On Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19, you’ll have the opportunity to get some physical activity on a walk outdoors for a tour to see some familiar sites of Pottstown, but with a spooky twist.
Pottstown FARM is hosting History & Haunts, its fourth annual tour of Pottstown’s history and frights. The event raises funds to benefit the operation and mission of the regional farm and artisan market, which runs every other Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the last market day this year taking place on Oct. 26.
The market offers fresh produce, specialty foods, and unique crafts. The $20 fee for the haunted tour helps keep the market’s beneficial programs active.
“It all goes back to the community,” said Sheila Dugan, the founder of Pottstown FARM. “It helps support the Two Bite Club, Operation Backpack, and Snap Incentives.”
Get you in the Halloween spirit
Their 45-minute History & Haunts Tour is certain to get you in the Halloween spirit, and includes eight stops.
“It’s informative in that you learn a lot of history about the old buildings, the architecture and the stories,” said Dugan, who serves as one of the tour guides.
One building on High Street where Dugan used to have an office is on the tour due to its storied past.
“We had a medium go through and talk about a gentleman who lost a small child and would stay in the office really late to play poker and smoke cigars to keep from going home,” she said. “I would smell the scent of cigar smoke all the time, so when we learned this history, my office mate almost dropped over.”
local historians
Aside from mediums, local historians are the source of some other Pottstown history and ghostly past she’ll be sharing during the tour that includes a visit to the Potts Burial Ground.
Included in the price of a ticket, the tour concludes with a ‘Toast with the Ghosts’, along with small bites, which take place at the Pottstown Elks Lodge. attendees get to keep their token shot glass after the toast as a memento of the tour.
Be sure to mark Oct. 26 on your calendar as Pottstown FARMS’s last market day for the season where the theme will be Halloween.
“We have games and contests and different things to enjoy”, Dugan said. “We have more farmers than ever before and it not only supports small businesses but is an opportunity for kids to dress up and play games and celebrate the season.”
History & Haunts tour information
If you love Pottstown’s history and love to be a little spooked, then this tour is for you.
TIME: Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
TICKETS: Tickets, $20 each, and are non-refundable. The tour is rain or shine (unless severe thunderstorms). To pre-purchase tickets visit, www.pottstownfarm.org. Tickets can be purchased the day of if you arrive 15 minutes prior to the start time.
Tours begin promptly at the start time. Meet at the clock tower at Charlotte and High streets to sign in. The tour ends at the Elks with light bites and a toast to the spirits of Pottstown. This walking tour lasts about 45 minutes. All ages are welcome but it is recommended for middle school and older. There is a lot of history discussed and ghost stories as well, but they are not overly scary. it’s an opportunity to get outdoors and get in the spirit of Halloween while learning about the history of Pottstown.
