Haunted Roads of Western Pennsylvania

by Thomas White

  Debbie Brungard of Youngstown, Ohio, also used to visit Ray when she was young. She said, “There was a gang of us, and we would drive over the line into Pennsylvania to see him. We brought him candy and pop, and he would come up to our car and talk to us. He wore a hat. He told us to come back again.” She continued, “Kids used to taunt him and drive by and honk the horn. They would buy him beer and cigarettes, too. But he was a nice man. There was nothing wrong with him except the color of his skin and he walked with a limp. Everybody went to see him!”

  Robinson walked the road for over thirty years, though as he got older, the distance that he traveled was reduced. Nobody knows exactly how Charlie No-Face became the Green Man, but there are several theories. It seems that the Green Man named started with visitors from outside Beaver County. Some people have claimed that the damaged area of Ray’s skin had a slightly greenish tinge. Others have noted that Ray would sometimes wear an old green army surplus shirt or jacket. Some of his other shirts were said to be of a material that had a greenish reflection in car headlights. At least one person told the authors that the name Green Man seemed less offensive than Charlie No-Face.

  However it started, the Green Man name stuck, and the legend spread as visitors returned to their own communities. When younger people heard the stories of visiting the Green Man from their parents or older siblings, they often inadvertently adapted it to their own area. After a while, any spooky road or abandoned tunnel might be home to the mysterious figure. Sometimes a minor local event might be enough to link the Green Man story to a new location. For example, though we have not been able to find definitive proof yet, many people who live in the vicinity of the Green Man Tunnel do remember that there was an actual accident decades ago involving a worker in that area. A real electrical accident could be enough to anchor the legend at the tunnel. As storytellers and legend trippers became more removed from the original story, the Green Man became more of a sinister supernatural figure, no longer resembling the friendly Ray Robinson.

  The inside of the Green Man Tunnel. Courtesy of Stephen Bosnyak.

  Ray walked on the road less and less when he got older, and in the 1980s, he moved into a nursing home. By the time of his death in 1985, he had become an unconventional legend. People would never forget their trips to see the Green Man, whether it was to see Ray in person or to try to lure out the ghostly Green Man on some haunted road or tunnel. One visitor to the Green Man Tunnel once told the authors that he believes that the Green Man really is a ghost, doing what he did in life on a much larger scale and appearing on roads in many different places. In one sense he is correct, because the legend of the Green Man continues to allow legend trippers to seek out the mysterious and the unexplained. The legend of the Green Man is still walking western Pennsylvania’s roads and shows no signs of slowing down.

  CONCLUSION

  As our exploration of western Pennsylvania’s haunted roads draws to a close, we can see common patterns clearly emerge at these mysterious locations. Tales of car (or carriage) accidents, human sacrifices by satanic cults, the Ku Klux Klan and hangings, Indian ghosts and curses, strange murders and the Green Man may all seem interchangeable by this point. In fact, many of these roads seem to tell the same story with the same features at different locations. These roads frequently have similar physical features as well, mostly being located near streams and in hollows, often with a cemetery nearby. Since they are (or at least were) liminal spaces, this is not surprising.

  Some of these roads also have unique legends tied to the area in which they are located. The ghost miners of Shades of Death Road or the orphanage near 13 Bends Road in Coulterville give us examples of how local history influences legends. Some of the unique features are truly bizarre, like the strange animal behavior at Mystery Mile or the troll under the bridge at Hogback Road. These unique elements are the localized “stamp” on these otherwise common legends.

  But what is it about these roads and others like them that continues to draw legend trippers? We have already mentioned the possibility of contact with the supernatural as the primary draw. That, combined with their accessibility, makes them popular. But there is something else about haunted roads that set them apart from other allegedly haunted locations like buildings. In a haunted building, the ghost story is usually tied to the history of the structure and generally does not change much over time. Roads, on the other hand, are a blank slate. In many cases, there is literally nothing there but the creepy and isolated road. This allows the legends about haunted roads to adapt to whatever pressing fear or issue dominates society and the minds of legend trippers. Because almost any legend can be “projected” onto these roads, they have had a broad appeal over a long period of time. In some ways they are like an excellent horror or suspense movie, where one never quite sees the monster or the killer. It is scarier because it is left to your imagination. The interpretive flexibility of the roads has allowed for the creation of the many layers of the legends that we have examined, combining local and historically inspired ghost stories with urban legends that reflect larger fears and tensions.

