Bowmansville’s Haunting Melodies at the Devil’s Race Track

About two miles northwest of Bowmansville in northern Lancaster County, near where the Pennsylvania Turnpike now cuts through Brecknock Township, lies a rugged outcrop once known as the Devil’s Race Track. Unlike the similarly named Devil’s Race Course in Halifax, PA, this eerie spot has its own chilling legend.

Long ago, a beloved local bachelor and fiddler lived near the formation. A humble man, he was known far and wide for his music, playing lively tunes at every hoe-down, barn dance, and Battalion Day gathering within miles. He had immigrated from the old country and was known for his kindness. With a twinkle in his eye and a generous spirit, he earned meager pay for his fiddling, which he saved in a small wooden box, or bexli—a Pennsylvania Dutch word for “little box.” His dream was to one day bring his elderly mother to join him in the New World. What little he earned from his job as a farmhand was spent supporting his church, buying essential provisions, and treating neighborhood children to candy.

But rumors soon spread that the fiddler had amassed a tidy sum in his bexli.

One late October night in the early 1800s, after the first big frolic of the season, the fiddler made his way home with his precious violin. It was nearing midnight, and the chill of autumn lay thick in the air when he was ambushed by a band of robbers who had traveled from Philadelphia. They beat him mercilessly, searching his home and ultimately setting it ablaze in a desperate bid to find his hidden treasure. Yet, despite their brutal efforts, the robbers never found the fiddler’s bexli.

Since that tragic night, locals say, the spirit of the old fiddler lingers on. Every year on October 23, at the stroke of midnight, sweet, mournful violin music drifts through the air at the Devil’s Race Track. Often, the melody is drowned out by the rush of cars on the Turnpike, but if there’s a rare lull in the traffic, you just might hear it. They say the music will continue until a kind soul discovers the hidden bexli and fulfills the fiddler’s last wish. Only then, it’s said, will his restless spirit finally find peace.

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Read more stories like this in Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure book. This 283-page book is packed with 64 unforgettable stories, all set right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

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