BLOG: The Confessionals Podcast Paranormal Occurrences Tour to Burn Brae Mansion (and Other Mysterious Locations!)
In June, The Confessionals took its very first overnight trip into the paranormal! Partnered with the tour and travel company Educated Wanderer, we set off on our ‘Paranormal Occurrences’ tour to explore haunted locations and mysterious places in Pennsylvania and New York. Take a look through our photo album featuring all our unique stops along the way, including Columcille Megalith Park, the haunted Richmond Hotel and the Point Phillips Hotel, supernatural Hexenkopf Rock, and spooky Burn Brae Mansion!
Columcille Megalith Park - Land of Myth and Mystery
Our first stop of the Paranormal Occurrences tour brought us to Columcille Megalith Park - Land of Myth and Mystery in Bangor, Pennsylvania. Columcille’s creation is rooted in Celtic spirituality inspired by the Isle of Iona, located off the coast of Scotland. Built near the Kitatinni Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the outdoor sanctuary is meant to be an open space that welcomes people of all faiths and traditions to come in search of transformation and renewal. First opening in the 1970s as one small house, Columcille Megalith Park has continued to add to its structures, peaceful trails, and meditation sites, and now has over 80 standing stones to observe and explore. Some of these awesome structures include the archway of Thor’s Gate and the Infinity Gate, which some maintain may be portals into another world - one of myth and mystery. “All persons of good will are invited to travel quietly through” the idyllic, meditative sacred space of Columcille!
Richmond Hotel Bar & Grill
Following our exploration of Columcille Megalith Park, our second stop was for food! The quest for lunch brought us to the historically haunted Richmond Bar and Grill, also in Bangor, Pennsylvania. Richmond Hotel has a long history dating back to the 1740s, and is actually considered to be one of the most haunted places in PA! Built in 1740, the building was originally a French outpost and served as a courtroom, which may be where its macabre story began, as some who were convicted in the court were ordered to be hanged as punishment. The building became a tavern in 1760, and has continued its existence as a pub and restaurant for the public ever since. Patrons and employees alike have witnessed the haunting activity in the Richmond, including the feeling of being touched by unseen hands, hearing the voice of a little girl, doors and windows inexplicably slamming and locking, looming shadow figures, pictures falling off the walls, and much more!
After our meal, Debbie, the manager of Richmond Hotel, spent some time sharing her firsthand stories of paranormal activity with us and those of other guests and employees. These included visits by ‘Big Harry,’ a former bar patron who passed on but who still continued to seen and heard on several occasions; the apparition of a little girl who appeared and then dissolved in front of an employee’s eyes; a little boy who frequently visited the hotel and could be seen interacting with an invisible playmate; and many tales of shadow figures, objects moving on their own, and unexplained sounds. Every story shared only added to the mystery and spookiness of the Richmond’s rich history!
Burn Brae Mansion
The main event of our tour was undoubtedly an overnight stay at Burn Brae Mansion in Glen Spey, New York in the Catskill Mountains.
Burn Brae Mansion was constructed in 1907 as part of the estate of George Ross MacKenzie, third president of the Singer Sewing Machine company. Seven of MacKenzie’s children each built summer mansions in Glen Spey following his death, and Burn Brae - which belonged to Charles Elkin and his wife Margaret (MacKenzie’s daughter) - is one of only three that remain. Margaret went on to outlive several of her children, including a daughter named Elsey who died at age 9, a daughter named Margaret, and her son Charles Jr. who died at age 34, as well as a grandson who died at birth.
Since belonging to the Elkins, Burn Brae Mansion has seen five additional owners, and has served as a boarding house, a tea room during prohibition, and a bed and breakfast. It is currently owned by Mike and Pat Fraysse, who continue to operate the home as a B & B, along with additional rooms available in the property’s former horse stables. Burn Brae’s haunted history has been apparent to at least the last two of its owners, spanning over the past 40 years, and the guests who have stayed on the premises.
