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Katy’s Church

Located along Katy’s Church Road in Millvale, PA, this small, decaying church atop a hill has quite the haunting story. There is a local legend revolving around a young, pregnant bride-to-be, Katy Vandine, who was hung from a tree in the cemetery behind what was Emmanuel Lutheran Church, now known as Katy’s Church. In some legends, she hangs herself, and in others, she is hanged for being a witch. Either way, her spirit still haunts the church and graveyard today. Here is a small summary of the most popular legends about Katy Vandine:

Katy was perhaps a young woman who became pregnant out of wedlock. Shunned and ridiculed by the local community, she took her own life rather than live in torment. She may also have been the bride or bride-to-be of a soldier who was killed in the war. She hanged herself because she could not deal with the grief. 

Other legends say that Katy was the mistress of a local, wealthy married man. She became pregnant with his child, and rather than deal with it, the man used his position of power in the community to accuse Katy of witchcraft. The locals hunted her down and dragged her from her bed one night, and they hanged her without a proper trial. One thing all the legends about Katy have in common is that she was hanged from a tree within the cemetery of the church. Her actual grave sits right next to the tree today. 

These legends are of course unsupported by any record, but it’s clear that something paranormal is going on in this little church. Locals have reported seeing blood drip from the windows of the church, and that a noose can be seen hanging in the tree by Katy’s grave. An urban legend attached to the tale states that if you stand on Katy’s grave under a harvest moon and knock on the tree, her ghost will appear in white and walk down the hill toward you. Other reports include sightings of her apparition walking on the road, in the church, in the cemetery, or on the hill somewhere. Strange lights, a voice calling out you name in dead silence, and unexplained car troubles are also common reports.

Another, separate legend states that there is a bottomless pit on the church property. If you move the boulder that lies on top of it and drop a coin or pebble in, you will never hear it land.