I went on a ghost tour of West Chester Saturday night and learned about some of the spooky stories behind some of the sites in the borough that have been around for centuries.

I found the event to be a lot of fun. The tour goes through a lot of the downtown streets, and hits the Bicentennial Garage on High Street, Lafayette Street, Marshall Square Park and other sites. The tour was a good mix of history and eerie tales. If you go on the tour, you'll hear about soldiers that lingered long after they died, runaway railroad activists that haunted the borough, as well as a slew of other stories. A few of the stories are rather grisly. I was shocked to learn the folklore regarding why the gazebo at Marshall Square Park is always lit. I would state the story here, but I'd rather not ruin it, since some people may want to go on the tour.

I did wonder, however, why the tour did not swing by West Chester University, since Ramsey Hall is supposed to be haunted by the woman it is named after, since the plaque inside of the building has her death date wrong. I've also heard Philips Memorial Building, that structure that looks like a castle, is supposed to be haunted. Oh well, maybe those sites will be included in years to come.

For $10, the tour is worth it. It runs every Friday and Saturday through October and is run through the Chester County Historical Society.