Spirits in Schuylkill County Prison

The county prison in Schuylkill county rests majestically on top of the hill overlooking the city of Pottsville. The fortress bears the resemblance of a medievel castle. A large brick tower looms in the front keeping watch of all that's going on below. The prison began it's operations in 1851, in less than 5 years the prison had doubled in size. Behind the lovely brick castle facade hinds a dark and gloomy past. The county prison was a popular place for numerous hangings. The first execution in the current prison took place in 1875. Two short years later the county would host it's most famous hanging. A 6 man gallow was constructed to hang Mollie Maguires convicted of murder. Over the years many more hangings and executions took place on the property, but none were as famed as the nationally known Mollie Maguires.

Numerous prisoners who have had the unfortunate chance of visiting the prison claim the place is full of spirits. Unexplained screams in the night go reported, ghostly spirits have been spotted by former guards as well as inmates. A number of employees on the graveyard shift have often heard chains rattling, particularly near the midnight hour. Are their ghostly spirits roaming around the dark halls of this local legend, or are imaginations just running a little higher when confinement is felt? Maybe they'll let me spend a night there, but do I have to commit a crime!

Schuylkill County Prison and The Mollie Maguires.

Not too far from the Yuengling brewery in Pottsville lies a castle of solitude. The Schuylkill county prison was originally built in Orwigsburg in 1814. After some expansions and renovations it became too small and was changed into a school house. In 1851 the prison moved to it's current location in Pottsville. Completed with a castle facade, it was surely meant to intimidate.

The prison consisted of 38 cells, each cell holding 2 inmates. In 1876 a new addition was added to the fortress. A total of 86 new cells along with 6 solitary confinement cells in the basement were added. The following year the prison would gain much of it's infamy. On June 21, 1877 the largest mass execution in Pennsylvania history would take place. Six Mollie Maguires were hung at the prison, while another four were executed at the prison in Mauch Chunk. All ten men proclaimed their innocence. The whole history of the Mollie Maguires is shrouded in much doubt and full of conspiracies through large coal companies. In order to accommodate the hangings the Schuylkill county prison had a six man gallow built, though they opted to hang the men two at a time instead of all six at once. On the night of the executions miners and their families gathered outside the prison in silence to claim the innocence of the lives that would be lost here.

The county of Schuylkill executed a total of sixteen people by 1911, including nine Mollie Maguires. The state took control over all executions in 1911, though none remain as controversial as the ones that took place on that early summer evening in 1877.