Skull tells no tale

MONONGAHELA, Pa. – Imagine finding an adult human skull stuffed in a box when you’re packing up and moving to a new home. Well members of a historical society in Southwestern Pennsylvania found one covered with a coat of shellac, and missing the lower jaw, while they were moving to a new headquarters. No problem. There was a substitute jawbone tucked away in the same box.

The Monongahela Area Historical Society has no information concerning the story behind the head bones. It’s possible a Knights of Columbus chapter once owned them as a creepy emblem of man’s humanity, the society president acknowledged.

“We don’t know where it’s from,” said Sue Bowers, society president.

The city is the oldest in the Mon Valley, dating to the time of the American Revolution, one with many “skeletons in its closet.” And the historical society does keep a list of titillating ghost stories that are retold during walking tours to haunted houses at the end of each October.

“At Halloween, I’ll put him out and say, ‘Velllllcome,’” Bowers said, rolling her eyes in a slow sinister sort of way in the direction of the skull. “People need to know their roots,” she said.

The new museum at 230 W. Main St. is expected to open in three weeks, and have limited hours. Stay posted for additional details, and at least one more story about a weird object in this collection.