Oct 24, 2012 2 min read

Could there be a haunting at the Washington County Courthouse? It’s a question those attending the third annual Ghosts of Washington Haunted History Walking Tours this weekend will have to answer for themselves. Sponsored by The David Bradford House and Bassettown Paranormal Society, this year’s tours have a new twist, featuring walks through the Washington & Jefferson College campus Friday and through the city Saturday, said Clay Kilgore, president of the Washington County Historical Society. “We’ll walk to various places and relate the site’s history,” he explained. “We’ll then tell of any haunting tied to it.” Kilgore said it’s then up to participants to decide whether the ghostly stories are true. The tour through W&J will include stops at the President’s House, MacMillan Hall and First Presbyterian Church on East Wheeling Street. On Saturday, the tour goes into the city with stops at the county courthouse, where, according to Kilgore, people have reportedly seen a shadowy man in the hallway leading to the old jail. Another stop will be the former Duane Hotel, on South Main Street near the train station. Kilgore said reports of hauntings go as far back as the 1940s and 1950s. Stories include tenants leaving early because they didn’t feel comfortable in the hotel. In the 1980s, the third floor of the hotel was closed off and sealed, but people on the lower floors would still hear footsteps and lights would mysteriously flash off and on. Then, last year, owners of a store in the building caught a ghostly figure on a security camera. Both tours end at The George Washington hotel, where participants will be taken to the fourth floor, where many an eerie story has originated. Tours leave the Bradford House every half-hour between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Cost is $5.