Archbishop Prendergast High School

Pennsylvania · United States · Church

The Drexel estate became an orphanage before it became a school. Two original bedroom corridors survive on the second floor, and one rocking horse in them.

The building at Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania was the Drexel estate before it was an orphanage, and an orphanage before it was a school.

Two corridors of the original bedrooms survive on the second floor and were never converted into classrooms. They are on the same floor as the chapel.

Students describe furniture moving in those rooms. One object is singled out in every account: an old rocking horse, which is said to move on its own whenever the room is occupied for more than a short time.

The explanation offered locally involves an orphan murdered by another orphan, and the hostile atmosphere in that room is attributed to it. No such case appears in any record we have been able to check, and it should be treated as school tradition rather than as history.

What is documented is that children with no families lived in those two corridors, in bedrooms that are still standing while the rest of the building was rebuilt around them. That much needs no legend attached to it.

FAQ

Where is Archbishop Prendergast High School located?

Archbishop Prendergast High School is in Pennsylvania, United States.

Image: A.Classical-Futurist / CC BY 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons