This week is Halloween, and usually around this time of year, I get in the mood to read a good spooky tale or ghost story. I guess this is to prepare me to write a good local history tale of my own.

Believe it or not, it is hard to find honest-to-goodness ghost stories from our area. They are just not written down. Rather, they are spread by word of mouth and passed down. I have heard of a few and many of those I have related in these columns during the past six years, but I am always on the hunt. For me, just because a story doesn’t have a “ghost” component, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t make a good spooky story. Looking to the annals of our history, there are many stories that could be the basis of a good ghost story, after all. To me, historical fact is often spookier than fiction. For all intents and purposes, the ghosts of these stories are present right here among us and will linger with us here as long as one remembers them.

Weirton is a relatively new city. It was incorporated in 1947 out of many communities: Weirton Heights, Marland Heights, the unincorporated area of north Weirton and the community of Holliday’s Cove. Of these communities, Holliday’s Cove was the oldest, being settled in 1776. This would make this community of settlers present in this valley before many of our neighboring cities — almost 10 years older than Historic Fort Steuben and more than 20 years older than Steubenville itself. With any old place, there are bound to be stories that could be the basis of ghost stories. For instance, at the location of the old Weir High School stadium, there was an 18th century block house called the Griffith House that protected early settlers from Native American attack. I can imagine the anxiety at this place and maybe that energy could rub off and transcend time to be felt by those who are tuned in to that energy.

Other places in town that could be “haunted” by the past, could be the area around Half Moon.

It is well known and documented that there were Native American burial mounds of our area’s earliest inhabitants in that location. All these mounds were destroyed at some point or another, but if they were indeed resting places for ancient peoples, disturbing them is never a good idea.

Along that same vein, there are several old cemeteries that have been disturbed in our area during the years. For example, the cemetery connected to the home of John Holliday, the founder of Holliday’s Cove, was unceremoniously dug up in 1926. This cemetery was uprooted to make way for some utilities on Cove Road. The remains were reinterred nearby.

Another cemetery, probably located near the old tin mill of Weirton Steel close to the river, was discovered in 1919 while sand and gravel were being quarried to fill the foundations of the open hearth. It was suggested at that time, that this cemetery, which held the remains of 12 persons, was the resting place for enslaved people that was connected to a large farmhouse belonging to Charles King. These remains were reburied nearby. Up on Weirton Heights, the cemetery of the original Three Springs Church was located around 17th Street. At some point in the very early 19th century, most of the graves were moved to the current location of the cemetery, across from Wendy’s on Three Springs Drive today.

There were some graves that were not moved with the others, unfortunately. Lewis Truax, who grew up on Seneca Street, writes about passing those graves left behind before the area was developed while hunting.

Today, there might be a graveyard under a backyard or a driveway. Who knows, really, what is just under the surface. I can imagine that if I were to come back as a ghost, it would be because someone disturbed my final resting place.

A place where I could see that would be haunted most in Holliday’s Cove, is the location of the house of mother and daughter, Eliza Baker and Drusilla McWha. Although the home is gone today, it was located along Cove Road near the Weirton Events Center. In this house in May of 1887, Eliza and Drusilla were murdered brutally with an axe and an iron bolt, both found at the scene of the crime. The main suspect was Eliza’s husband, Van B. Baker, who was arrested and charged with the murder.

The event instantly became a national story-it went viral, so to speak, and news of the murder and subsequent trials appeared in papers coast to coast.

After two trials, Van B. Baker was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life in prison at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville where he died some years later. The story of the murder and trials are recounted in the book ‘Murders, Misfortunes, Mystics and More” by Jane Kraina and Mary Zwierchowski. Here, the story of the murders is reproduced, originally published by Zwierchowski in Goldenseal Magazine in 2002. I recommend reading this fascinating, yet tragic story that took place right here in our hometown 138 years ago. The old house that was the scene of this horrific event stood as a silent witness until 1935 when it was demolished.

All in all, an old community filled with cemeteries that were neglected or left behind, Indian mounds removed and the memory of a brutal murder all have the trappings of a spooky story. The ghosts of the past are strong right here in our history in the hills.

(Zuros is the executive director of Historic Fort Steuben)