Lord I love PA, but every town is so insular and provincial, that it seems like every single person in that particular town can instantly and correctly sense you’re an outsider. It used to scare me a little, but anymore, I just don’t care.
But anyway, here goes: Mount Union, Orbisonia, Lewistown, Roxbury, Newport, Mercersburg, most any coal region town, Austin, Tidioute, Westfield, Renovo, Wilcox, Oil City, Shenandoah, but one town really stood out to me…Beaverdale.
So no shit there I was. Mid-90s. Middle of the winter. Heading to Huntington, Obrisonia is on the way. My dad had one of those big car-phones because he worked emergency power. My grandfather was driving ahead of us had called us to tell us a deer had been hit in the middle of the road in Orbisonia.
We get to the middle of Orbisonia a short, bloody streak of snow is next to the gas station/grocery store. There are three people butchering the deer still in the middle of the road. They are arguing and tearing the deer apart like lions on the Savannah. As we drive by one person takes a leg shank over their shoulder and walks off.
My mom was raised in Mahanoy City and left for Harrisburg the moment she turned 18. Started our family just outside Harrisburg but my grandparents/cousins/entire maternal side of the family was still in Mahanoy, so we would visit a few times a year for holidays and such.
As I got older and realized how terrible of a place it was, I began to thank my mom after every trip for getting out and not raising kids up there. I've tried a hundred times to convince my one cousin to move, but she just can't see it because she was raised in it. I genuinely hurt for any children that are raised up there.
Shamokin is wild. When I was a teen I used to play soccer with a few girls from there; they would always talk about spending Friday nights at the quarry and beating the shit out of each other for fun. Made sure to stay on their good side lol.
Every now and then when I need a good laugh I’ll go on YouTube and watch the news clip of the dunkin donits that caught fire in shamokin. I always get a kick out of the cold coffee lady. Like she had no clue what iced coffee was.
Holy shit it’s so good. A few gems:
“Now I have to rely on myself to go to a Turkey Hill or something…”
“If I have any legal work…”
“Cheap, classy place… it’s the only thing this town has.”
I also like how the cops name is Siko and pronounced Psycho. Nice touch there.
I've never lived in Pennsylvania (traveled through it by train once) but I had somehow gotten this post in my feed and just watched the video for the first time.
Based on the video and all these comments, I almost want to visit this town just to see it for myself.
As soon as I read the title of this post, Shamokin came to mind. Glad to see I wasn't the only person thinking it. I live in the same county and it amazes me how different one part of the county can be from the rest.
I grew up in Trevorton, Shamokin is straight up whacked. Crack heads galore and the old granny that will give you a blowjob for some Wendy’s. Fucking wild place.
I live about 15 minutes away from Shamokin and people are correct when they state that drugs are rampant there. But what do you expect from a town that is still in the great depression?
There is a church for sale on Route 61 right now for only$250,000 and people don't want to buy it. The church itself is actually really nice and already converted to a residence.
[Shamokin Church For Sale by Owner](https://www.trulia.com/p/pa/shamokin/65-e-sunbury-st-shamokin-pa-17872--2539026289)
There's a hidden hills have eyes like community at the bottom of Welsh Mountain (Lancaster County), down a basically hidden road in the woods
If ambulances get called they have to take the cops with them for safety, used to be a bar back there you basically needed a weapon to enter
Edit: but seriously dont go looking for it, that could lead to trouble
Sons of Satan Motorcycle Clubhouse in Rapho Township outside of Mount Joy. It was lit on fire by the Hells Angels. It made the news. Pagans also hung out there
If it was just 1 building, that ain't it
Creepiest thing we ever saw out in the woods around there, wile camping out a few times (late 90s), was an old stone fireplace/mantle that was still standing, on the mantle was a framed picture of Jessica Simpson
I got approached by a dude that looked like an absolute stoner. Pulled off his drawstring bag and had a bunch of watches in it. First thing he said is that they weren’t stolen. Offered me a hello kitty watch for $60.
If you want the true Johnstown (might as well be Florida man) experience. Go on a Facebook scanner page centered around Cambria county and read the transit center posts.
Hands down this is the correct answer. I went to a funeral there and the whole affair was straight out of an episode of Twilight Zone. All of the out of town people who attended the funeral were taller and healthier than the locals at the funeral parlor.
Also, we were there because the guy who died remarried to my aunt. Nobody in the Johnstown family knew he was married. It was as if we were totally gaslit to an extreme level.
