Pictured above, Getters Island in the Delaware River at Easton was named after Charles Getter, a murderer who was hanged on it in front of thousands in October 1833. In 2020, Lehigh Valley haunted historian Ellen Flynn shared his sorrowful tale and many others with our No Rain Date podcast listeners.
If Halloween is your favorite holiday and haunted history is your thing, you won’t want to miss a spooky event a local museum will be hosting this fall.
The Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society has announced that its Eerie Easton walking tours will be offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 23 through Oct. 30.
Walking tour guests will travel back in time to explore the dark history of Easton, which is filled with forgotten chapters involving murder and mayhem.
Attendees will begin the tour by meeting their cloaked guide at the Sigal Museum at 342 Northampton Street, before being “led through the streets of downtown, historic Easton by lantern light,” a news release said. “They will hear stories about true crimes and actual historic events that took place in the community.”
Among the 10 historic stories that will be shared are tales about:
- Hexenkopf Rock and the witches who were rumored to use its power to fuel their spells
- Premonitions a local man had about the deadly Alfred Thomas steamboat explosion on the Delaware River.
- The murder of a Prohibition Era mobster.
- Mysterious disappearances and strange coincidences.
New for the 2022 tour will be the story of Charles Cullen, a serial killer who terrorized the Lehigh Valley and whose story is now featured in Netflix’s new release “The Good Nurse.”
“We trust that our Eerie Easton walking tour guests will enjoy getting spooked by the historic stories that actually took place right here in Easton,” said NCHGS Executive Director Megan van Ravenswaay. “Each true story was taken from the records and documents housed in our NCHGS archives.”
Eerie Easton walking tours will be offered at 6 and 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 5 p.m. on Sundays. Tours last approximately one-and-a-half hours.
Tickets are $15 and are free for NCHGS members. For tickets, call 610-253-1222 or visit the Sigal Museum to purchase them online…if you dare.
