Morbid Real Estate: July Edition

110 McAllister St., Hanover

 

This month features some exceptionally morbid homes for sale, from a York County home that was the scene of a Thanksgiving murder-suicide, a Columbia County home where a heartbreaking tragedy occurred, and a Schuylkill County residence formerly occupied by a prostitute who was once the focal point of one of Pennsylvania's greatest unsolved murder mysteries!

110 McAllister Street, Hanover (York County). Price: $174,900

110 McAllister St.

 

With a fenced-in yard and off-street parking, this 3 bedroom home is ideal for a small family looking to set down roots in a town famous as the Snack Food Capital of the World. The kitchen boasts new cabinetry, ideal for holding bags of Utz potato chips, while the enclosed porch features a laundry hookup for unparalleled convenience when it comes time to wash the nacho cheese dip from your undershirt.

 

Based on Zillow's price history (and the abundance of cheap vinyl flooring which has been laid throughout the house), it appears that this quaint home was a pandemic house-flipper special, so you can be assured that no expense was spared in its renovation. But perhaps the flipper in question would've been wise to install window guards, as this is the home where a mentally-deranged husband murdered his wife by throwing her out of a bedroom window in 1940 before taking his own life.

Early on Thanksgiving morning of 1940, 53-year-old Goldie Alverta Bish was attacked by her knife-wielding husband, 55-year-old Cleveland H. Bish, who was known to be mentally unstable. Their teenage daughter, Ruth, attempted to break up the fight, but was stabbed in the process, suffering a severe scalp laceration. 

What happened next is a matter of conjecture, but a next-door neighbor who was awakened by the melee, Henry Heist, looked out his window just in time to see Mrs. Bish plummeting from an upstairs bedroom window. She landed on the sidewalk, fracturing her skull, and died in the hospital from her injuries on December 2. As for Cleveland Bish, the authorities discovered his body in the attic, with the seven-inch blade of a hunting knife buried in his ribs up to its hilt. According to Coroner Zech, his death was instantaneous.

 

241 Peacock Street, Pottsville (Schuylkill County). Price: $104,900

 

241 Peacock St., Pottsville.

Next, we have a 1,242-square foot, 3 bedroom home nestled on a quiet street in the Fishbach neighborhood of Pottsville. Featuring a spacious living room, a second floor laundry, and a new energy-efficient furnace, this old house has just enough modern conveniences to make living in Pottsville bearable. And while this humble home may not harbor any hidden bloodstains on the floor or bones buried in the basement, it did play a small, but interesting, part in one of the greatest unsolved murder mysteries in Coal Region history.

A spacious living room

 

Those who live in Schuylkill County have most likely heard about the Broad Mountain Murder Mystery, in which the charred remains of an unidentified female were found atop Gordon Mountain on Palm Sunday of 1925. The victim, believed to be a prostitute murdered by Louis Moff's mobsters at the infamous Sunset Inn roadhouse, has yet to be identified after a century. However, during the investigation, authorities initially believed that the victim was Annie Richards, a missing, feeble-minded prostitute known locally as "Humpty" Sullivan. Humpty was later found, alive and well, at a saloon in Shamokin. But, at the time of the murders, she lived in a rented apartment at 241 Peacock Street.

 

721 LaSalle Street, Berwick (Columbia County). Price: $124,900

721 LaSalle St., Berwick

 

Nestled in the heart of Berwick, a town famous for its once-mighty high school football team, rampant drug addiction, a burgeoning population of undocumented immigrants, and existing in the shadows of a nuclear powerplant, is this 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a one-car garage and a "manageable yard" (according to the seller), which, in real estate lingo, simply means a yard too small for a barbecue grill.

Interesting place for a bathroom sink.

 

Despite the fact that this home hasn't seen a renovation since George Curry was in diapers, the seller insists that, with a little elbow grease, this property can be a great value. Quite a stretch, considering that there's not enough elbows in China to polish this wood-panel-encrusted turd. According to Zillow, this home was last sold a little over a year ago for $12k less than what it's being offered for today. Apparently, unlike Beanie Babies, worn and stained 1960s-era carpeting has only increased in value.

 

But, on the other hand, if you've ever found the "elderly, chainsmoking, bingo-bingeing Engelbert Humperdinck fan" aesthetic to be charming, then this home just might be right be up your alley. Just don't go down that alley at night, or you may get caught up in a drug deal.

Engelbert Humperdinck, for all you kiddos.

 

This property also holds the distinction of being the home of the ill-fated Durso family, who lived here in the 1930s. On October 7, 1937, four-year-old Loretta Lucabelle Durso was playing near the kitchen stove when her dress ignited, engulfing the little girl in flames. Although she was rushed to the Berwick hospital, she succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.

 

Sadly, the Durso family had scarcely recovered from the death of another child when this heartbreaking tragedy occurred; just two years earlier, their nine-year-old son Rudolph was instantly killed when he rode his bicycle into a train at the Oak and Front Street crossing.