On this chilling AND heart-warming edition of After Hours AM/America’s Most Haunted Radio with hosts Joel Sturgis and Eric Olsen — we delve into the fascinating history and mad hauntings of Linesville, PA’s KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL, one of America’ Most Haunted, with owner and gracious hostess Peg iHeart Radio logoKnickerbocker. Peg will join us in hour2. In hour1, Joel and Eric will penetrate the week’s paranormal news in a manner both informative and entertaining.
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Exactly halfway between New York City and Chicago, in the sleepy northwestern Pennsylvania town of Linesville, sits a beautifully refurbished and decorated three-story brick landmark, the Knickerbocker Hotel, which happens to be bursting at the seams with spirits. Those spirits — while sometimes moody, mischievous, even cranky — often seem as willing to entertain guests as were the original, living innkeepers during the building’s heyday a century and more ago.
The original proprietors, Milo and Clara Arnold, built the establishment, originally called Arnold House, on land Mrs. Arnold inherited from her second husband (Milo was number three). On January 12, 1882 they held a gala ball to open this hotel, restaurant, entertainment lounge, and family residence. The 20-room building has weathered the winds of change and stands proud and strong on its original foundation, with the past and present, the seen and unseen, inextricably intertwined.
Peg Knickerbocker
Current owners, Peg and Myrle Knickerbocker, felt a calling to restore and decorate this gem as a tribute to the people, history, and style of its Gilded Age origins and have done so since they assumed full control of the property in 2005. Peg Knickerbocker changes the theme and décor of each room on a regular basis to keep visitors and ghosts on their toes. Every room is a moment caught in time.
Among the most prominent ghosts of the Knickerbocker Hotel are founding matriarch Clara Arnold, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 37 just three years after the Arnold House opened; at least one small child variously seen in the basement and heard with stunning clarity on video; a roaming shadow figure caught on infrared video on the third floor hallway and stairs; and a remarkably tangible former feline, seen, heard, and captured on video in the second floor “Cat Room.”
Knickerbocker Hotel ghost cat
Countless paranormal teams have reported and documented activity while investigating here, and the Knickerbockers have opened their doors to television shows including A&E’s Paranormal State and Bio’s My Ghost Story. Brian Cano, of Destination America’s Haunted Collector fame, filmed a documentary here with his home team SCARED!
The Knickerbocker can be compared to a storybook, with each of its rooms representing a chapter, each chapter with its own unique characters. Each character has a common denominator, a connection to the building itself. When you enter the Knickerbocker you become part of the story and the characters may reveal themselves in fascinating and sometimes frightening ways.
Clara Arnold, for whom the hotel was a short-lived dream, was very likely a Spiritualist, someone who adamantly believed in spirit communication through a living agent, embracing it as religious dogma. Those who knew Clara considered her a staunch supporter of the movement fomenting in nearby Cassadaga, New York, at that time. Her dying words, “I am only going to sleep,” are very much in the Spiritualist tradition. Perhaps her belief, and perhaps participation, in the fascinating world of afterlife communication created a foundation for the events that continue to unfold long after she has left this earthly plane.
Knickerbocker Hotel kids room doll
Peg and Myrle Knickerbocker have become much more than just property owners, they have taken on the responsibility of bein(continued)