The William Penn Hotel & Allegheny County Morgue

Pittsburgh is a city of contrasts—soot and sparkle, steel and chandeliers. And few places capture this duality better than the William Penn Hotel and the old Allegheny County Morgue.

The William Penn Hotel: Ghosts in High Society

When it opened in 1916, the William Penn Hotel was a marvel of opulence. One thousand rooms with chandeliers, marble, and polished brass. Designed by Benno Janssen and Franklin Abbott and funded by steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, it was known as “the Grandest Hotel in the Nation.” Celebrities like Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and the Rolling Stones stayed there. Presidents Truman and Reagan too.

But with all that glamour comes ghost stories.

Guests and staff have reported disembodied voices, cold spots, and shadowy figures in the halls. One wedding guest claimed to hear their name whispered in the empty 18th-floor hallway…the same floor where a deadly fight between coworkers ended in a shooting in 1976. Housekeepers have felt unseen hands tap their shoulders or watched carts roll on their own. Some even claim to hear faint panda bleats, possibly the ghost of Ruth Harkness, a guest who died in 1947 and famously brought the first panda to the U.S.

And the Urban Room, the grand black-marble ballroom? Staff have seen elegant figures in sequins disappear from its golden mirrors. Others hear phantom music echoing after events shut down.

The Allegheny County Morgue: Parade of the Dead

A few blocks away is a building with far less glamor but just as much history, the Allegheny County Morgue.

Built in 1903 and moved (yes, moved) to its current location in 1929, the morgue served the city for nearly a century. Over 30,000 bodies passed through, from steel mill workers and river drownings to victims of major disasters like the 1936 flood and the Crescent Mine collapse.

It was also a bizarre local attraction. Every Sunday, families would visit to view unidentified bodies in what became known as the “Sunday Parade of Death.” Children strolled past corpses in hopes someone might recognize them.

Today, those who enter the building, now home to the Health Department, report oppressive energy, phantom whispers, and doors that slam on their own. Staff refuse to enter certain rooms at night, especially near the old crematory, where thumping sounds are common. One paranormal team even reported a “slithering vapor” moving through the halls.

From ballroom ghosts to basement shadows, these two Pittsburgh landmarks remind us: history doesn’t always stay in the past. Some guests check in and never leave.