The night Churchtown’s pigs went ghostly

Nestled within Lancaster County, a region famed for its quaint and curiously named communities, lies Churchtown. While many visitors might assume its name derives from the myriad of churches dotting its landscape—seven within just a two-mile radius—the true origin is far more grounded and a touch more historical.

The story begins with William Penn, who granted land in what would become eastern Lancaster County specifically for church constructions. However, the generous land allocation exceeded what was needed to build these places of worship. The surplus land was then sold or leased to local farmers, who affectionately named their new home after their landlord—the church. This charming anecdote reveals how deeply intertwined the town’s identity is with its ecclesiastical roots.

Churchtown’s peculiarities don’t end with its name. An eerie layer to this town lingers in the form of local ghost stories, with the most notable one dating back to the 1890s. The tale involves two friends returning home near Edwards Schoolhouse one night when they encountered a mysterious figure in a ditch. Despite their efforts to scare it away with a barrage of stones, the creature persisted.

Curious and slightly unnerved, one of the friends speculated it might be a shoat—a young pig—from nearby Ad Yohn’s farm. After a quick check confirmed that all of Ad’s pigs were accounted for, the friends intensified their stone-throwing, determined to rid themselves of this eerie presence. As the creature finally moved onto the road, one of the men delivered a swift kick, only to watch in disbelief as the apparition vanished right before their eyes. Click here to read the original Sunday, October 29, 1939 article titled “Pig Made Ghost of Itself There.”

Churchtown, PA

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Resources

• Sunday News Sun, Oct 29, 1939 ·Page 15