46 South Welles Street
46 South Welles Street has been called a haunted house for years. According to some, as far back as the 1930s, the locals avoided the house because of its ghosts.
The house was built in 1861 for Augustus C. Laning, a well-known business man of Wilkes-Barre. Laning is one of the figures who supposedly haunts the premises. Another likely ghost is that of Katherine Watkins who lived in the house for nearly thirty years and never wanted to leave.
Most of the interesting history of the house started when Walker Bennett bought the property in 1975. The family only stayed for three years, and the bank had to foreclose on the property. Bennett’s family moved out suddenly in 1978, leaving many valuables possessions behind.The following year, Bennett told reporters that he moved because the house was haunted.
In an article appearing in the local paper on Halloween 1979, Bennett related some key events of his family’s stay in the house1 The Times Leader – 10/31/1979:
- Nightly visits from a well-dressed phantom who disappeared before their eyes and seeing the ghost of a young girl walk through doors.
- Shrieks, moans and inexplicable crying apparently coming from the attic and within the houses’s walls
- Bloody spots appearing on walls and in pools in the living room
- A daughter falling down a staircase and mysteriously floating to the bottom then landing on her feet unhurt
The bank rented the house for several years after the Bennetts left, until Katherine Watkins bought the house in 1982. She said she wasn’t afraid of ghosts. Katherine lived in the house nearly thirty years. Her daughter, Stacey Evans, said that “Katherine liked her house so much that she wanted to die there, rather than passing away of natural causes at the Evans’ Lehigh Valley home.”2Citizen’s Voice – 10/31/2013. When Katherine died in 2012, Stacey inherited the property.
The 46 South Welles Street house has been investigated by paranormal researchers a number of times, with most agreeing that the house is haunted. Apparently, its haunted reputation also make it attractive to trespassers, as the house is occasionally targeted by those hunting for ghosts, including a team for one of the local newspapers!
After a major renovation, the house went back on the market in 2024 and sold rather quickly. Let’s see how long they stay!