Ghost Story from Cambia County. A ghost is said to haunt the location of the abandoned settlement of Beula (Beulah) in Cambria County. The legend tells that the spirit is earthbound as punishment for its human form having exhibited an inordinate obsession for acquiring gold. The settlement was founded in 1795 by Welsh immigrants who adhered to a particular Christian sect. They believed that a Welshman had voyaged to North America in the twelfth century. The settlement was abandoned after ten years, but the church remained until 1850. For the past hundred years or more, nothing is visible at the site of the settlement except for overgrowth of trees and vegetation.

Betula, Pennsylvania, was a thriving lumber community in McKean County from 1910 to 1922. The main product was barrel staves. The town dissolved after the forest in the surrounding area was logged out. In the 1930s, the site became a ghost town. Over the decades since, all signs of the town vanished.

Now, for Betula, McKean County, Pennsylvania. The town of Betula was established around 1910 as producer of lumber products. Around 1912, a large barrel-stave plant was constructed. Hardwoods harvested by lumber camps in the surrounding forests were delivered to the plant by hard-working lumber jacks who spent their pays in the town. By 1922, the forests had been cleared, and the town's population which had been around 4,000 at its peak dropped to a negligible number. The few homes in the present-day area are recognized as constituting the "Village of Betula."

Click the photo below for a web page from the group Smithport History.



John Fray, October 31, 2024