Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe ranks #2 among Pennsylvania's most haunted places

With Halloween approaching, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe ranks #2 among Pennsylvania's most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 245 Pennsylvania sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

Saint Vincent Archabbey, Basilica and College ranks #2. Bavarian Benedictine monk Boniface Wimmer founded the monastery in Latrobe in 1846, the oldest Benedictine community in the United States. Six separate published accounts describe activity there. Students and monks say Wimmer returns to the basilica each December around the anniversary of his 1887 death, and a 2018 account in the Saint Vincent Review described "the outline of a large figure" swinging incense on Founders' Day.

A second Saint Vincent tradition traces to the abbey's old gristmill, where campus lore says a monk, Brother Majoules, died in an 1862 gristmill machinery accident; college archivists confirm the accident and caution that such stories "may become somewhat embellished" over generations. Father Thomas Sikora has said fellow monks reported strange, not-fully-explainable encounters there.

Statewide, Baker Mansion in Altoona ranks #1, and Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the state's most famous haunted site, misses the top ten.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:Saint Vincent Archabbey, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, is a working monastery and college; the basilica and grounds are open to visitors free of charge.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/pennsylvania/The fact sheet, with cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/pennsylvania/Photo: Saint Vincent Archabbey, Basilica and College, on the fact sheet.Venue contact: stvincent.eduA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

###