Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Children of Coulterville Road

A short distance from my house sits the small town of Coulter. Less than 400 people reside here. But like any other town, this one has a dark history. Coulter has “13 bends,” just like many other towns claim to have. With 13 bends, there are always tales of strange happenings that go along with them. Coulterville Road is no exception.

The History

 It is said that in the 1800s, an orphanage burned down near this site, with the children still inside. People say that you can still see the children in your rearview mirror and you can hear footsteps around you. There is also an old church and cemetery in this area. These are also said to be haunted.

On a Cold, Dark Night

One dark, chilly night, I went to a haunted hayride with my friend Nicole and my twelve-year old niece McKenzie. We enjoyed our ride on the hayride, but it wasn't very scary. We were looking for something more. My friend suggested that we go to Coulterville Road, which was just up the way from where we were. It was still early, so I agreed to go. I knew about the legend of that road, and I had always wanted to go.

We turned off the main road and went up the small twisty street that was Coulterville Road. It seemed like any other road, but the knowledge of its history made it seem more menacing. We decided that we were going to follow the road to its end, but we didn't know how far that was. Since we turned onto Coulterville Road itself, it was easy because there were no turns to make. 

Eventually, we found the old church and cemetery that were part of the legend. Unfortunately, we didn't stop to see if it was true. I was reluctant to stop the car in the dark at this area that I was not familiar with, especially with my niece in the car. We slowed down, though, and looked around for ghosts. We unfortunately didn't see any ghost children.

We continued on, trying to find where the road ended. Following the road, we ended up going down a small hill that ended up in a dead end. I was forced to pull over, and we tried to figure out where to go from there. Good thing for Google Maps! We sat there for a minute looking at the map, but there really wasn't anywhere to go but back the way we came. Sitting there in the car made me nervous. There were no streetlights around us, so the dark made us wary about our surroundings. I felt like something was going to come running out of the trees at us.

We headed back towards the hill, and we saw a few dark figures going into the trees. We were a bit jumpy at this point, but then we realized that they were just deer. We laughed nervously to each other, and made our way up the hill. We went past the church and cemetery again, but I didn't see any figures lingering on the road in my rearview mirror. 

We continued on, trying to find our way back to the main road. Like I said before, the way onto Coulterville Road was a straight shot. We didn't make any turns other than to turn around on the dead end street. We should have ended back on to the main road. Somehow, the road changed. I don't know where we ended up, or how we got onto a different road, but we did. We were confused, because it wasn't like there were any turns that we had to remember to make. We were lost, we were a bit scared, and we weren’t sure how to get back home. With the help of our phones, we eventually made our way out of Coulter.

Reflections

This was a strange experience, but it wasn’t one that I regret having. One day soon, I’d like to visit Coulterville Road again, this time in the daylight. It’s easy to get lost in the dark, especially somewhere you’ve never been to. I want to explore this place again, to learn more about the surrounding area. I wish that we would have seen something weird, but honestly, if we had, I don’t know what we would have done. Nevertheless, I still wish to venture back there someday to see if I can see something incredible in that tiny, creepy town.

Related Links:
10 Places in Pittsburgh Where You Might Meet a REAL Ghost
CBS Pittsburgh- Best Pittsburgh Haunts
Coulter

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