Truly, if ever there were a haunted town, it's Finleyville, PA. I went there in search of a well-known abandoned house that locals believe is somehow associated with George Washington. But I chickened out when I saw how badly the property owners want to keep people away. I never even saw the house, but the woods all around it was plastered with "No Trespassing" signs. Alas, maybe I'm getting skittish in my middle age, but the adventurous spirit that used to drive me has softened into something a lot more cautious. I'm actually thinking of trying to find out who owns the place and asking permission to visit it.
All of Washington County is a little ghostly. It's pretty, rolling farmland reminiscent of Kentucky horse country. It's got some 18th century settlements and many very grand old farmhouses, some dating back to the late 1700s. There are a lot of abandoned properties, and a certain air of semi-dereliction that exists right alongside all the forlorn beauty. As in much of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the ugliness of industry exists right beside the natural beauty. The county is known for its covered bridges, some of which have been uncovered so that all the frack-traffic can come rolling in to drill for natural gas. They poison the water, and the air, and they send all their riches back to Texas.
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