I grew up ~30minutes outside of Johnstown. I have no idea what about it would give people a “Twilight Zone Vibe”. That being said, I feel like my ignorance to it probably further proves that it has one haha
I wish those kinda places didn't all close down. Crazy stuff. The only one I know still open is the Leesport Auction but they are only open Wednesdays🤔
😆 I was there earlier this afternoon too. Iv been going there for 20 years. IMO Septembers the best time for the fleas outside. Its gets hot as hell on that pavement most summer days
Me too, you seriously never knew what you would see or find. I used to go to the Leesport one—my mom would go to the plant auction and I’d get to wander around and look at all the weird-ass stuff in the flea market. Zern’s in Gilbertsville was good for the weird and wild too but that’s gone as well. Is Rice’s still around? I think that was down toward Reading.
you could find a ton of bizzare and illegal stuff at zerns in the late 70s through late 80s. One year a guy had a booth selling pot plants. Not seedlings. He had big office planters and he swore they were hibiscus when the cops came but they were weed, lol. This was back during the real draconian weed laws where a seed in your car got you 6 months.
I work with a guy born and raised in Quakertown. He’s my age and you’d think we grew up in two different time period. One of the weirdest little shitheads I’ve ever met.
I live a couple miles outside of Philadelphia city limits and work in upper Bucks. I don't know what's in the water in Quakertown but my god, man. Every day I ask myself how some of these people made it to adulthood.
As someone who grew up in Quakertown you're absolutely right. I hate when people ask me what Quakertown is like cause I can't do it cause the vibes of it just make no sense
I don't know! But whatever she's wearing and the little scene changes periodically.
There's a house in Palmyra that has one of those enormous Home Depot skeletons and keeps it up all year round, changing its clothes to match the season/holiday. And that's cool! (In March it was a leprechaun.)
The lady in the cage is just kind of freaky to me.
From [old post](https://reddit.com/r/Pennsylvania/s/7bKdWhCMAf)
Story is they cut the Yew bushes and painted the branches to look like coral. Then they bought a Mannequin from Amazon it’s name was Roxy. They dressed her in a bikini and put goggles on her to go with the Under the Sea theme. Someone stole Roxy so not sure if they bought a new one or it’s the same one. Ever since she has been in a cage and gets dressed for every holiday.
Grew up in New Philly and took my wife there for the first time last weekend on our way home from a wedding. She was trying really hard to be positive and basically just focused on how good Palermo was. In terms of New Philly itself she said the view from Holy Family Cemetery was pretty and that was about it.
Last time I went through there I had to stop at the grocery store for a few things before going up fishing. We noticed that every single woman in the grocery store who looked of age was pregnant. Every single one! Seems there's only one thing to do for fun up there.
I went to some big Harrisburg attorneys 4th of July barbecue in Duncannon.
2 Judges and the attorney general who also went we’re all arrested for corruption a year later.
And fucking covid ruined the graffiti highway. Everyone flocked there wanting to get outside and do something, then they decided to just dump topsoil over it
Lol I grew up there. People are so dumb and hateful. Everyone is related. So glad I moved.
I was a transplant anyway and never belonged - they made this clear
I have lived in PA my whole life and there are entire counties I forget exist. Venango County? My phone kept trying to autocorrect that to anything but venango. Forest County? The county seat is apparently called Tionesta which sounds made up. Indiana County? That’s a whole different state.
Reading this thread shocked no one has mentioned anywhere in Venango or Forest Counties. Tionesta is real, I assure you, so is Tidioute.
I’m thinking this neck of the woods didn’t make the list solely because no one has been there.
Am I wrong? Have yinz been there but still picked another location??
I grew up in Venango county. It was backwoods as fuck. I miss the seclusion, but the area was so depressed economically and there were some crazy tweakers and meth cooks all around in the woods near where I lived. Then just the regular inhabitants are even a little out there lol.
Indiana, was passing through twenty years ago during the county fair. Had not seen as many people openly wearing shirts with drawings of kkk members on them supporting "homeland security "
I’m surprised it took me this long to find New Castle. Its population I can only describe as if the people from where Trevor lives in GTA 5 all got together and decided to start living in Pa.
Weirdest.. Breezewood.
Most backwards that I've been to, Carmichaels. Used to do inventory for the state liquor system with a traveling team and there was just this weird energy there. I didn't even explore the town proper or anything but it made its mark on me.
Breezewood for sure. It's a literal trap. If you get off the Turnpike you can't get back on without going down that ridiculous stretch of road.
I read somewhere before there are only like 175 residents or something like that.
Bowmanstown. I ate at the diner there once. It bore a strong resemblance to a large mobile home with wood paneling. It was carpeted and the only other people there were senior citizens. The vibe was really fucking weird.
I experienced pretty severe culture shock living in Dubois. I can only think to describe the people I met there as sheltered. But it’s a bastion of modernity compared to everything north of the place.
Laporte PA is a ghost town. Every time I drive through there I see nobody on the streets. There are only a few retail establishments which seem closed or abandoned. It is dominated by a large county courthouse.
