What would Halloween be without a ghost story?  Here's a shuddery one and it's even more chilling because it's about a real haunting.  Come with us and visit... 

The Baker Mansion in Altoona, Pennsylvania

By RON ADAMS
Photos By BARB HEISS

(Note: Ron "Rondo" Adams is the man behind the annual Monster Bash convention.  Click here to learn more about the Bash.)

In July of this year a handful of close friends and I took a tour of a haunted house.

We drove down the backstreets of Altoona, Pennsylvania just as evening was falling.   We hoped we wouldn't be late, as our destination usually closes at dark.  The destination -- the reportedly haunted Baker Mansion. 

The Baker Mansion was the home of Elias Baker and his family in the late 1800s through the early 1900s.  Elias was an iron works mogel and had owned about 1/3 of the property and land that is now considered Altoona, PA.  He was a stern man, known from reports, and ruled his family and their personal endeavors with a degree of cruelty.

The Baker Mansion, looking deceptively quiet and peaceful in the daytime...

The home fell into the hands of what is now the Altoona Historical Society in the early 20th century.  It has been used as a museum for the city of Altoona, while still preserving the look and many of the items of the original home, as it was, after all these years.  But, as the years waned by, the reports of supernatural occurences waxed.  It seems the whole Baker family haunted this house; a serious version of Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction!

Our van  pulled into a parking lot across the street at a local ballfield.   There it was ahead of us.  Tree lined and looking more like a majestic Southern mansion than a haunted house. It was big and gray, and a bit ominous.  Some refurbishment  had been taking place around the facade as there was scaffolding and tools, now still in the quiet summer evening.

We hurried into the front door, hoping we had't missed the last tour.  We found it already in progress, but they kindly admitted us.  We joined the group in the dining room where a young woman named Amber was describing the room.  The vaulted ceilings and genuine ornate woodwork, a lost art in today's homes, was everywhere.  The home is a real piece of Altoona history, housing many historical artifacts, not all originally from the Baker Mansion.  The dining room was where cold spots and Elias Baker himself had been seen on numerous occasions, even though he had passed away more than half a century before.  The heaviness in the air sent me to thinking of the film Legend Of Hell House.

Tim, your guide to the ghoulish delights of the Baker Mansion...

Continuing through halls and stopped at a display of family pictures behind glass, we were introduced to the Baker Family.  Photos from around the Civil War era all have that strange quality.  The just slightly blurred look and as if the people we looked at were almost wax figures and not real people. Photographs were a big deal  in that day and everyone in them looked proper and posed.  Anna Baker was singled out for us.   She is the center of the most flamboyant hauntings reported.  One of our group made a comment about her being unattractive and the tour guide was quick to retort that he was "asking for it!"

The music room was where our tour guide, Amber, had her own frightening experience.   The focal point was an antique piano used by the family...wonderfully carved. One night, at closing time, Amber was drawing the drapes in the music room -- and she believed that she and another female guide were the only ones left in the house. Her name was spoken to her from behind her, she jumped and turned to see no one in the room.  She quickly found the other worker upstairs, and neither could find anyone in the house.   It shook her up and she said she no longer likes to be in the house after dark.   In hindsight, the little episode reminds me of the music room from the others!

Going up the long staircases we wound our way through bedrooms with artifacts made of human hair and the actual beds where members of the family had died.  The house is a real majestic showcase, if a bit creepy.  At one point, I believe we were told in the early 1970s, an intruder was believed in the house at night and police were called in.   One of the officers had a K-9 dog which refused to go in one of the rooms, whining and pulling.  Nothing was found, but the dog incident was documented.

The haunted wedding dress...

Finally, we came to the winter bedroom of Anna Baker, where the most well-known spooky reports come from.  In her time, Anna had wanted to marry a millworker whom she loved dearly.  Her father, Elias, condemned the marriage, claiming it was under her position to marry a common worker.  It was told that her bitterness over this lasted through her lifetime and she died an "old maid" in 1914.  And, it's told that this bitterness lasts even now.  In her winter bedroom, behind glass, is a wedding dress from another prominent family.  Numerous reports from tourists and staff at the Baker mansion claim that this dress rocks back and forth violently.  The thoughts are that it's Anna Baker, enraged at the sight of a wedding dress in her bedroom, when she, herself was never permitted to wed.

The third floor of the mansion was off limits, though we were told, it is this staircase where a spectre of a woman in black is seen, and heard on numerous occasions.  The third floor is now used as offices and storage for the historical society.

In the basement, we find the servants' quarters and kitchen, where a dumb waiter was used to hoist meals up to the dining room  It was here that the ice room was used for a temporary morgue at one time.

Did we see ghosts or phantoms in the Baker Mansion?  No, but it seems many have.   There is definitely a heavy air and feeling of a long gone time the lays heavy in the house.  If you're in the Central Pennsylvinia area, and you have an interest, we recommend you take a tour of the Baker Mansion...but don't forget to watch the original The Haunting the night before...

You can reach the Baker Mansion regarding tours by calling (814) 942-3916.

Thanks, Ron and Barb!   That's a creepy and real spooky tale to help us "shiver in" Halloween.  It's one thing to watch a flick about haunted houses, but to visit the real thing...brrrr!     

Article copyright ©  Ron Adams.   Photos are the property of Barb Heiss.

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