Somewhere in the heart of Lancaster County’s Amish Country, there was once a crossroads people feared after dark. The place was a small clearing surrounded by dense woods. Four roads cut through the trees, leading north, south, east, and west. Nearby stood a public house that served more as a refuge for weary or lost travelers than as a destination for drinking.
By daylight, it may have appeared no different from countless other rural intersections. But once night fell, the crossroads were said to belong to ghosts.
The tale first appeared as “The Haunted Cross-Roads” in the July 7, 1845 edition of Gettysburg’s Republican Compiler. More than a century later, it was revived in The Pennsylvania Dutchman under the title “A Black Calf’s Head on the Haunted Crossroads.”
Travelers told of encountering a large white dog lurking near the intersection. Others claimed to have seen a massive black bull with glaring eyes and enormous horns pointing straight upward. Still others described a gaunt man without a head.
At the dead hour of midnight, one of these apparitions might pass repeatedly before a traveler’s terrified eyes, becoming more horrifying with each appearance. Before long, nearly everyone in the neighborhood feared the place after dark.
Yet no one was more frightened by its reputation than Peter Dusal, a simple and good-hearted local man.
Peter’s ordeal began late one Sunday afternoon when he visited the home of an acquaintance named Jacob Shorp, who lived several miles away.
He remained far longer than expected, charmed by the rosy cheeks, winning smiles, and lively conversation of Shorp’s daughters. By the time Peter finally left, it was two o’clock in the morning.
At first, he gave no thought to the haunted crossroads standing between him and home. He walked quickly through the night, thinking with ecstatic delight about the young woman who had so completely captured his attention.
Then the tavern came into view. The sight immediately drove every pleasant thought from his mind. Peter remembered the crossroads and the apparitions said to haunt it.
He stopped in the road and stared ahead. For a moment, he considered turning around and returning to Jacob Shorp’s house to ask for lodging. But arriving again at such an hour might have appeared improper. Worse, someone might accuse him of cowardice.
Peter decided to continue, whatever the risk.
Slowly and quietly, he crept toward the tavern. When he reached the building, he stopped and looked across the road toward the tree where the tavern’s signboard had been nailed.
Beside the tree stood something enormous and misshapen. In the darkness, it resembled a large white calf with a black head.
Peter’s fright was immediate. His legs nearly failed him, and he threw himself against the side of the tavern for support, his mouth hanging open and his arms raised in terror.
What could the thing be? It appeared alive. Its hideous form convinced Peter that he had finally encountered one of the crossroads’ ghosts.
For a moment, he nearly surrendered himself to whatever fate awaited him. Then he looked down the road and saw that the way home was clear. Summoning what courage remained, Peter pushed himself away from the building and ran. He did not stop until he reached home.
Peter rushed upstairs and awakened two fellow workmen named John and Jonas.
“Oh, John and Jonas,” he exclaimed, struggling to catch his breath, “how tired I am. How I have been scared!”
The men sprang from bed, dressed, and lit a lamp. Peter stood before them as pale as a corpse.
After recovering enough to speak, he explained how he had left Jacob Shorp’s house late, forgotten about the haunted crossroads, and remembered its terrible reputation only after the tavern came into sight. Then he described the creature.
“It was a large white thing, ugly in shape, with a black calf’s head,” Peter told them. “When I looked, it seemed to move and fix its ugly black eyes on me.”
He shuddered at the memory.
“Oh, the terror of that moment! I wouldn’t pass that place again at night for millions of dollars.”
John and Jonas listened solemnly. The three men stood silently for some time, contemplating the horrors that might be waiting at the crossroads. At last, John proposed an investigation.
He and Jonas would awaken two men working for a nearby farmer named Miller. Together, the four of them would return to the crossroads and determine whether Peter had truly seen a ghost.
Peter was invited to join them.
“No, no,” he quickly replied.
He warned them that after seeing the creature for themselves, they would have no desire to visit the place again either.
John and Jonas went to Miller’s house, awakened the two workmen, and persuaded them to come along.
The four men traveled quickly at first. As they drew nearer to the haunted crossroads, however, their pace slowed. When they reached the tavern, they looked across the road and saw the same creature Peter had described.
Their first impulse was to turn and run. But they remembered why they had come. Moving cautiously, they crept closer.
John, the bravest of the group, took the lead. Step by step, he approached the apparition until he stood within a few feet of it. He reached out his hand and examined the creature carefully.
The terrible ghost was nothing more than a pile of stones. Most of the rocks were pale and flinty, while darker pieces of limestone projected from the top. Viewed from a distance in the darkness, the contrasting stones created the appearance of a white body topped by a black calf’s head.
A farmer whose property extended to the crossroads had piled the stones there the previous day, never imagining that they would nearly frighten poor Peter out of his senses.
Once Peter learned the truth, his fear of the haunted crossroads apparently disappeared. He continued visiting Jacob Shorp’s daughter without being disturbed by white dogs, black bulls, headless men, or misshapen calves. In time, his courtship ended in a joyful marriage.
Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure
Read more stories like this in Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of Adventure. The book takes readers on a journey through Lancaster County’s haunted history, eerie legends, and hidden treasures. From ghostly apparitions to outlaw loot, these 64 true local stories blend real history with gripping folklore.
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Uncharted Lancaster’s Ghosts, Monsters, and Tales of AdventurePrice range: $21.99 through $26.99
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William Wagner’s 1821 Map of Lancaster CountyPrice range: $24.99 through $44.99
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