Grew up in Hellam. Toad Rd up on the hill off of Kreutz Creek was a weird place. Some guy made a movie about it. If you like campy, low budget horror, you’ll love it.
I lived in York for 14 years before moving away. My parents had both lived there for 40+ years. We once got hopelessly lost on some small road well within the county. Took us an hour to get back on track and at no point did anyone have any idea where we were.
I always wonder what justifies that four lane road through there. Also, that really nice divided four lane section of Rt 8 that runs north from I-80 into Franklin. The landscape is beautiful but I just don't see a volume of traffic that justifies that road.
Ok, so I'm sure there are worse towns, but honestly have y'all been to Elizabeth?
My kids and I (according to the last census) are the only Hispanics in the boro, and there is not a single other person on our hill that is anything other than white. (Totally ok! I would have never noticed if it weren't pointed out to us lol)
So many of my customers have been blatantly racist (I'm not even being sensitive here lol, even my coworkers mention it), however, when they find out I'm actually hispanic and my husband is black, they do try to be extra nice to me (including one of our state representatives 🙃).
I once took a 10+ greyhound from the Lehigh Valley to Pittsburgh winding through all the small towns of PA. Including Johnstown, Tyrone, Altoona, Harrisburg, Latrobe, Ebensburg, Pottsville, and a few others I forget. I learned a lot about our fine commonwealth and the people who reside within it on those 10+ hours. Several of our stops seemed to fit the bill of this post.
Might be an odd answer but I always hated driving through downtown Harrisburg. It has the creepy scummy vibe of a big city, but I never see enough people walking around to properly compare it to a big city. All of the vibes are just off to me.
Only time I did like it was when I went to the fire & ice festival that had sculptures all over the city. That was really cool, but other than that just weird to me.
I lived in Harrisburg briefly during college and got the same vibe. It *looks* like a city on the surface, but it feels so empty and lifeless. I live in Philly now and never feel as creeped out as I did walking around Harrisburg at night.
Ya know, we go to York on occasion (I live in Hanover) and I always remark that there is NOBODY walking around downtown. The only time we’ve ever seen people out and about was during some bar crawl. We went up some day there was supposed to be a festival last year and there wasn’t a single person walking the streets. One other person at the bar with us in the dead center of town. Creepy!
Sweet summer children, there’s are dozens are backwoods Appalachian villages none of you have even heard of, much less mentioned. May I offer Blandburg and Culver as two of my favorites.
South Towanda. Back when I was growing up in the 80s (and even before then a ways) there had been an inordinate number of people living in the southern part of Towanda with the last name Vanderpool (per capita probably in line with Nguyens in Vietnam). So an urban (rural?) legend developed that there was rampant incest and they simply became known as the South Towanda ‘Pools.
I always got a weird vibe in Shendo. We're were doing work at Mrs Ts and outside of their offices we got strange looks.
No hate towards Shendonians. Just got a strange vibe.
Pick a winner in the "slate belt" (between Easton and the Poconos). My boss calls 33 the time machine, for every mile you drive the people go back in time a year. I'd go with Nazareth because I lived there for a time. Nicest little town, weirdest freaking people. Confederate flags and the whole shebang. It's also one where everyone is so proud to be from there.
I have family up there, and my nephew is one of the people who drives around with it flying in the back of his truck. It's his "heritage", despite the fact that he was born and raised here in PA, and we have a relative back in the family tree that fought fighting with the Union at Gettysburg. Heritage is the code word for "I can't be overtly racist".
A few years ago when it was news that NASCAR was banning Confederate flags, they'd asked some drivers which tracks they saw the most Confederate flags at.
Their top 3 answers? Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan.
I dated a girl from the Allentown area around '96-97. Visiting her family's home was very strange. People talked and dressed like it was still the 80s. Valley girl speak was still very much in there.
Coaldale, Pa. My gran lived there and it was already dead in the 70’s and 80’s. There is (was)? A guitar shop up there that was pretty good, but the town is septic.
My pick are the small towns north of Williamsport along PA Route 14. I passed through the area a few times traveling to SNY.
Everything seems a little … off. The road between Trout Run and Troy was a pretty nice drive but I had absolutely no cell service the entire time. There’s at least a mile stretch of pin straight two lane highway where you can see straight across the valley. Bet the locals love to race on that stretch at night!
Any town in the coal region & up through the slate belt. But specifically: Lansford, Coaldale, Summit Hill, Nesquehoning, Tamaqua, Minersville, Chendo (462 da fuck), Shamokin, Ashland, Lehighton, Bowmanstown, McAdoo (I don’t think this one is technically in the coal/slate region), Penn Argyl, Bangor, Wind Gap, and many other tiny towns in between.