  And maybe a few of these roads are really haunted, but that is beyond our ability to verify. Whether supernatural or not, strange things do happen on these haunted roads frequently enough to continue to draw legend trippers. As long as there are ill-defined roads in spooky places, there will be adventurous teenagers in cars and people seeking contact with the supernatural who come to find them.

  SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  ARCHIVAL MATERIAL AND INTERVIEWS

  Blue Mist Road Interviews. Series of transcribed interviews conducted in North Park, Allegheny County, by Emily Jack. July and August 2004.

  “Bob.” Interview with Tony Lavorgne about the Green Man/Ray Robinson (name withheld by request), May 3, 2015.

  Bosnyak, Stephen. Interview with Thomas White about Green Man’s Tunnel, April 2015.

  Bristor, Haley. Interview with Thomas White about Crybaby Bridge, January 2015.

  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Biebighauser (01/19/73). Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

  DeAmicis, Albert. Interview with Thomas White about Ray Robinson/Green Man, April 2015.

  Falvo, Edward. Interview with Thomas White about 13 Bends Road, April 2015.

  Frankovitch, Matt. Interview with Thomas White and Melodie Frankovitch about Hogback Road, April 2015.

  Grejda, Andy. Interview with Thomas White about Blue Mist Road, February 2015.

  Jack, Emily. “Blue Mist Road: Hunting the Legends.” Unpublished manuscript, 2004.

  Kilbert, Ashley. Interview with Thomas White about 13 Bends Road, February 2015.

  Maley, Joshua. Interview with Thomas White about Mystery Mile, February 2015.

  Matuga, Jim. Interview with Thomas White about Ray Robinson/Green Man, 2005.

  McKee, Brian. Interview with Thomas White about Blue Mist Road, April 2015.

  Palmer, Hannah. Interview with Thomas White about Hogback Road, November 2013.

  Shablesky family. Interview with Emily Jack about Ray Robinson, November 2004.

  Shades of Death Road Interviews. Short interviews with two individuals (who requested anonymity) conducted by Thomas White. April 2010.

  Trimble, Victoria. “Shades of Death Road: A Recent Avella Legend.” Unpublished manuscript, 2014.

  Wilson, Kurt. Interview with Thomas White about Blue Mist Road, February 2015.

  ARTICLES

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  ———. “Boy Who Lost Eyes Living.” July 18, 1919.

  ———. “Doctors Marvel That Boy Liv
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  ———. “Little Hope for Boy’s Recovery.” June 20, 1919.

  ———. “Robinson Boy Will Recover.” August 15, 1919.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Thomas White is the university archivist and curator of special collections in the Gumberg Library at Duquesne University. He is also an adjunct lecturer in Duquesne’s History Department and an adjunct professor of history at La Roche College. White received a master’s degree in public history from Duquesne University. Besides the folklore and history of Pennsylvania, his areas of interest include public history and American cultural history. He is the award-winning author of nine other books, including Legends and Lore of Western Pennsylvania, Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania, Ghosts of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Forgotten Tales of Pittsburgh, Forgotten Tales of Philadelphia (co-authored with Edward White), Gangs and Outlaws of Western Pennsylvania (co-authored with Michael Hassett), A Higher Perspective: 100 Years of Business Education at Duquesne University, Witches of Pennsylvania: Occult History and Lore and Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles (editor).

  Tony Lavorgne is an independent researcher of historical mysteries and the unexplained. He specializes in obscure paranormal and anthropological topics. A native of Pittsburgh, he has a degree in both photography and the graphic arts. Most recently he was a contributing writer for the book Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles. Lavorgne resides in southwestern Pennsylvania, where he operates his own antiques business.