What Building did Harry Houdini actually do his hanging straight jacket act from In Pittsburgh ?

Yes the famous Harry Houdini came thru Pittsburgh several times in his career  he jumped off the old 6th street bridge in shackles   and even did his famous Straight Jacket escape while hanging upside down from a building  in downtown Pittsburgh  but which building because even the article in the Post Gazette is not clear which one.

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2009/03/22/The-Next-Page-Harry-Houdini-and-Pittsburgh-the-ties-that-bind/stories/200903220183

Was it the newspapers building or the building across the street from it.  No one seems to really know because different pictures of the time show different buildings in the background

Typical Straight Jacket Escape
 To make matters worse his brother who appeared as the Great Harden also did the trick at the time so
accounts of who did what often got confused .
So we know both where here and both did the trick but from what buildings?

A Haunted Chapel in a Personel Care Home in Washington County ? Some claim it is

This Personnel Care Home near Houston Pa. which does not want its name revealed  has been many things over the years so the fact the chapel may be haunted comes as no surprise

It started out as a log cabin then it was a  boarding home said to have taken part in the underground railroad movement   then 1920's era Bootleggers Speak Easy hotel  then it was converted to a Tuberculosis Sanitarium in 40's and finally a Personnel Care  Home  in 70's

The statuary and pews for the chapel came from local churches and people claim they get the feeling they are being watched one reported seeing an orb while another reported the faces of the statues coming to life.
 Any truth to any of it who knows but with the history of this place and its mysterious tunnels underneath one of which was rumored to go all the way to Cannonsburg  you could say it is a creepy place at times.I know I have been in the basement by myself


Coward Bank Robber still on loose after killing Inocent citizen who tried to stop him.

It was a warm afternoon  June 6 in 2013   at the Giant Eagle in Strabane Square  South Strabane a shopping center when Vincent M Kelly saw a bank robbery go down at the Citizens bank branch in the store and followed the robber out to his car where he tried to detain him.  Not the smartest move of an unarmed citizen but apparently something made him think he had the drop on the suspect but he did not and was fatally shot  and the suspect has gone un found to this day.


http://www.post-gazette.com/local/washington/2013/06/16/Photo-of-suspect-released-in-fatal-shooting-after-Giant-Eagle-bank-robbery/stories/201306160201

 Little is known about the suspect other than floppy hat he wore and he was driving a small 4 door sedan.  Hopefully he will be caught as most bank robbers will pull off more than one heist and I hope they throw the book at him and he is sent to death row.

I watched this shopping center be built into the hill side and no one would have ever expected something like this to happen but it has. 

Penn Hills man missing since May 2012 still no trace possible foul play

It is not easy knowing a loved one is missing it is even harder when foul play may be involved such is the case of Dominick Hillbrown   who went missing of May 2012 in Penn Hills  over  possible drug related activity





 He was last seen on  Althea drive in Lincoln park Section of Penn Hills where he was staying .

Rope Way scary enough part of Pittsburgh at night and being haunted adds to the suspence

Rope Way is one of those tight little alleyways you pass as you go thru the Allegheny West section  of North Side of Pittsburgh near West Park. I have passed it and been down it even walking along it in day light and never seen anything then again others have.
Depending where you are traveling in the North Side at night it can be a scary experience
So an alley way being haunted just adds to the suspense and there are rumors of many haunted houses and buildings  in the Allegheny West section  as it is one of the oldest sections of Pittsburgh and was at one time its own City known as City of Allegheny.

 Said to be named because of a factory which once made Hemp Rope  for boats and ships  in early 1800's
The alley is said tobe haunted by the ghosts of those sailors who lost there lives in the battle of Lake Erie where  the rope for none other than Commodore Perry's   Fleet of Ships  was made.





  However other accounts claim that the rope was made for Northern yankee forces during the civil war and the ghosts of confederate sailors are who are haunting the alley

People claim to see shadows  and some times hear moans of the sailors .
although one article in a  book claims it is the moan of a British sailor who was captured by Indians and tortured to death on Smokey island where today's Hienz Field sits and NFL Steelers do battle. approx. 1/4mile away the whole area of Allegheny West was known as the Dark area and supposedly avoided by Native Americans because this was the burial ground for the white man and other enemy s  they had killed.




Many claim this is why the area is so spooky and has so many haunted areas and homes .

Rope Way Today