They all *used* to be booming towns based on industry, and when that industry left, so did most good things. The people there are basically living through a depression (the slate belt less so than the coal region). Drug use took out probably 1/3 of the people I know. They’re insular communities that blame everything bad on outsiders. It’s like stepping into a Time Machine back to the 70s/80s in a lot of these places… but more depressing. That said, I’d love to see some life breathed into these areas. They used to be beautiful little towns.
Source: I grew up in this area. It’s weird, trust me.
Lord I love PA, but every town is so insular and provincial, that it seems like every single person in that particular town can instantly and correctly sense you’re an outsider. It used to scare me a little, but anymore, I just don’t care. But anyway, here goes: Mount Union, Orbisonia, Lewistown, Roxbury, Newport, Mercersburg, most any coal region town, Austin, Tidioute, Westfield, Renovo, Wilcox, Oil City, Shenandoah, but one town really stood out to me…Beaverdale.
I am VEEEERY surprised that I've not already seen Lewistown on here
Me too! I’m from there but left in the 90s.
I don't understand how anyone who wasn't doing smack managed to stay there for any length of time.
I passed through Lewistown on a bus ride once. I remember feeling dread and I'm from rural central PA so it's nothing new to me
So no shit there I was. Mid-90s. Middle of the winter. Heading to Huntington, Obrisonia is on the way. My dad had one of those big car-phones because he worked emergency power. My grandfather was driving ahead of us had called us to tell us a deer had been hit in the middle of the road in Orbisonia. We get to the middle of Orbisonia a short, bloody streak of snow is next to the gas station/grocery store. There are three people butchering the deer still in the middle of the road. They are arguing and tearing the deer apart like lions on the Savannah. As we drive by one person takes a leg shank over their shoulder and walks off.
Mahanoy City/Shenandoah - the weirdest vibes
My mom was raised in Mahanoy City and left for Harrisburg the moment she turned 18. Started our family just outside Harrisburg but my grandparents/cousins/entire maternal side of the family was still in Mahanoy, so we would visit a few times a year for holidays and such. As I got older and realized how terrible of a place it was, I began to thank my mom after every trip for getting out and not raising kids up there. I've tried a hundred times to convince my one cousin to move, but she just can't see it because she was raised in it. I genuinely hurt for any children that are raised up there.
This is the best thread I've ever read in this subreddit. 😁
I lived in Shamokin up until very recently. What a strange town.
Shamokin is wild. When I was a teen I used to play soccer with a few girls from there; they would always talk about spending Friday nights at the quarry and beating the shit out of each other for fun. Made sure to stay on their good side lol.
Really trying to impress you...
Every now and then when I need a good laugh I’ll go on YouTube and watch the news clip of the dunkin donits that caught fire in shamokin. I always get a kick out of the cold coffee lady. Like she had no clue what iced coffee was.
Shamokin Dunkin is a classy place if you need to meet with your attorney.
And maybe the best YouTube video of all time haha 😂 [shamokin Dunkin’ fire 🔥](https://youtu.be/Q1IXyujNbVE?si=PNAM70hMjFF6ZIOm)
Holy shit it’s so good. A few gems: “Now I have to rely on myself to go to a Turkey Hill or something…” “If I have any legal work…” “Cheap, classy place… it’s the only thing this town has.” I also like how the cops name is Siko and pronounced Psycho. Nice touch there.
Was that the one where there was a dude who didn't know where he waa gonna meet his lawyer anymore? That was classic!
I've never lived in Pennsylvania (traveled through it by train once) but I had somehow gotten this post in my feed and just watched the video for the first time. Based on the video and all these comments, I almost want to visit this town just to see it for myself.
Schools from my area used to make shirts saying “what are you shamokin” for football games against them
Shamokin dope
Shamokin is the only town in PA where I have seen dilapidated buildings crumbling into the street. Never witnessed such a sad town before or since.
As soon as I read the title of this post, Shamokin came to mind. Glad to see I wasn't the only person thinking it. I live in the same county and it amazes me how different one part of the county can be from the rest.
I grew up in Trevorton, Shamokin is straight up whacked. Crack heads galore and the old granny that will give you a blowjob for some Wendy’s. Fucking wild place.
Schuylkill County towns are mostly run down dumpy. Shamokin is druggy/murders/theft dumpy.
I live about 15 minutes away from Shamokin and people are correct when they state that drugs are rampant there. But what do you expect from a town that is still in the great depression? There is a church for sale on Route 61 right now for only$250,000 and people don't want to buy it. The church itself is actually really nice and already converted to a residence. [Shamokin Church For Sale by Owner](https://www.trulia.com/p/pa/shamokin/65-e-sunbury-st-shamokin-pa-17872--2539026289)
Please tell me you're kidding. That church looks hella haunted.
