Blue Myst - Irwin Road in North park is there anything to it or just another legend?

I have heard plenty of story's about this road Blue Myst or Mist  which is officially known as Irwin Road that is  closed but people still travel at their own risk.
Which is right off of Babcock Blvd by the gate house for the lake.

You hear all kinds of tales from the spooky Blue Myst  that covers the road people being chased by mysterious cars and strangers and that the KKK  and Withes conducted activity s back the long isolated road.As well as native Americans who thought the area was bad ground  etc.

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yournorthhills/yournorthhillsmore/4494566-74/paranormal-road-east

http://wandsandworlds.com/community/node/9351

http://www.swpenna.com/cat/haunted-places-in-pittsburgh/

http://hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2008/04/blue-myst-road.html

All of which appear to be exaggerated tales. But a friend of mine known as Gizmo said he once fished  the side  impoundment  of the lake and  just back this road  once stood an old abandoned house which I remember and he said the whole time he and his buddy where fishing the area there where all kind of strange noises coming from the home which was knocked down . Now when I was young and in scouting program we stayed several times at a cabin on the other side of the lake and some times walked Irwin road and never saw or heard anything strange in daylight .
But we never walked back there at night but drove thru it a couple times and there was a fog like Mist laid in along the road but nothing else happened other than to say yes its very isolated and very creepy but there are plenty of roads like that all thru western Pa  . So after extensive research of news articles of the area I can find no significant events having happened along the road not even a body dump.
Well there where some deer carcases dumped and suspect unknown

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20061220&id=-OhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FnIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3534,3999048

So is this road really haunted and all kind of crimes committed along it ?  Well it appears no more than a good story for most part .

A little known building used for different schools from Religous to Avoiding Desegregation to now Special Education for all races.

As you go thru Penn Hills along Beulah road you pass Mulberry lane just a short lane with an orange  2 story brick building  99% of people pass and never know is there but it is a building with a very interesting history thru the years.

Built in about 1960 it started out as Trinity Christian School  which still exists after moving to several different locations over the decades. For those wanting a Christ based education for their children.

But in 1982 After Trinity moved out it was sold to a group of parents who wanted their children to avoid going to the  desegregated  Woodland Hills school district and they formed Churchill  Academy
which was state licensed and lasted into the 1990 when the school was sold in bankruptcy

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19820429&id=wdlaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3779,6823996

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19820121&id=2-gNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3808,4223541

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19870716&id=wtZRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IW4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5513,5385302

Part of what ended the school was this was also when the Steel Mills went down and many white collar family's moved from the area pretty much ending the school getting paying clients .

Building with renovated front

Then Computer Specialists Inc.  of Monroeville who was one of the fastest growing IT related staffing company's in the area. and had offices in the Jonnett Building bought the building and moved in  and thats where things get weird I can not find out if company dissolved was purchased or merged

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19900118&id=9EMgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7ZYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3626,1031369

Seems after 1990 the company name just disappeared.

.
The buildings saw several different renovations over the years  with the front entry way enhancement some time in 90's

The current tenant  Holy Family Institute runs an Alternative school for Penn Hills students  who are disruptive in class and need special education  for  all races  and in a strange twist is in a building  which was deliberately run at one time which encouraged segregation which ended in bankruptcy. 

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourpennhills/yourpennhillsmore/4377239-74/family-hills-holy

As radio celebrity  Paul Harvey would say it now you know the rest of the story.

Mysterious Steel structure in Mc Keesrocks is actually used to protect the bottoms area during floods

Yes when you ride down river road past the Lockhart complex in McKeesrocks Bottom area you come across a most unusual looking industrial structure right before the tunnel entrance  to the Bottoms .

It looks like some type of swivel attachment to do with the railroad which runs over top but what it really is used for is that it swings down and forms a protective barrier against when the river floods and helps to hold back debris from entering  thru the tunnel and destroying the Bottoms area as it is known which the railroad embankment helps protect the area as you can see in photo below . Last used around the 1994 flood and made ready in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan remnants caused concerns of river flooding  it sits there ever vigilant ready to be deployed in an emergency flooding situation.  as flooding has devastated McKeesrocks many times over the years. Most people ride right by it never knowing its purpose but now you do.

Missing WW II War Memorial a Wrongly Marked War I Memorial and other mystery's which happened in Carrick.

