Weird House in Upper Nazareth

We found this interesting home in upper part of town. From the street, we saw many lawn ornaments arranged in a very deliberate and artistic fashion. Some were from Halloween, some from Christmas. The house itself has paintings (a cat in a window) and other items dressing it.

Parked in the driveway was a van adorned with various chotchkies (troll dolls, toys, reflectors, etc.). I've seen this van around town before and am pleased to know that its home is as eclectic as the van is.

Without speaking to the owners of the house we are unable to determine the back story around all of the objects and decorations. However it is safe to say that the house is a work of weird art.

If anyone has information about this house, the van, or knows the people who live there please e-mail us or post a comment below. We would love to know more about it.

Hopefully, to be continued...

Thanks to Weird Nazareth reader Jim W. for the idea for this post.

The Tunnel Question--???

stairs from a basement on the west side of Main Street to a lower level

Are there tunnels in Nazareth? The Moravian Historical Society gives a tour called Tunnels and Other Tales: Walking Tours of Phantoms and Fables of Nazareth every October, so we wrote to them asking where to get a picture of one of the archways that were supposed by many to be tunnel entrances. We received this reply:

The Moravian Historical Society has done an extensive study of the "supposed tunnels" I can tell you that there are no, and were no tunnels in Nazareth. as far a picture goes, what you are thinking of are often arch chimney supports.

When we spoke with almost anyone else in town over a certain age, however, we heard a different story. One of our more demonstrative informants said, with much emphasis, "Tell the historical society this man wants to know why they're spreading misinformation!" Everyone said go look for yourself, so we did.

What we've found so far is intriguing. One credible person says he has been in the tunnels. Others have seen pictures of people standing in the tunnels and gave us names of people who know more. We were shown enough arches and doorways in basements to make us wonder. From the Dominion Mortgage building on the circle to Nazareth Furniture, the basements of many of the buildings along the east side of Main Street seem to have been linked by doors, at least, if not tunnels.

In the basement of Nazareth Furniture, there is a large arch form very low on the wall facing east, as if there may have been something below basement level. In the basement of a building on the west side of Main Street there is a door (See the top picture in this post) that opens to stairs to a narrow lower level room with an arched ceiling and cemented-in archways at either end. It felt very much like a section of a tunnel. (Unfortunately, the camera failed us down there--hmmm . . .)
We also saw one place where it looks as if a tunnel may cross Main Street.

The two pictures above are from two different basements. It's difficult to see here, but at the top left of the fill-in stones there is a crack behind which there is darkness, as if there is empty space.

People we spoke to gave us various stories, including that the tunnels start in the basement of the Manor House (Zinzendorf's mansion, sometimes called Nazareth Hall) and run down Main Street, then along or under Belvidere toward Whitefield House or old Nazareth south of Whitefield House. Some said the tunnels were built to provide safety from Indians, others said the Moravians hid Indians and other races in them, although why was not known.

Weird, huh? For now we would like to thank the Moravian Historical Society, Sue Dreydoppel, Doris Laurito, Bruce Beltz, Donald Koehler, Daniel Thierry, Seth Young, Jim Sakasits and one person who wished just to be known as Bill. I'll be gone for a couple of weeks, but will continue to pursue this. To be continued . . .

Adding the latest email from the Moravian Historical Society--see latest comment.

Bowling Balls at Center Square

The center square at Center and Main Streets is an interesting place. Flanking each of the entrances are white cement posts with a black spherical cap. If you were to look closely, you would notice that the sphere is actually a bowling ball. According to the Moravian Historical Society these balls were taken from the Holy Family Club and mounted on each post. On some of the balls you can make out markings and finger holes. The ball in the photo to the left is a 16 lb ball marked with the words "Blue Eagle." Next time you walk through the square, pause a moment to take a look.

Thanks to Ross for the idea for this post.

A CD, a Video, and a Book--The Indian Tower Depicted

The album Indian Tower, by Pearls and Brass

Not everyone knows that Nazareth's Josh Martin, Randy Huth and Joel Winter formed a musical group called Pearls and Brass that is known internationally among fans of metal music. The boys named their first album Indian Tower and tracks include The Tower and Black Rock Man.

Possibly most interesting to us are the interviews they have given. See one here: Death Becomes Them. In more than one interview, they muse upon the strange and supernatural feel of the Nazareth area.

They are not the only ones, and the Indian Tower is often the focus of that regard. Have a look at this video (it says it's Emmaus, but we all know that tower when we see it!), and of course there is the children's book The Cross Over, by Scott Morro, in which children sheltering from a storm in the Indian Tower find themselves back in time.

Many people seem to feel something there at the tower. Have you had an experience there or at Black Rock? Tell us your story and we'll add it to the chronicles of Weird Nazareth.

[A story on the tunnels or tunnel rumors is being prepared, hopefully for late next week, so stay tuned!]

Ghost of a Driver--the VIA Thrift Store in Nazareth

We received this from reader Debra Borgo:

. . . about the ghost of the thrift store: I used to work there in 1996-1997 and at that time it was Good Shepherd. There would be lights going on and off, things would fall off the racks with no reason or rhyme. So me being the ever-asking 18 year old asked some of the old timers. Apparently there was a race car driver that was killed on the old track.... and his spirit still haunted the section where he passed. Now how true this is I have no clue just was told by more a one person who worked there and it did have a really spooky feeling.

She also sent a link to a page about the driver, Jackie McLaughlin, the driver who may never have left Nazareth. Thank you, Debra. Readers are encouraged to contribute!

P.S.: Not ghost-related, but did you know that there's a song on the album Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler with the title Speedway at Nazareth?

2009 Nazareth Adult Soapbox Derby

The second annual Nazareth Adult Soap Box Derby was held on Saturday on the Prospect Street hill. This has become a yearly gathering for some of Nazareth's weirdest. There were some familiar faces and cars from last year and a whole bunch of new victims. This year's event was highlighted by several in-race crashes (last year's only had one crash during practice). The weather was great, the hill was smooth, and the cars (some of them) were fast. Here is a slideshow and some shots from the event:


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Swastikas at the Library

On the floor of what used to be the front portico of Nazareth's library, there are a number of symbols including several swastikas. However, it is important to note that the home that became the library was built long before the rise of Nazism and that these swastikas are left-facing instead of right-facing, unlike those used by Hitler. Before it became a symbol of that evil, the swastika was used by many world cultures (and still is, in many cases) to represent positive qualities and even sacredness. No doubt the owners meant it as a cosmopolitan gesture.

Nevertheless, it is probably good that this door into the library is no longer used, because the first reaction of many people upon seeing the symbols is shock. In the same vein, it is also probably good that the library abandoned the use of its old mascot, which had the well-meaning but unfortunate name of--Nazzy!