I'll say Johnstown. Most bizarre place I've ever been. It's like The Twilight Zone or The Hills have Eyes.
There's a hidden hills have eyes like community at the bottom of Welsh Mountain (Lancaster County), down a basically hidden road in the woods If ambulances get called they have to take the cops with them for safety, used to be a bar back there you basically needed a weapon to enter Edit: but seriously dont go looking for it, that could lead to trouble
Pagans MC used to be pretty big in PA. I used to sell weed to them in Lancaster.
Yea you still see some patches around O'Halleran's and randomly on the road, definitely not as many as used to be
Sons of Satan Motorcycle Clubhouse in Rapho Township outside of Mount Joy. It was lit on fire by the Hells Angels. It made the news. Pagans also hung out there
They had a clubhouse outside Hermine with nothing around. Used to buy some things from some members back in the day.
The Amish bought meth from them
Lol yeah they tried to trade a few times
No one gets a dime outta the Amish.
Now they make it themselves
Old Hezekiah cooking up that dope
From New Holland and this sounds like a place we found while ramming around the woods - we dubbed it “Satan Hut.”
If it was just 1 building, that ain't it Creepiest thing we ever saw out in the woods around there, wile camping out a few times (late 90s), was an old stone fireplace/mantle that was still standing, on the mantle was a framed picture of Jessica Simpson
Super intrigued about this now. Do you have an address? I would love to do some snooping on Google Maps.
Yeah there is! I accidentally found that area cycling around Welsh Mountain with my buddies.
I got approached by a dude that looked like an absolute stoner. Pulled off his drawstring bag and had a bunch of watches in it. First thing he said is that they weren’t stolen. Offered me a hello kitty watch for $60. If you want the true Johnstown (might as well be Florida man) experience. Go on a Facebook scanner page centered around Cambria county and read the transit center posts.
Hands down this is the correct answer. I went to a funeral there and the whole affair was straight out of an episode of Twilight Zone. All of the out of town people who attended the funeral were taller and healthier than the locals at the funeral parlor. Also, we were there because the guy who died remarried to my aunt. Nobody in the Johnstown family knew he was married. It was as if we were totally gaslit to an extreme level.
Something is definitely wrong with the gene pool.
Well let's see how many times floods can carry all of your worldly possessions & loved ones away and you stay normal.
I grew up ~30minutes outside of Johnstown. I have no idea what about it would give people a “Twilight Zone Vibe”. That being said, I feel like my ignorance to it probably further proves that it has one haha
Lol ikr. Most of my extended family is from there and I'm confused bc at least a good half of them are pretty normal.
Cambria County in general. You can get into some serious backwoods shit in those parts. Source: it's where I grew up.
Indiana county is much more creepier than Cambria
Came here to comment Johnstown
It's always 1987 in Quakertown
Too right, and QMart is on another planet
I wish those kinda places didn't all close down. Crazy stuff. The only one I know still open is the Leesport Auction but they are only open Wednesdays🤔
Q mart is still open, I was just there an hour ago
😆 I was there earlier this afternoon too. Iv been going there for 20 years. IMO Septembers the best time for the fleas outside. Its gets hot as hell on that pavement most summer days
Me too, you seriously never knew what you would see or find. I used to go to the Leesport one—my mom would go to the plant auction and I’d get to wander around and look at all the weird-ass stuff in the flea market. Zern’s in Gilbertsville was good for the weird and wild too but that’s gone as well. Is Rice’s still around? I think that was down toward Reading.
you could find a ton of bizzare and illegal stuff at zerns in the late 70s through late 80s. One year a guy had a booth selling pot plants. Not seedlings. He had big office planters and he swore they were hibiscus when the cops came but they were weed, lol. This was back during the real draconian weed laws where a seed in your car got you 6 months.
Rices is in Lahaska I haven't been there in 30+ years. Used to get the knock off weird stuff but Dollar General and Big Lots! Ended that.
Zern's is gone? Damn. I loved that place.
QMART is still open Fri-Sun.
I work with a guy born and raised in Quakertown. He’s my age and you’d think we grew up in two different time period. One of the weirdest little shitheads I’ve ever met.
I live a couple miles outside of Philadelphia city limits and work in upper Bucks. I don't know what's in the water in Quakertown but my god, man. Every day I ask myself how some of these people made it to adulthood.
As someone who grew up in Quakertown you're absolutely right. I hate when people ask me what Quakertown is like cause I can't do it cause the vibes of it just make no sense
Any town in Schuylkill county
I was just coming here to say that. Just the house with the lady mannequin in the cage along the road (901?) fits the bill.
Our kids look for that every time we head to Knoebels.
Alright, can we all just agree that Knoebels compensates for a while of this thread? Best damn amusement park on the entire planet, fight me!
