Hex Hollow is high on York County residents' fascination meter, but it's a half-clickbehind the leader: The Seven Gates of Hell.
Books have been written on this remote place with the gates in eastern York County's Hellam Township. A indie movie, "Toad Road," draws from this place of incredible horrors. These are internationally known gates.
Except they don't exist. It's all a legend.
So what is the Seven Gates of Hell, with its alleged insane asylum and all?
More:Murder and witchcraft: The incredible story of York County's Hex Murder
More:York curiosities: 7 Gates of Hell tops list
Story continues below the artwork
What happened at this site in the middle of no where? Several stories are out there, including this one: Once upon a time, seven gates surroundedan insane asylum. The supposed asylum caught fire and escaping inmates were trapped by the gates. Those inmates were burned to death or else lived on in murderous wrath.Another story hasa local doctor buildinga gate at the entrance to his property. It was said that other gates went upbeyond that one,and something mysterious awaited travelers passing through those gates deep in the woods.
What is special about Gate No. 5? It's the mostnoteworthy gate in many ofthe stories. If youpassed it, you'd never return. When you think about that: Who would ever know?
OK, are the stories true? Actually, no. The story is an urban legend, or myth. That means it's a form of folklore, characterized by horrifying elements, but told and retold. It's like the guy and girl whose car stalls on a dirt road after hearing that a convict with a hook for hand is on the lose.And the guy goes for help and never returns. The next morning, the girl finds a hook on the car's door handle. That type of thing.
Where are the Seven Gates of Hell? OK, Trout Run Road in the northwestern part of Hellam Township is the supposed way to get there. A trail leading to the gates is known as Toad Road.
How could have such a story have started? Gary Dutery, a former York County newspaperman who grew up here in the 1960s, puts this forth: "There were, at one time, two weathered stone abstract gargoyle-type objects that resembled toads or frogs located at the head of the trail. These creatures inspired the locals to give the place the name 'Toad Road.' The gargoyles, or whatever they were, vanished in the early 1970s, I think." Dutery says he actually saw the grotesques, which could have beenseen as toads and that fit with road.
Related 'Seven Gates of Hell' links:
- More Seven Gates of Hell and Toad Road: A history mystery of mythical proportions, Part I
- More: Seven Gates of Hell and Toad Road, Part II.
- More: Seven Gates of Hell and Toad Road, Part III
Do people visit Toad Road?Dutery said people talked about it all the time, but few visited it. That might be true today, but if you go up there, property owners asked that you respect their private property. "Toad Road was real to the extent that it was part of our culture, even if it was little more than a story told in passing - something to do and somewhere to go, in a place with nothing to do and no place to go," Dutery wrote. More from Gary on the Seven Gates of Hell.
How does the "Hell" in Hellam Township connect with the Seven Gates?From Hellam Township's website: “Just as there seems to be no truth to the rumors about the ‘Seven Gates of Hell’ (no asylum ever existed there, and the local doctor had only one gate and that was to keep out trespassers), there is also no truth to the story that Hellam Township was named for ‘hell’! The fact is that our Township’s name is a corruption of the name‘Hallam’,named for Hallam, England.”
Story continues below this video, but if you like the Seven Gates of Hell, check out this look inside the scene of the hex murder.
Does York County have other urban legends? Here are two of the most popular: A worker on the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge fell as cement was being poured to form one of the bridge supports. His body was not retrieved. His shoe print can be seen in one of the supports to this day.And there's the sinkhole that swallowed a bulldozer or steam shovel years ago.
Like talking history? Check out our Retro York Facebook page.
Anything else?: We mentioned the Hex Murder earlier. That 1928 murder was no myth. A farmer was killed in a home invasion, and the scene of the crime, a house in Rehmeyer's Hollow, stands today.
