You could almost say I have a ghost in my own backyard! Well, not quite my back yard but at least close to home. You'd think that living close to a cemetary, I'd be telling of ghosts there but you'd be wrong! This is the story of Peter, a little boy ghost. I've heard this story for years! My family has lived in this area since the early 20th century. Up until recently, the oldest house in Allegheny county was our family homestead, but after the death of my great aunt Alberta, the house was sold.
My grandmother and great aunts used to tell me stories of prohibition and all the crazy times. I wish my great aunt Ann was alive so I could get more information on this alleged 'bordello'. (she lived right up the street...but WAS NOT a working girl! LOL)Anyhoo, on with the story...
BLAHA FLOWER SHOP (Etna, Allegheny County) Shop owner David Kornely relocated his flower and gift shop to Bridge Street in Etna in 1991. He had heard the building was haunted but had no second thoughts about the making the move. He even kept the shop's former name, Michael Blaha Flowers. Then he got to meet Peter. The tale goes that the the building was a bordello in the roaring 20's and that Peter was the illegitimate son of one of the working ladies. He was playing with fireworks in the attic when a fire started, losing his life at the tender age of 8. He's still playing in the building. When the landlord was remodeling the shop, lights flickered and tools were unplugged. Once the shop was up and running, stuffed animals disappeared only to show up months later. He enjoys fiddling with electronics, deprogramming the cash register and scrambling the answering machine. The shop is often found in complete disarray when it's opened and one girl that worked there claimed her hair was pulled by Peter. Psychics say Peter likes the owner, thank God, and is just being playful. He disappeared for a couple of years, when a furnace was removed - spirits attach themselves to metal objects, according to the psychics – but he returned. Peter's current status is uncertain. The shop's been closed and boarded up for years. There's a chapter on Peter and Blaha's shop in Ghost Stories of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County by Beth Trapani & Charles Adams III. (Pittsburgh Tribune Review “Steel City Haunts Require Nerves of Steel,” October 31, 1998)
Peter: An update (Oct. 8, 2009)
After work today, I stopped by the flower shop (Always In Bloom), where Peter the ghost resides. Technically, he resides in the back building, where he died on the 3rd floor, which at the time was supposed to be the attic.
Susan, who now runs the flower shop, is a pleasant, attractive and decidedly NOT crazy person. She just happens to have the ghost of an 8 year old boy on her hands. She was more than happy to discuss Peter but stressed that she doesn't go out of her way to use him for publicity.
It seems that the previous owners, 2 sisters, did...and not to Peter's liking. They tried seances, etc. which seemed to 'upset Peter'. Susan's 1st encounter with the boy ghost was when some scribbling in crayon appeared on her desk. Her partner, Kevin, assured her that he had nothing to do with it.
In the years that Susan has run the flower shop, she's had little more than mischievous pranks from Peter. Last Christmas, a voice/touch activated decoration would start playing "Jingle Bells" for no reason. Neither Susan, her partner, employees or dogs were anywhere near it. Susan chalked it up to Peter and told me so with a pleasant chuckle.
Peter has a fascination with plush toys. In the basement of the building is an old crib filled with plush toys. At the bottom of the heap was a plush gingerbread man. To activate it, one needs to squeeze the foot, and as it's an older toy, one needs to squeeze with some effort. For nearly a week, the toy kept being activated, presumably by Peter. Mind you, it was at the bottom of the pile.
There was a family living on the 3rd floor of the back building and they had small children and pets, which Peter seemed to enjoy. Susan had nothing but positive remarks to make about the family's encounters with Peter.
Peter is, however, still quite the prankster. When Susan's partner Kevin was doing some renovations on the building, tools would go missing and extension cords would unplug themselves with some frequency.
Only one person known to Susan has had a physical encounter with Peter. A few years back, they had the steps to the basement rebuilt and the workman, a friend of Kevin's, met the boy ghost face to face. The workman, a large burly man by Susan's description, was so unnerved that to this day, he refuses to return to the building. He and Kevin are still friends...but the man still refuses.
In discussing Peter with Susan, I must say that she had nothing but positive things to say about Peter and she feels that he doesn't give her any trouble because she speaks positively of him. There are currently two brothers living on the 3rd floor of the back building and they seem to get on well with Peter and Peter seems to enjoy them. Peter, like any 8 year old boy, seems to prefer the company of children, older guys and family pets. Susan keeps her two rather large dogs in the flower shop with her when she's there and the dogs seemed rather non-plussed by Peter. They were far more interested in sniffing me...perhaps to make sure that I'm flesh & blood and not ectoplasm.