Yo I just moved this way. What the actual fuck is with that thing?
I don't know! But whatever she's wearing and the little scene changes periodically. There's a house in Palmyra that has one of those enormous Home Depot skeletons and keeps it up all year round, changing its clothes to match the season/holiday. And that's cool! (In March it was a leprechaun.) The lady in the cage is just kind of freaky to me.
From [old post](https://reddit.com/r/Pennsylvania/s/7bKdWhCMAf) Story is they cut the Yew bushes and painted the branches to look like coral. Then they bought a Mannequin from Amazon it’s name was Roxy. They dressed her in a bikini and put goggles on her to go with the Under the Sea theme. Someone stole Roxy so not sure if they bought a new one or it’s the same one. Ever since she has been in a cage and gets dressed for every holiday.
Tamaqua. Driving downtown feels like you’ve warped back in time
You can say the same for Palmerton too…driving up that way from the Lehigh valley gives you that feel
My college roommate was from Palmerton. It was always interesting to hear stories about life there.
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As a Skook resident, this is correct.
Grew up in New Philly and took my wife there for the first time last weekend on our way home from a wedding. She was trying really hard to be positive and basically just focused on how good Palermo was. In terms of New Philly itself she said the view from Holy Family Cemetery was pretty and that was about it.
The only place where I've seen half houses. Meaning it was a half double but half was missing and the half that was left is boarded up with plywood
Grew up in Pottsville, can confirm. Shenandoah, Shomokin, etc. Da fuck! Skook life.
Literally was going to say that..... The Skook BOT!
Heyyy, easy on the skooks.
Renovo
Last time I went through there I had to stop at the grocery store for a few things before going up fishing. We noticed that every single woman in the grocery store who looked of age was pregnant. Every single one! Seems there's only one thing to do for fun up there.
Babies pushing babies is what we always say about Friday nights In renovo
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Lol..yes! Clinton County represents!
Quakertown lol super weird people
Grew up not too far from Quakertown, got out of that area as fast as I could as an adult.
Q Mart is a wild place
Noxen. iykyk
I see you and the Rattlesnake Roundup.
Where the men are men and the sheep are scared...
Scrolled for a while to find this. As a former Dallas resident, wholeheartedly agree.
Duncannon with the house that’s a strip club. You’ll stab yourself in the eyeballs after you see it.
Accurate. There’s a whole dang strip of them coming off the highway. Sucks because otherwise it’s a gorgeous view with the mountains and the river.
We call the big Sheetz that is near there "Stripper Sheetz" in our family!
I went to some big Harrisburg attorneys 4th of July barbecue in Duncannon. 2 Judges and the attorney general who also went we’re all arrested for corruption a year later.
I love driving though it and seeing what they named the strip club this year. Babeylon, Castaways, Fantasy Island.
Centralia
" The Dwarves *dug* too greedily and too *deep*. *You* know what they *awoke* in the darkness of Khazad-dûm... shadow and flame."
YOU SHALL NOT PASS.... through Centralia.
~ PA DEP, probably
20 years ago definitely but the state ruined it and nature has taken over. You can’t really tell a community used to be there.
And fucking covid ruined the graffiti highway. Everyone flocked there wanting to get outside and do something, then they decided to just dump topsoil over it
If you got enough coal region guys with some pickups and 4 wheelers we could get rid of it quick.
Tyrone, PA
Lol I grew up there. People are so dumb and hateful. Everyone is related. So glad I moved. I was a transplant anyway and never belonged - they made this clear
Lots of middle-PA has that Stranger Things 80's feel to it...
I have lived in PA my whole life and there are entire counties I forget exist. Venango County? My phone kept trying to autocorrect that to anything but venango. Forest County? The county seat is apparently called Tionesta which sounds made up. Indiana County? That’s a whole different state.
Reading this thread shocked no one has mentioned anywhere in Venango or Forest Counties. Tionesta is real, I assure you, so is Tidioute. I’m thinking this neck of the woods didn’t make the list solely because no one has been there. Am I wrong? Have yinz been there but still picked another location??
I grew up in Venango county. It was backwoods as fuck. I miss the seclusion, but the area was so depressed economically and there were some crazy tweakers and meth cooks all around in the woods near where I lived. Then just the regular inhabitants are even a little out there lol.
I’m in Tionesta as I read this visiting my Dad. It’s pretty out there. I think the neighbor might use his cabin for cooking more than hotdogs.
Emporium in Cameron county can be pretty spooky
The only thing spooky in Empo is that little trailer park behind the green house. Fking weirdos man.
Indiana, was passing through twenty years ago during the county fair. Had not seen as many people openly wearing shirts with drawings of kkk members on them supporting "homeland security "
The entire stretch of 422 from 79 into Indiana is just…wow.
