Thousands of travelers have passed through the Brewerie at Union Station, located in downtown Erie on 123 W. 14 St. These travelers may have been catching a train when it was originally built in 1927, or more recent visitors may have dined in the current restaurant, but clearly some never left. 

While there are many places in Erie that are considered hot spots for paranormal activity, Union Station is one of the most notorious.

Previous owner of the building, Chris Sirianni tells a story of a time he experienced ghost activity there “We walked into the rotunda and as we opened the doors up, the phone started to ring,” he said. 

A paranormal investigator who had been helping Sirianni with an event, asked, “Who would be calling here at five in the morning?” 

The difference was that the phone call wasn’t an ordinary phone call. It was a page, which meant that the communication had to be coming from inside the building. The two picked up the phone, only to be met with a noise that Sirianni describes as “the worst sound ever, just an awful, high-pitched squealing or white noise, like nails on a chalkboard.”  

Sirianni has had “dozens and dozens” of paranormal investigators through the building. “We’ve had ones from around town, we’ve had ones from the east coast, we’ve had people do live streams, we’ve even had someone do a TV show,” he said. 

The investigations led Sirianni to believe one ghost is named Clara, From what he knows, Clara was a little girl who was going up a staircase with her dad to board a train, when her dad’s briefcase knocked her off balance, causing her to tumble down the stairs. She lost her life at Union Station and continues to haunt its halls.

Some unexplainable experiences Sirianni ties to the story of Clara are just barely noticeable coincidences like sounds and shadows. Something might fall, but Chris said, “I just summed it up to coincidence.” 

Former employees would say that they would be making their way down the staircase in the front entrance, and “it felt like a little kid was sticking their foot out and tripping you.”

 Ghost hunters interested in learning more about the stories and history of Union Station can go to the Tours link at www.brewerie.com. They offer 2-hour tours of the building throughout the month of October each year for $20 per person. Those interested should act fast once they post the tickets though, or they will disappear as quickly as the sound you thought you heard on the stairs.