LVGHS/PRSNA Investigation of the Brinton Lodge

Location: Brinton Lodge, Rt 724, Douglassville, PA

Date: Saturday night, June 8, 2002 - 10:00pm to 1:30am

Investigators present: Hillary M., Paul M., Shonda A., Randy G., and Cheryl S.

Equipment: RCA digital voice recorder, Olympus C-3000 digital camera, Night Owl night vision scope, Sony Hi8 digital video camera with Nightshot, Pentax PC-550 35mm camera, Extech EMF meter

History: The original structure, which was built in the early 1700s, was a one-room house which was a stop on the Schuylkill River Canal System. The property was eventually bought by the Whitman family, who added the building on front and used it as a summer home. The estate stayed in the Whitman family for many years. In the 1920s, it was purchased by Caleb Brinton, who operated the buildings and grounds as a gentleman's club. In 1972, hurricane Agnes left the virtual destruction of the property in its wake. Having no flood insurance, Mr. Brinton did not attempt to re-open the place. It was left in a state of disrepair until after his death, when the Covatta family purchased the property from his estate in 1980. They renovated the entire property, and added more rooms and buildings to the back, eventually opening it as a restaurant and bar. Today, the restaurant is known not only for its great food, but also for it's welcoming atmosphere.

There are at least five spirits who are believed to inhabit this property. A psychic visited the Brinton Lodge in the early 1980s, and not only confirmed this, but also claimed to send one of the entities "into the light". Although the owner is not sure whether or not this actually happened, she did state that they have heard nothing about that particular entity from other psychic groups since.
The first spirit is referred to as "Dapper Dan". Dapper Dan usually makes his presence known by pinching the lady guests and blowing in the ear of female employees. His apparition has been seen several times, usually in the second floor meeting room, or the hallway leading to that room. The next spirit is believed to be that of Caleb Brinton, as he has been described as a somewhat "roly-poly" man with wearing a derby hat. Many female guests have seen him tip his hat at them as they pass by. The third spirit is believed to be an older woman who is very protective of the stairwell leading up to the third-floor private living quarters. The fourth entity is known as "the lady in white". She has frequently been seen in the mirror hanging in the second floor ladies room. She has also been seen walking down the stairs in what looks like a wedding gown. The fifth entity is thought to be a young girl, who was mentally challenged, who was kept in a small corner bedroom on the third floor. This is the entity who may have been helped along to the next realm.

Investigation: We arrived at the Brinton Lodge just after 10pm. We went straight up to the second floor, which is where the majority of the paranormal activity seems to take place. Paul, Shonda, Randy, and Cheryl began mapping, taking control pictures and control EMF readings while I interviewed the owner of the lodge.
At 10:30pm, we set up our three NightShot video cameras at different spots around the second floor. At 10:50pm, the five of us moved into a small corner room towards the front of the building, and began an EVP session. After about twenty minutes, we were getting no results, so we decided to try a different approach. Each of us went into a different room with either a digital camera or NightShot camcorder, to see if we could determine which rooms were the most active. We also hoped that the spirits would be more likely to interact with us one-on-one. I stayed in the small corner room with the video camera, Paul went to the small dining room, Cheryl went into the meeting room, Randy went into the large dining room, and Shonda sat in the stairway to the third floor.
While I sat in the small corner room, watching through my video camera, I began speaking softly to whoever may have been with me. I did watch a single orb pass in front of my camera at least twice. A half hour later, I learned that I was the only one that had any luck. No one else had gotten as much as a single orb in the rooms in which they were sitting.
From there, we decided to switch to go into the small meeting room in which Dapper Dan likes to make his presence known. The five of us spread out inside the room, and attempted to obtain an EVP for about half an hour. We did get a few orb shots at this time, but no EVPs.
By this time, we decided that we all needed a break, so we set up our video cameras, and went downstairs to get some soft drinks. We weren't down there for more than a couple of minutes before a man approached us and asked if we were getting anything. We told him "not much so far". He then explained that he lived on the third floor, and that there is a really creepy room up there, the one in which the little girl was kept so many years ago. He asked if we would like to check it out. Knowing that the third floor was a private residence, and therefore off limits, we jumped at the chance. The man was nice enough to give us his key and directions to the small bedroom. We were all very excited at this opportunity.
We climbed the stairs to the third floor, and the five of us crowded into the small room. I walked over to the far side of the room, paused for a minute or so to allow any dust to settle, and began taking pictures. There, in one of the very first pictures that I took in that room, I got what I had been hoping for! A bright moving orb on the ceiling! We stayed in the room for about 20 minutes, and got a couple of good stationary orb shots, but that was about it. We returned the key to the gentlemen, thanked him, and returned to the second floor.
By now it was almost 1:00am, so we decided to try the small dining room in the front corner one last time. During our twenty-minute recording session, I captured another moving orb in front of the fireplace, and may have gotten a recording of someone whistling. This recording is still being reviewed. By about 1:20am, we decided it was time to wrap things up. The video from that night is still being reviewed.

Conclusion: Even though the night of our investigation seemed to be a slow night, I do still believe that we collected evidence of some paranormal activity at the Brinton Lodge. Between the moving orbs on video and still camera, the moving orb shot we got on the second floor landing during our initial visit to the Lodge, and the many sighting of apparitions on the property, I would say that this is definitely a very active sight. We would like to continue our research at the Brinton Lodge at a later date.

Special thanks to Sandy Covatta for her hospitality and for allowing us to investigate the Brinton Lodge. Special thinks also to the man who lives on the third floor for allowing us investigate the small bedroom in his apartment.