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Pennsylvania's Royer Mansion and
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Historic Royer Mansion is a beautiful old haunted mansion located in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It became famous for it's many legends of ghost sightings. The history dates back to the early 1800s.
The original house was burned to the ground in the early 1800s. The second house was built out of limestone and is now known as a haunted mansion. There are many tragic events recorded and documented in the Blair County Historical Society about this historic mansion.
The stone house was built in 1815. Samuel Royer moved into the house in 1821 with his wife Sarah. Sarah died in 1832 after giving birth to six children.
Samuel remarried in 1835 to a woman named Martha, who gave birth to four children. Because of his large family Samuel built an addition onto the stone house in 1830. In 1856 Samuel died there in his beloved stone home at the age of 64.
An elderly woman, known as Carrie, finally bought the haunted mansion known as Royer Mansion. She is said to have had a great love for it. She never had any children but loved to entertain children in her home. She was always known to be a very kind and trusting woman and well respected in the community of Williamsburg, PA. Carrie's spirit is still a presence in Royer Mansion.
Royer Mansion stood vacant for a very long time after Carrie's death. Generations have passed down many legends of the old haunted mansion.
The region of Williamsburg, PA became famous for its many ghost sightings.
Historic Royer Mansion Was Almost Destroyed!
In 1965 Royer Mansion was sold to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. They had plans of building a fish hatchery at the historic site. Their plans included tearing down the beautiful historic haunted mansion. Thank heavens their plans fell through.
The mansion stood empty again until 1984. The Blair County Historical Society purchased Royer Mansion for one dollar! It was in need of a lot of repairs but the limestone structure has always been sound.
The Royer Family's Haunting Spirits
The wife of Samuel Royer's grandson, Carrie Hartman, bought the Historic Royer Mansion and lived there until her death in 1965.
Carrie died in the well known haunted mansion, in the upstairs bedroom that she loved so much.
It is said that she had a great love for her husband's family mansion. She loved to entertain large groups of people and especially the children. Since she never had any children of her own her estate went to the State of Pennsylvania.
There have been many ghost sightings in the old haunted Pennsylvania Mansion. I recently drove into Williamsburg to take some picture of the haunted mansion. I had to stop at the main street store to get directions. When I mentioned I was going to the Royer Mansion it seemed everybody had a story to tell about the many ghost sightings. During the conversation I was told to make sure I took pictures of the popular spring-house that is part estate.
There have been many ghost sightings in and around the grounds where the spring-house is located.
Below is the picture of the Spring-house I took the day I was there.
According to a story written by Paranormal Investigator, Patty Wilson, while visiting the Royer Mansion a friend of hers stepped outside for a few moments. When he returned he told them of hearing children playing behind the Spring-house. He went on to tell them while he was walking around to the side of the house and saw children in old fashioned clothing playing. There was a boy of about 3 or 4 years old. Even though there is a fence around the Spring-house he didn't see a fence in his vision. He watched the boy climb down into the creek that flows through the Spring-house and then heard the screams of a woman. The woman rushed down into the creek and picked the boy up but he was dead from drowning.
There has never been a report on record of a child drowning at Royer Mansion. But that is not unusual since there is a large era the history seems to be forgotten. It is said that when women stand near the spring-house they get an uneasy feeling.
I was feeling extremely uncomfortable the day I was taking the pictures, but I accredited that to being on the property, I didn't see anybody else there, yet I felt like I was being watched.
Another guest was taking pictures of the Spring-house and her pictures shows a fog-like mist rising out of the spring. Yet, there was no fog in the area the day she took the picture.
A Mysterious GhostlyTour
This is another story told by Paranormal Investigator Patty Wilson, I find this story fascinating.
The local high school teacher was asking for reports of historical sights. So two girls decided to do a historical report on the Historic Royer Mansion.
The girls called the Historical Society to schedule a tour of the haunted mansion. When they arrived they didn't find a car in the area.
An elderly lady opened the back door and motioned for them to come in. She was very elderly and dressed in a house dress like women wore in the 1960s. The woman was pleasant and kind and seemed very informative. The only thing that bothered them was that this woman kept talking to someone that wasn't there. The conversation seemed strange and the girls became uneasy and ran from the Royer Mansion without saying goodbye.
When the girls told their parents about the tour, one of the mothers of a girl was upset that her daughter could be so rude. The mother called the Historical Society to apologize.
The woman from the society interrupted the mother when she called and she couldn't apologize enough for not showing up for the tour.
The only thing everybody could figure is that it had to have been Carrie that greeted the girls for the tour. Even though Carrie had been dead for over 50 years.
The Haunting Stories Are Endless
Like I said earlier, anybody that lives in the area of the Historic Royer Mansion can tell you different stories and experiences they are willing to share.
The old haunted mansion has been a real treasure of the Blair County Historical Society and donations keep pouring in for the restoration. They hold many open houses and enjoy getting visitors from all over the world.
Maybe someday you can take a tour of this beautiful mansion. The Ghost Research Foundation, with Paranormal Investigators, Patty Wilson and Scoot Crownover, give annual guided ghost tours of Royer Mansion, usually around Halloween. Just be careful of the staircase! That's another story I'll get around to sharing with you someday.
There are many more interesting haunted attractions to visit in haunted PA.
Directions To Pennsylvania Hauntingly Historic Royer Mansion
Pennsylvania's Hauntingly Historic Royer Mansion is located approximately five (5) miles south of Williamsburg, PA, on Route 866 between Williamsburg and Martinsburg. The mailing address is Royer Mansion, R.R. #2, Box 59, Williamsburg, PA 16693.
If you would like to contact the Blair County Historical Society, please call (814) 942-3916. The Society's fax number is (814) 942-7078. If you would like to send them an e-mail their address is bchs@hotmail.com.
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