Many of the unexplained paranormal occurrences within both the home and the stables include doors opening and slamming, children’s voices, apparitions of a woman in white, a man in turn of the century clothing, and a more modern-styled man in overalls. Guests have reported hearing animal sounds, although no animals are currently present, as well as the sound of an organ despite there being no organ at Burn Brae. (Interestingly the original owner, Charles Elkin, was an organist!) The ghost of a little girl is also said to make herself known, and even more recently, an elderly couple died in the house and guests have claimed to see them playing chess in the mansion’s large front window.
Burn Brae Mansion is such an active haunted location that it even has its own resident paranormal investigator! Following a quick daylight exploration of the quaint bedrooms and a home-cooked meal in the mansion’s dining room, investigator Melissa prepared our group for a paranormal investigation that lasted into the night. Armed with cameras and equipment, everyone spent several hours hunting for ghosts, practicing paranormal investigation skills, and checking out the home’s eerie “closet of curiosities” in the attic.
Along with its lovely architecture and its infinite numbers of creepy dolls, our experience at Burn Brae was a night to remember. (And to make doubly sure that it will be, the paranormal investigation was documented on video, and a copy will be coming for every guest!)
Hexenkopf - Witch’s Head Rock
After leaving Burn Brae Mansion and its creepy doll collection behind, our first stop of the new day brought us to Hexenkopf in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. “Hexenkopf” is the Pennsylvania Dutch-German word for “Witch’s Head,” for which the rock is named not only because from a certain angle it resembles the profile of a witch, but also because of the many bewitching legends and lore surrounding the rock. Giving us a personal history lesson about Hexenkopf and the Pennsylvania German practice of powwowing was Ned Heindel, author of the book Hexenkopf: History, Healing and Hexerei.
Hexenkopf has been known for generations as a meeting place for witches, who met at the rock to hold rituals and practice magic. Originally used by ancient Native Americans as a place for healing rituals, the Witch’s Head became a site of magical transference used in powwowing, in which sickness or evil was cast out of another person or object, and transferred into Hexenkopf. As a result, the rock is said to have stored this magic and is the reason for its supernatural abilities. Among its tragic history are many suicides, mostly by young women, that took place on the rock, nine property owners dying without wills, unexplained fires occurring nearby, cases of insanity in residents, and encounters with demons in the woods. Residents should also beware of the fog coming off of Hexenkopf, as Mr. Heindel shared the story of one man who was driving his cart near the Witch’s Head one night when he was enveloped in fog and disappeared forever, never to be seen again.
One modern legend of Hexenkopf also claims that in the rock’s vicinity, all cell phone services fail to work, despite one of the strongest cell towers in the area being within close range. Sadly, our visit to the rock did not prove this legend to be true, as everyone seemed to maintain great cell coverage even when standing next to it. But maybe that just means the spirit of Hexenkopf chose not to hex us that day! The only other evidence of strangeness that we encountered on our excursion was a small array of animal bones that looked to be neatly laid across the path in a line, close to the base of the rock. Witchcraft is purported to still happen on Hexenkopf, but whether these bones were part of an old ritual or just a random discovery, we’ll never know. Despite the evil allegedly stored inside it, Hexenkopf is a lovely wooded spot off the beaten path (…at least by day, in clear weather!).
The Point Phillips Hotel
Our final tour stop took us to the Point Phillips Hotel Tavern and Smokehouse in Bath, Pennsylvania. This historic hotel has a long history of development, originally dating back to 1749 when the property was given to Nicholas and Maria Heil. The property changed hands several times until it was turned over to Philip Gross in 1820, and he began to extensively develop the homestead and operate a public house. The building, which has continued to be developed and restored over time, officially became a tavern in 1857, and served as an inn from that point on. Though the owners have continued to changed over the decades, the Point Phillips Hotel has been an open and active establishment since the early 1800s.
Our many thanks and heartfelt appreciation goes out to every guest who joined us on our tour; the Educated Wanderer team for creating and leading our trip; the hosts and guides at each paranormal location and eating establishment; and our super skilled bus driver Charles! Thank you for being a part of The Confessionals Podcast’s first paranormal trip, and stay tuned for the next one!
~ Lindsay W. Merkel
