Old Jail Museum in Smethport Remains Popular Attraction Along Route 6

Bradford Era — by Fran De Lancey

Known as being haunted with the ghost of convicted murderer Ralph Crossmire, the McKean County Historical Society’s Old Jail in Museum in Smethport remains a popular attraction along Pennsylvania’s 427-mile stretch of U.S. Route 6.

Pursuits Magazine has ranked the OJM the sixth most haunted place in Pennsylvania due to the reported ghost of Crossmire, who was found guilty of killing his mother in November 1892 in Farmers Valley. Crossmire, not yet 30 years old and faced with the death sentence, vowed to return and haunt the building if the hanging was carried out. Despite the threat, the execution proceeded. The machine of death had been set up in the corridor just inside the entrance of the “dungeon” and directly in front of Crossmire’s cell. Read more