Thursday, April 8, 2010

My Country: We ain't 'fraid of no... trees.

A couple of years ago you might remember I started a series of photo posts called "My Country" where I stop and take some pictures of great things around the area in which I live. Sometimes it would be just a beautiful country road, a land mark or building, horses... whatever caught my eye as a defining quality of life in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Today I present a few photographs of the locally famous, "Devil's Road", Cossart Road in Pennsbury Township, Pennsylvania. The road is locally famous for having an evil aura and for certain otherworldly myths and events. I leave it to you to Google up those details you may wish to read further.

It is said that the road and the fabled, near-by "cult house" are so evil, even the trees themselves grow away from them. This was also the site of much of the filming of The Village by Philadelphia area film maker, M. Night Shyamalan. The trees were already like that when I got there, so I know they're not flinching from the awesomeness of my Italian steed.

This excerpt from the delvalparanormal.org website explains a little bit about the road, the trees and the myth of the Cult House.

Though the cult house's exact location is unknown, many claim you can tell when you're close by the trees along Cossart Rd. The house is supposed to be so evil that the tree along the road grow as if they are trying to bend away from the house. The most popular of all the trees along cossart road is the one known by many as the 'Skull' or 'Devil's' tree. This particular tree earned it's nickname because some say the tree resembles a human hand reaching into the ground, while others claim the base of the tree resembles a human skull. It is claimed, though never proven, that years ago police found the remains of an small child in the base of the tree and promptly filled in part of the base with concrete.

The Devil's Tree or The Skull Tree seemed content to let me photograph it without eating my soul or swallowing my bike. I do admit, in person, its appearance is a little unsettling, though less skull-like than the name might suggest. Perhaps that's due to the story about the dead baby... Who knows?

The story goes something like this... The local police found a dead baby that had apparently been sacrificed in a nook in the exposed roots of this tree. After the inconclusive investigation, the police had the tree's exposed roots filled in with concrete so no babies could ever again be sacrificed there, and to help minimize the feeling of evil around the tree. Or maybe it was to help stabilize the roots so the tree wouldn't fall on passing motorists. No one alive knows for sure... (insert obligatory evil laugh here).

Websites and books are dedicated to this and other supposedly paranormal locations around the state and around the country. Check them out; whether you believe in the supernatural or not, a lot of these local legends make for some great reading and, if you can spare the time (and potentially your life or soul!) might be worth a day trip or weekend trip to see for yourself!

Some sites that might be worth viewing...

http://www.delvalparanormal.org/culthouse/culthouse.html
http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm380588.html
http://weirdpa.hellocai.com/home.php

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