Slightly Odd Fitchburg

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg and following us at Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: Leather Man Okay, so this might actually become a full post but, DID YOU KNOW that a man clad in rough, stiff leather used to walk a constant 365 mile circuit through western Connecticut and eastern New York? Dubbed Leather Man, he was first spotted in 1857, walking between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. He walked about ten miles a day and never stopped. It didn't matter how hot the summer sun was or how cold the winter, he walked all day, every day, completing his circuit every single year. The leather he wore was handmade and barely fit for a human. He rarely spoke a word and never accepted any invitations for a place to sleep at night. He simply found a cave or built a shelter when it was

    This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The Dover Demon DID YOU KNOW that the Dover Demon might just be a real deal, living cryptid? Back on April 21,1977, William Bartlett, 17 at the time, claimed to see the creature in Dover, Massachusetts. That very same night, 15 year old John Baxter was allegedly frightened by the very same creature on Miller Hill Rd. That sounds like teenagers with overactive imaginations, but here's the thing: neither of the boys knew each other or spoke to each other. They were both asked to draw the creature individually and that's the kicker! They both drew the same exact thing and you can see the pictures for yourself right here! That sounds crazy, but what do you think it was? Let us know in the

"For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world, we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of god and all professors for Gods sake" - John Winthrop, Puritan lawyer and former governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Easter in New England and Other Non-Existent Things - Patreon Preview! Allow me to introduce you to John Winthrop:  "Ladies."   This fine fellow served as the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1630-1634, 1637-1640, 1642-1644, and finally from 1646-1679. In that time, he would work, along with his people, to create a "city upon a hill" that would have the eyes of the world on it. That high city was Massachusetts Bay and the people creating it were the Puritans. This is the

Greetings, chaps! It is once again I, Wallace E. Tillinghast! The Great Worcester Airship Hoax of 1909 – Part 2 Last time, ( you can read part 1 here ) we were talking about the explosion of airship sightings around the world, with a whole lot of them happening in the United States. There were some in Arkansas, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and many other places, with some of the reports being as simple as seeing a light high up in the sky and others being about as detailed as they can get. So, we have the world going crazy for flying machines and Wallace Tillinghast was the only person claiming responsibility. When the newspapers finally started looking for legitimate answers that didn’t involve Martians, guess who they contacted. "We'll see you again in the 50s, bro." Reporters showed up at Wallace’s door, only to be turned away by his wife. She just told them all that “[Wallace] knows his business. He will talk when the proper time comes.” She also may or

  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the world is full of assholes. I know, it's a tough pill to swallow, but here we are. You get assholes who just can't stand it when someone else does something they don't understand and you get assholes that can't bear someone being happy and keeping to themselves. Luckily, there are occasional heroes who stand up for the God given right to exist without having to answer to these drooling buffoons. One of those heroes was Joseph Palmer, who hailed from an olde timey village just outside of Leominster. He had the courage to live life the way he wanted and he never made a single excuse for it. This was a man who knew the glory of a luxurious full face beard and suffered in its name. That's right; our hero Joseph Palmer was... Gasp! The History Joseph's story began in 1798 when he was born in Massachusetts. He grew up and turned into a farmer living is Notown, MA. Although it's now just a bunch of sweet loo

Nestled deep within Fitchburg, and far away from the consciousness of anyone outside Worcester County, you'll find Dean Hill Cemetery. It's a decently sized open field with far fewer headstones than you're used to seeing in a graveyard. It was established in 1791 as a resting place for the soldiers of the Revolutionary War and their families. Colloquially known  as "The Rev," it's also home to more than its fair share of ghost stories. Join us, if you will, on our search for the... Ghosts of "The Rev!" JUMP SCARE! There's really no way to overstate just how out of the way this place is. To give you an idea, here's the road leading up to it: If you squint, you can find the serial killer. It's on Ashburnham Road and was once close to the Dean Hill Tavern, which was built around 1777. The tavern is no more, but the cemetery still stands and gets all sorts of visitors, however unwelcome they may be. The cemetery i