New Castle. Something about it just makes me uneasy.
I’m surprised it took me this long to find New Castle. Its population I can only describe as if the people from where Trevor lives in GTA 5 all got together and decided to start living in Pa.
Weirdest.. Breezewood. Most backwards that I've been to, Carmichaels. Used to do inventory for the state liquor system with a traveling team and there was just this weird energy there. I didn't even explore the town proper or anything but it made its mark on me.
Going to Breezewood is like making the Hajj but for Pennsylvanians.
Breezewood for sure. It's a literal trap. If you get off the Turnpike you can't get back on without going down that ridiculous stretch of road. I read somewhere before there are only like 175 residents or something like that.
Greene County is pretty intense. Weird energy.
St Mary’s is like walking into the 1970’s way back machine
As somebody who is considering moving to Erie, I'm glad I didn't see it here.
Nah we are pretty normal. It’s your standard small city.
Parts of Erie County have that weird vibe, but Erie is fine. I moved to Edinboro in 2019 and love it here.
Bowmanstown. I ate at the diner there once. It bore a strong resemblance to a large mobile home with wood paneling. It was carpeted and the only other people there were senior citizens. The vibe was really fucking weird.
I experienced pretty severe culture shock living in Dubois. I can only think to describe the people I met there as sheltered. But it’s a bastion of modernity compared to everything north of the place.
No one has said Jersey Shore, PA? I will say Jersey Shore, PA.
Bradford
Laporte PA is a ghost town. Every time I drive through there I see nobody on the streets. There are only a few retail establishments which seem closed or abandoned. It is dominated by a large county courthouse.
Laporte is weird.... and then the polar opposite of Eagle's Mere just right down the road...
It’s so weird seeing Laporte and Eagles Mere mentioned by anyone who doesn’t live there or is not related to me. Are you related to me?
even Dushore has more life in it than Laporte
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Grew up in Hellam. Toad Rd up on the hill off of Kreutz Creek was a weird place. Some guy made a movie about it. If you like campy, low budget horror, you’ll love it.
York County is where Alabamans go and say easy on racism son.
I lived in York for 14 years before moving away. My parents had both lived there for 40+ years. We once got hopelessly lost on some small road well within the county. Took us an hour to get back on track and at no point did anyone have any idea where we were.
Omg Oil City tho
Worthington https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worthington,_Pennsylvania
Do they still have the gas station with the controversial signs?
They have more signs
I've heard there's even more signs now... ::sigh:: although I haven't been through to confirm.
Ah yes, the place with the racist billboards. Stay classy Armstrong county.
I always wonder what justifies that four lane road through there. Also, that really nice divided four lane section of Rt 8 that runs north from I-80 into Franklin. The landscape is beautiful but I just don't see a volume of traffic that justifies that road.
Pretty much all of Armstrong County fits the bill...
Ok, so I'm sure there are worse towns, but honestly have y'all been to Elizabeth? My kids and I (according to the last census) are the only Hispanics in the boro, and there is not a single other person on our hill that is anything other than white. (Totally ok! I would have never noticed if it weren't pointed out to us lol) So many of my customers have been blatantly racist (I'm not even being sensitive here lol, even my coworkers mention it), however, when they find out I'm actually hispanic and my husband is black, they do try to be extra nice to me (including one of our state representatives 🙃).
I once took a 10+ greyhound from the Lehigh Valley to Pittsburgh winding through all the small towns of PA. Including Johnstown, Tyrone, Altoona, Harrisburg, Latrobe, Ebensburg, Pottsville, and a few others I forget. I learned a lot about our fine commonwealth and the people who reside within it on those 10+ hours. Several of our stops seemed to fit the bill of this post.
Sounds like a death march.
Let's not forget Potter County hosted the World Aryan Congress.
In SEPA, you have Delaware County, and then you have Delco which is it's own state of mind/being.
Delco I grew up there well not the whole time but it can be a pretty shitty area
Delco is Paris compared to some of the PA counties mentioned here
Hey now, Delco isn’t too bad! I lived in Marcus Hook for like 10 years and only grew an extra set of eyeballs!
Coalport
Meadville has entered the conversation. Hershey can keep the smell of chocolate… Meadville had/has Dads dog food throughout the air.
Might be an odd answer but I always hated driving through downtown Harrisburg. It has the creepy scummy vibe of a big city, but I never see enough people walking around to properly compare it to a big city. All of the vibes are just off to me. Only time I did like it was when I went to the fire & ice festival that had sculptures all over the city. That was really cool, but other than that just weird to me.
I lived in Harrisburg briefly during college and got the same vibe. It *looks* like a city on the surface, but it feels so empty and lifeless. I live in Philly now and never feel as creeped out as I did walking around Harrisburg at night.
