A Secret Underground Armory located within Dixmont State Hospital? Thats what one investigator clams

Unfortunately Dixmont State Hospital which sat along Pa 65 Ohio River blvd. in Dixmont  no longer exists.
It was torn down and was to be replaced with a Walmart until the entire hillside came crashing down  when they started adding soil to  the site to build it up.

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

But around the area where the Boiler Houses once produced  Steam Heat , Hot Water and even Electricity
an old friend of mine who is an Private Investigator and has done extensive research claimed that there was a underground  armory in the shape of a beehive  which  weapons and supplies  were kept when the hospital was part of federal governments effort to take care of wounded union soildiers  during  the civil war as many hospitals ended up overun with wounded soldiers at the time .

While almost all traces of the old dixmont are removed minus the Camarata Building rumored to be haunted and now used for private business you can still see an occasional foundation sticking out  here and there and while digging was done there was  no major excavating was done prior to placing all the dirt and fill on site so there may well be just such a hidden beehive armory under the ground. Of course now we will never know because the slide destabilized the whole hill side and its being turned into a park. Ground penetrating radar may pinpoint it but it would be too dangerous to try and dig down and confirm it as the hill side is still sliding  to this day  inch by inch.

It would make sense such a facility would have been on the property but it was probably emptied  filled in and sealed after the war like so many other old war emplacements which there where many around the Pittsburgh region  including over a dozen ramparts built to defend the city.

Yes I actually had a neighbor who wore a Gorilla Suit during Halloween to hand out candy.

Growing up in Carrick 29th ward neighborhood in City of Pittsburgh  I had one of the neatest neighbors My Richard  Lorielein?   who when we where young came around dressed as Santa Claus and visited us kids on Christmas Eve . But one of the most memorable things he did was on Halloween Night he would dress up in a really authentic looking Gorilla Suit and then hide behind one of the 2 giant pine trees in his small front yard
in front of his yellow brick 2 story home ,unfortunately the people who bought the home after he passed away took out the pine trees

You would walk up the small stoop to his steps which went up to his porch and thats when he would pop out  dressed as the gorilla and it was always fun watching the kids go screaming down the street past our place. Now if you where brave enough to stick around he would give you a really nice bag of candy. He did this up till late 60s when he got too old to do it and also stopped being Santa Claus as well because instead of neighborhood kids appreciating him they vandalized his property.

2 pine trees removed

Really wish I had a picture of him as Santa Claus and the Gorilla . Because when you tell people the story they do not believe you of course dressing up like a gorilla and coming out of hiding in today's world you could end up getting shot by some one.  But back then was a more innocent time

Sadly same thing happened in Westwood section o city on warriors lane  where my grandparents neighbor bob and carol would dress up as Mr and Mrs Santa Claus and visit kids all over .
But one night a group of thugs destroyed his beautiful yard display and that was that Bob was never the same 

Yes Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are full of fun loving individuals who only get hurt in the ed and thats a shame but it will always be that way because you can never be or do anything to distinguish your self without some one trying to tear it down or take it from you.

The Ogua and Monongy legendary beasts that ply's the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers waiting to take its next victim

The Ogua  and the  Monongy  is said to be a legendary beasts which lives in the Monongahela River and according to Indian Lore hunts its prey at night swiftly grabbing it under the water and drowning it.

The native Americans in this are always had very bad feelings being around the Monongahela

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

 
which stands for Falling Banks and maybe the unstable cliffs along the river  ,so maybe its a story they made up to scare people away from the river . But others thru the generations claim to have seen some kind of river monster  either described as a large lizard  or turtle some times with 2 heads and a long tail it uses to grab its prey. Or in the case of the Monongy  a half human half fish .

http://www.tribdem.com/news/bill-eggert-mon-monster-mystery-endures/article_2cc334ca-0cc3-11e5-b55a-9b03bd56af61.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xChWmHyGHFQ

http://www.pinebarrensinstitute.com/post/149279236553/quick-cryptid-snippet-ogua-the-monongahela-river

 

https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/blog/post/2017/5/9/Pittsburgh-s-Mythical-Ogua/165/

 
What ever it is it has been supposedly spotted many times over the years the latest being this past summer when people claimed to have seen an alligator looking creature in the mon.
 
Talk to any Riverman and they will tell you beware of snakes on the deck and with good reason there have been many cases of people disapearing around the mon either by accidental drowning suicide or murder and on average 2-3 body's a month are pulled from the 3 rivers around Pittsburgh.

So is there a river monster ? maybe maybe not but when you see a strange mysterious object floating in the river always beware.   

Thousands have passed this little known marker in Armstrong County Pa. which tells a tale of a now long forgotten and lost Indian village

As you drive along PA 66 also known as River road between Leechburg and Parks Twp when you pass the Bowling Alley and drive in theatre on the right hand side is an old grinding wheel

with a well worn plaque on it which tells a trail of travelers to an established Native American Indian village which once sat near where a waste treatment plant now sits

http://akvalley.com/history/native/kot/kot.shtml

Most Villages lasted only thru the  summer seasons and moved on come winter  so this village was one of the few established villages which stayed year around.
Its inhabitants more than likely moved to one of the reservation areas set up after the great Allegheny uprising which saw native Americans defeated in a battle in near by Kittaning.
My 5th great Uncle Moravian Preacher and Indian Agent for the government  John Heckewelder  knew the area as  well

This township was named from the river which skirts its southern border. Kiskiminetas, says Heckewelder, is corrupted from Gieschgumanito, signifying, make daylight. Its etymology is: Gisch-gu---day; gisch-que---today; gieschapen---it is daybreak; manitoon---to make. It was probably the word of command, given by a warrior to his comrades, at night, to break up camp and resume the journey, or war-path. It is said in McCullough's Narrative, that the Indians called this river Kee-ak-ksheman-nit-toos, signifying cut spirit. Heckewelder's etymology and definition are more satisfactory to the writer.  Credit to pa-roots.com

http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/smithproject/history/chap10a.html

The more you study native Americans in Western Pa. the more you learn  learn how a mostly peaceful people where forced to fight back when invaded by the white man .  and their history's and traditions trashed and forgotten. All those treaty's my Great uncle set up to have them broken .