by jennifer hetrick
now into their second year since organizing, members of boyertown paranormal have found themselves conducting investigations both local and regional. a prominent spot in town where they’ve studied subtleties is at durango’s saloon at 120 east philadelphia avenue.
restaurant owners pete and sandy haberle asked the group to see what they could pinpoint after a slew of odd happenings continually irked those who work on the main floor as well as those who rent apartments above.
the building is known as one of the closest to the rhoads opera house where a devastating fire trapped 171 people indoors on a blustery day in january of 1908. what is today durango’s saloon, among other surrounding buildings, served as a temporary morgue. following the fire, bodies were housed in the cold of the basement.
other less than cheery stories have also been told, over the years, about incidents of deaths in the building’s history. this included the local legend of a hanging.
now into their second year since organizing, members of boyertown paranormal have found themselves conducting investigations both local and regional. a prominent spot in town where they’ve studied subtleties is at durango’s saloon at 120 east philadelphia avenue.
restaurant owners pete and sandy haberle asked the group to see what they could pinpoint after a slew of odd happenings continually irked those who work on the main floor as well as those who rent apartments above.
the building is known as one of the closest to the rhoads opera house where a devastating fire trapped 171 people indoors on a blustery day in january of 1908. what is today durango’s saloon, among other surrounding buildings, served as a temporary morgue. following the fire, bodies were housed in the cold of the basement.
other less than cheery stories have also been told, over the years, about incidents of deaths in the building’s history. this included the local legend of a hanging.
since buying the 1847-built brick-lined structure years ago, a few difficult to explain situations have stirred around those who work there. sandy once sliced lemons, limes, and oranges and pushed the lengthy container of them back to the customer end of the bar. after she went into the kitchen, she heard a crash and found the citrus pieces and the container on the floor. in that same 15-minute span, pete placed two full cases of beer on the bar top, with only a small portion hanging over the edge. when he left the room briefly, he heard a crash and came back to find the cases smashed, on the floor—behind sandy who heard it, too, but had her back turned when it happened, with no one else there.
in another instance, a bartender noticed her purse fly out from a shelf, onto the floor. she picked it up and slid it all the way to the back of the shelf, which had a lip at the edge, and a non-slip grip mat, also. when she walked away, she heard the purse hurtle toward the floor once more.
and a woman renting an apartment on the third floor says she often hears footsteps late at night, when her roommate is sleeping, and sometimes even while watching a movie with him—although he never hears those same sounds that plague her ears, he says.
boyertown paranormal brought in amber anderson, a new jersey medium unfamiliar with berks county history, to see what she could pick up on during a tour through the building.
“she sensed the dead bodies and the smell of burning in the basement—and that gold teeth and jewelry were stolen,” investigator gary schlegel says, noting that the group had heard of rumors about thievery from those who burned in the rhoads opera house fire.
she also picked up on the struggle of a tenant dying, not long ago. pete and sandy both reacted emotionally to this, as they were very close to the tenant during his time renting from them; he had also worked at the restaurant, in the past.
one of the only intelligent voices perceived, after reviewing sound recordings, came as someone saying “not yet” when gary asked other paranormal members if they wanted to go outside for a break and some breaths of fresh air.
“they definitely have something going on there, but not enough to say it’s haunted,” says investigator kevin hojecki.
“i think they have a lot of residuals in there," gary adds. residual hauntings are said to be those of spirits who repeat the same actions again and again and don't seem to know that anyone alive, from today, is in the same space.
with so many small noise factors around even when everyone is trying to be quiet, and some energy-actions so challenging to detect in the first place, gary and kevin admit that it’s very difficult to conclusively affirm much. and realizing that evidence of video and sound footage can be easily manipulated or misinterpreted, without exact clearness, the group strives to nitpick with their findings, always aiming for what’s rare.
to reach out to the investigators—seeing and hearing their findings—search for them on facebook.
in another instance, a bartender noticed her purse fly out from a shelf, onto the floor. she picked it up and slid it all the way to the back of the shelf, which had a lip at the edge, and a non-slip grip mat, also. when she walked away, she heard the purse hurtle toward the floor once more.
and a woman renting an apartment on the third floor says she often hears footsteps late at night, when her roommate is sleeping, and sometimes even while watching a movie with him—although he never hears those same sounds that plague her ears, he says.
boyertown paranormal brought in amber anderson, a new jersey medium unfamiliar with berks county history, to see what she could pick up on during a tour through the building.
“she sensed the dead bodies and the smell of burning in the basement—and that gold teeth and jewelry were stolen,” investigator gary schlegel says, noting that the group had heard of rumors about thievery from those who burned in the rhoads opera house fire.
she also picked up on the struggle of a tenant dying, not long ago. pete and sandy both reacted emotionally to this, as they were very close to the tenant during his time renting from them; he had also worked at the restaurant, in the past.
one of the only intelligent voices perceived, after reviewing sound recordings, came as someone saying “not yet” when gary asked other paranormal members if they wanted to go outside for a break and some breaths of fresh air.
“they definitely have something going on there, but not enough to say it’s haunted,” says investigator kevin hojecki.
“i think they have a lot of residuals in there," gary adds. residual hauntings are said to be those of spirits who repeat the same actions again and again and don't seem to know that anyone alive, from today, is in the same space.
with so many small noise factors around even when everyone is trying to be quiet, and some energy-actions so challenging to detect in the first place, gary and kevin admit that it’s very difficult to conclusively affirm much. and realizing that evidence of video and sound footage can be easily manipulated or misinterpreted, without exact clearness, the group strives to nitpick with their findings, always aiming for what’s rare.
to reach out to the investigators—seeing and hearing their findings—search for them on facebook.
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