An interesting side note would be that the flower shop still has it's original hardwood floors. The building was built in the late 19th century and has been at various times a hotel, restaurant, bordello, florist shop, etc. It has also survived a the fire which killed Peter, a major flood....and a ghost. Now that's craftsmanship!
Believe it or not....more to come!
My grandmother and great aunts used to tell me stories of prohibition and all the crazy times. I wish my great aunt Ann was alive so I could get more information on this alleged 'bordello'. (she lived right up the street...but WAS NOT a working girl! LOL)Anyhoo, on with the story...
BLAHA FLOWER SHOP (Etna, Allegheny County) Shop owner David Kornely relocated his flower and gift shop to Bridge Street in Etna in 1991. He had heard the building was haunted but had no second thoughts about the making the move. He even kept the shop's former name, Michael Blaha Flowers. Then he got to meet Peter. The tale goes that the the building was a bordello in the roaring 20's and that Peter was the illegitimate son of one of the working ladies. He was playing with fireworks in the attic when a fire started, losing his life at the tender age of 8. He's still playing in the building. When the landlord was remodeling the shop, lights flickered and tools were unplugged. Once the shop was up and running, stuffed animals disappeared only to show up months later. He enjoys fiddling with electronics, deprogramming the cash register and scrambling the answering machine. The shop is often found in complete disarray when it's opened and one girl that worked there claimed her hair was pulled by Peter. Psychics say Peter likes the owner, thank God, and is just being playful. He disappeared for a couple of years, when a furnace was removed - spirits attach themselves to metal objects, according to the psychics – but he returned. Peter's current status is uncertain. The shop's been closed and boarded up for years. There's a chapter on Peter and Blaha's shop in Ghost Stories of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County by Beth Trapani & Charles Adams III. (Pittsburgh Tribune Review “Steel City Haunts Require Nerves of Steel,” October 31, 1998)
Peter: An update (Oct. 8, 2009)
After work today, I stopped by the flower shop (Always In Bloom), where Peter the ghost resides. Technically, he resides in the back building, where he died on the 3rd floor, which at the time was supposed to be the attic.
Susan, who now runs the flower shop, is a pleasant, attractive and decidedly NOT crazy person. She just happens to have the ghost of an 8 year old boy on her hands. She was more than happy to discuss Peter but stressed that she doesn't go out of her way to use him for publicity.
It seems that the previous owners, 2 sisters, did...and not to Peter's liking. They tried seances, etc. which seemed to 'upset Peter'. Susan's 1st encounter with the boy ghost was when some scribbling in crayon appeared on her desk. Her partner, Kevin, assured her that he had nothing to do with it.
In the years that Susan has run the flower shop, she's had little more than mischievous pranks from Peter. Last Christmas, a voice/touch activated decoration would start playing "Jingle Bells" for no reason. Neither Susan, her partner, employees or dogs were anywhere near it. Susan chalked it up to Peter and told me so with a pleasant chuckle.
Peter has a fascination with plush toys. In the basement of the building is an old crib filled with plush toys. At the bottom of the heap was a plush gingerbread man. To activate it, one needs to squeeze the foot, and as it's an older toy, one needs to squeeze with some effort. For nearly a week, the toy kept being activated, presumably by Peter. Mind you, it was at the bottom of the pile.
There was a family living on the 3rd floor of the back building and they had small children and pets, which Peter seemed to enjoy. Susan had nothing but positive remarks to make about the family's encounters with Peter.
Peter is, however, still quite the prankster. When Susan's partner Kevin was doing some renovations on the building, tools would go missing and extension cords would unplug themselves with some frequency.
Only one person known to Susan has had a physical encounter with Peter. A few years back, they had the steps to the basement rebuilt and the workman, a friend of Kevin's, met the boy ghost face to face. The workman, a large burly man by Susan's description, was so unnerved that to this day, he refuses to return to the building. He and Kevin are still friends...but the man still refuses.
In discussing Peter with Susan, I must say that she had nothing but positive things to say about Peter and she feels that he doesn't give her any trouble because she speaks positively of him. There are currently two brothers living on the 3rd floor of the back building and they seem to get on well with Peter and Peter seems to enjoy them. Peter, like any 8 year old boy, seems to prefer the company of children, older guys and family pets. Susan keeps her two rather large dogs in the flower shop with her when she's there and the dogs seemed rather non-plussed by Peter. They were far more interested in sniffing me...perhaps to make sure that I'm flesh & blood and not ectoplasm.
An interesting side note would be that the flower shop still has it's original hardwood floors. The building was built in the late 19th century and has been at various times a hotel, restaurant, bordello, florist shop, etc. It has also survived a the fire which killed Peter, a major flood....and a ghost. Now that's craftsmanship!
Believe it or not....more to come!
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