in Potter twp enough to hold 10 million gallons as a strategic holding point for the East Coast.

1 of 6 tanks  removed










But after 70+ years of sitting there and the environmental hazard they pose it was time to unveil them and remove them and reclaim the ground  for use as a park 

With all the factory's  and mills in the region this was the perfect place to keep strategic reserves 

There was also at one time in Elizabeth Pa. area a strategic storage of minerals for the mills as well. but it was all above ground . 
 

The strange looking basement starter homes some where finished but many never where

Back in the 50's and 60's many people set out to build their dream homes but economics dictated how long it would take to live the dream this resulted in many basement homes where the basement of the home was installed and  roof put over it often flat some times with a peak as in picture below At time it was kind of cool as they looked like mini bomb shelters .

 Then a weird looking door installed on top which lead into the basement . Ideally once the home owners had enough funds they would then Finnish the home up top in some cases it took 20 +years and in others it was never completed.
Such building codes today would never allow such homes but at one time they could be found all over rural Western Pa  ,Ohio and West Virginia.
But as you travel the back roads you can still find one on occasion. Like the one below in Westmoreland County near Latrobe