Egg Hill Church #06133

The Story

The gothic steeple of old Egg Hill Church is set against a fair-weather sky in early Spring. Far out in the farmland, it sits on a little-traveled dirt road out through the woods that’s never seen asphalt and never will. It was built just before the Civil War in 1860 of rough pine board and batten siding on a stone foundation and services stopped here in 1927. The place hasn’t changed much except for weathering and natural deterioration and it represents the slower pace of another time. Today, it’s still maintained and there’s an annual homecoming gathering on the grounds attended by relatives of those buried in the adjacent churchyard.

Egg Hill Church has been heavily rumored for decades to be haunted, prompted by the tale of a mad minister who murdered his congregation in the 1800s. However, the story is just that: a story. Nothing was ever written about such an incident in the papers of the time as it surely would have been. The ghost stories that sprung from someone’s imagination are not based on facts at all, but they certainly go right with the gothic architecture!

So, the church can represent either of two things depending upon your point of view. First, it could be a place of quiet solitude on very rural lane out through the woods where a Christian farming community gathered. Or secondly, it could be a place of great apprehension and fear with the unknown swirling with malicious spirits. Take your pick, a welcoming place, or a haunting building to steer clear of.

Interestingly a few years ago, some college guys from nearby Penn State were arrested after they stole the bell from the belfry. Their prank was repaid when they were made to put the bell back where it belonged.

Location: rural Potter Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.