Anna Baker's Haunted Wedding Dress

Born in 1836, Anna Baker was the third child of prominent iron master Elias Baker who along with his wife Hetty owned the Allegheny iron furnace in Altoona Pennsylvania. Shortly after moving to Altoona from Lancaster the Bakers built what is known to locals as Baker Mansion.

The mansion in it's present day form is home to the Blair County Historical Society. The Historical Society occupies the top floor of the mansion while the remainder of the building is a museum stocked full of antiques from the age of the Bakers that is open daily for public tours. Some of the antiquities that can be found in the museum include the original table that President Lincoln used at Altoona in 1864 for the War Governor's convention and a wedding dress that once belonged to Anna Baker that some say, she still occupies.

When Anna Baker was in her twenties she was engaged to a man who worked for her father. The man was a laborer and in Baker's opinion not good enough for his daughter. Anna secretly was engaged to the man and was going to run away and marry him, she had even bought her wedding dress. Unfortunately Baker found out the lovers plan and had the man fired and sent away as a begger.

Anna never married and died in 1914 as an old maid. The mansion was closed upon her death and not until the Historical Society bought the property did anyone know of her plight.

The historical society found Anna's dress and placed it in a glass case on the second floor. Shortly after the dress was encased, visitors reported seeing it move and and one point reported seeing it dancing.

The historical society tried to downplay the idea that the dress could be haunted and even installed a closed circuit camera to prove it. Unfortunately, for the museum the cameras showed their worst nightmare. The dress danced when no one was near it.

Not only does the dress dance but folks visiting the museum have reported seeing things move, cold spots and even a full blown apparition.