Legend of the Haunted Barn

Legend has it that in the mid-1800's, a six-year old boy by the name of Philip Sciple lived with his mother and father in a secluded cabin and labored on a small farm on what is now known as the East End of Charleston, West Virginia. It is said that Philip had a bad habit of sleep walking, and on one fateful night his parents, Joshua and Margaret were startled awake by their son’s blood curdling screams from the barn. Upon his parents entering the barn, Philip’s screams abruptly ended and the farm animals within were all found dead with no evidence as to why. After many days of searching, one of Philip’s socks was found under a pile of hay. To this day he was never found.

In 1915, the Coca-Cola Company began operations of a bottling plant, which included construction of several buildings and warehouses. One particular warehouse was erected on the corner of Beauregard and Lewis Streets. Countless tales were told by Coca-Cola night shift workers of this particular warehouse of a child’s cries for help, as well as apparitions of the young boy, but no one dared work the night shift by oneself for fear of the ghostly child. Even after the closing of the plant, other businesses that leased this same warehouse had the same shocking scares. Eventually, the warehouse lay empty for numerous years because of the horrific tales.

Until 2012, a group of businessmen and volunteers who shared the same love and passion for haunted houses made their dream a reality and moved into this same warehouse where Philip Sciple disappeared so long ago in the exact place where the barn was located. They honored this site by calling it the “Haunted Barn”.

During the work on “The Haunted Barn” this group has heard the same cries, seen objects move and things turn up missing to mention but a few peculiarities. Some scared workers quit during the renovation phase while others embraced having Philip around. One owner even went as far as to set up a motion detector camera and caught these images of what he believes to be Philip Sciple below. Nevertheless, most everyone believes it to be a hoax.

Don’t be surprised if you run into Philip Sciple while you tour the “Haunted Barn”. He maybe a ghost, but he’s a child just the same...