Carrick the 29th ward of the city of Pittsburgh was at one time a stand alone borough and during that time many things happened which are still unanswered to this day including a more modern mystery.
I grew up in carrick after moving as a young child from Lincoln& Larimer section of  E. liberty section of Pittsburgh  .
In 1975 I started my Eagle Scout project and started to put together a massive research project and display on carricks History.

During this research I cam across many an old timer who gave me much information and which also revealed a few mysteries.  here is the original article I wrote in 1976

One of the first Mysteries.
What happened to the Devlin Log  Cabin? one of the original family's to pioneer the area it was said to have been moved to Phillips park yet no one remembers it being there yet another old timer told me he remembered it and it had burned down  no one knows for sure.

Another mystery a old timer told me about a school behind A Automotive  in carrick across from carrick Shopping center again no one remembers it or has any information.

There was also allegations made and still a mystery to this day that the day Carrick voted to disband its Boro status and join the city of Pittsburgh that a 2nd ballot box had surfaced then disappeared. If this was the case carrick might not have joined the City after all.

But one of the biggest mystery's is what happened to the WWII memorial which stood next to Hazelbarths Hardware.

http://wiki.carrick-overbrook.org/Missing_WWII_Memorial

Well that part was solved but then became a further mystery.

When the marker was taken down the name plates where put into a  2 foot square cement marker with brass metal plate on top  and then placed next to the WWI monument in Phillips Park. and a row of Red Oaks was planted along the main side walk in the park only a couple of which still survive. According to WWII veteran frank Russel which now defunct  Carrick VFW members verified.
 Except when they went to dig under the marker not only was the WWII small marker missing but the name plates as well. was it removed by park employees or by some one wanting to steal the brass plate and took whole marker with them. very good possibility as one of the brass markers at nearby Carrick High was stolen in late 70's which was on either side of doors and remaining one is now high above original entrance.

But then in 1990's the WWI marker was moved down to intersection in front of the park when the new recreation building was built but the small separate WWII marker was  gone.

 and to add insult to injury a base stone was added to the WWI marker saying the row of red oaks was planted to honor the WWII and Korean Veterans.

This is wrong they where never planted to honor the Korean veterans in fact there is no separate marker or any other memorial to Korean veterans other than a generic all veterans marker in South Side Cemetery.  The city screwed up the WWI marker and lost the WWII marker stone and plate  unless it was buried under the WWI marker when it was moved but as usual with the city of Pittsburgh no one knows anything.

What a mess and of course city is not going to fix it any time soon and properly honor carrick veterans.

The Strange Phenomina of familys who experince one Devastationg Fire having another devastating Fire in their home.

Its horrible enough to experience having your home catch fire and losing everything thing to then go thru it again years later.Like a dreaded curse following them.
But Unfortunately I know of many such cases here in Western Pa.
it happened to my late friend Noel McCarthy .
His family lost everything in a fire in an apartment in Lawrencville  section of Pittsburgh  due to bad wiring .Then he had another fire at his home in Penn hills about 20 years later when a spray paint can  in storage exploded due to to getting to hot in a basement  and furnace pilot  set of the paint fumes.
Then there is the case of a family who moved to Penn hills on Berger Street  and the father lost his life in the fire which destroyed the family's home and they had moved there after a fire had destroyed there previous apartment. The father went back into the home thinking his daughter was still inside but she had escaped. He died from his wounds a few days later.

Fatal Penn hills Fire Father Died looking for daughter

Their was also a fire I helped the Then  Penn Hills  Fire Marshal Jack mason  investigate  off Universal Road where that family also had experienced 2 fires in the same home. the second fire due to improper wiring done after the first fire by a restoration contractor.
Yes it seems misery loves company but why does it seem  to re strike certain family's ?

In some cases that I have studied from around the Tri State it seems familys which are  lower scale working class can only afford poor housing which is in bad shape and just plugging in an extra heater is enough to start a fire but this phenomena is  not just happeneing to the poor but the well off too. Is it life styles as far as house keeping and fire prevention practices ? Yes this could well play into it.

But then there is whole different issue with family's experiencing multiple fires and its  Criminal and is fraudulent in nature. In  fact they are catching their homes on fire to collect insurance payments.

Yes frequent fire phenomena is one of those strange cases where science has yet to explain it. is it bad luck a a curse or just luck of the draw? some day we may have answers.