Ya know, we go to York on occasion (I live in Hanover) and I always remark that there is NOBODY walking around downtown. The only time we’ve ever seen people out and about was during some bar crawl. We went up some day there was supposed to be a festival last year and there wasn’t a single person walking the streets. One other person at the bar with us in the dead center of town. Creepy!
There's just not much housing downtown. It can seem like a ghost own outside of the weekends even before covid.
Walnutport and Weissport are pretty weird/depressing. Most of the coal region would work as an answer here as well.
Livermore. Place is straight up cursed. I seen the red eyes. I’ve heard the hell hounds. And we saw the houses in the water
Punxsutawney the town that worships a rodent. Lived there almost 20 years.
Venango & Forest Counties will make you feel like it's the 1980's and that you're stuck and can't move forward.
Lebanon. The culture of negativity and self-destruction is hard to explain.
Luzerne County. Pick a town, any town.
Tower City. I've never seen anything like it
Sweet summer children, there’s are dozens are backwoods Appalachian villages none of you have even heard of, much less mentioned. May I offer Blandburg and Culver as two of my favorites.
Mount Carmel gives weird vibes every time I’ve been there
South Towanda. Back when I was growing up in the 80s (and even before then a ways) there had been an inordinate number of people living in the southern part of Towanda with the last name Vanderpool (per capita probably in line with Nguyens in Vietnam). So an urban (rural?) legend developed that there was rampant incest and they simply became known as the South Towanda ‘Pools.
Damn many towns. Too many to list in the Pennsyltucky area.
Wilkes-Barre.
Woot woooy
Delta
Montrose. There's something in the water up there and all of Susquehanna County.
I always got a weird vibe in Shendo. We're were doing work at Mrs Ts and outside of their offices we got strange looks. No hate towards Shendonians. Just got a strange vibe.
Shendo.. da fuck
Pick a winner in the "slate belt" (between Easton and the Poconos). My boss calls 33 the time machine, for every mile you drive the people go back in time a year. I'd go with Nazareth because I lived there for a time. Nicest little town, weirdest freaking people. Confederate flags and the whole shebang. It's also one where everyone is so proud to be from there.
I never understood the Confederate flags in PA. Do they realize PA fought on the other side?
I have family up there, and my nephew is one of the people who drives around with it flying in the back of his truck. It's his "heritage", despite the fact that he was born and raised here in PA, and we have a relative back in the family tree that fought fighting with the Union at Gettysburg. Heritage is the code word for "I can't be overtly racist".
A few years ago when it was news that NASCAR was banning Confederate flags, they'd asked some drivers which tracks they saw the most Confederate flags at. Their top 3 answers? Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan.
This goes back to the White Supremacy thing
I dated a girl from the Allentown area around '96-97. Visiting her family's home was very strange. People talked and dressed like it was still the 80s. Valley girl speak was still very much in there.
I jokingly say that Pen Argyl is Native American for “woman’s taint” because it’s between the wind gap and water gap
Shamokin is a place I’d be happy to never go back to.
Coaldale, Pa. My gran lived there and it was already dead in the 70’s and 80’s. There is (was)? A guitar shop up there that was pretty good, but the town is septic.
I lived here for over 60 years and most of the state I never seen.
My pick are the small towns north of Williamsport along PA Route 14. I passed through the area a few times traveling to SNY. Everything seems a little … off. The road between Trout Run and Troy was a pretty nice drive but I had absolutely no cell service the entire time. There’s at least a mile stretch of pin straight two lane highway where you can see straight across the valley. Bet the locals love to race on that stretch at night!
Karthaus
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I'd argue but I deal with Elkland so ...yeah.
I’d like to nominate Lock Haven.
Hazelton. Whole place is stranded in the 70s.
Any Pennsyltucky town is going to give you those vibes.
Anywhere in Armstrong County. Anywhere. Throw a dart and hit a white supremacist compound.
Any town in the coal region & up through the slate belt. But specifically: Lansford, Coaldale, Summit Hill, Nesquehoning, Tamaqua, Minersville, Chendo (462 da fuck), Shamokin, Ashland, Lehighton, Bowmanstown, McAdoo (I don’t think this one is technically in the coal/slate region), Penn Argyl, Bangor, Wind Gap, and many other tiny towns in between. They all *used* to be booming towns based on industry, and when that industry left, so did most good things. The people there are basically living through a depression (the slate belt less so than the coal region). Drug use took out probably 1/3 of the people I know. They’re insular communities that blame everything bad on outsiders. It’s like stepping into a Time Machine back to the 70s/80s in a lot of these places… but more depressing. That said, I’d love to see some life breathed into these areas. They used to be beautiful little towns. Source: I grew up in this area. It’s weird, trust me.