T
hrough true crime and ghost tours, there are many opportunities to learn about West Chester’s dark history. Both Chesco Tours and The Chester County History Center offer unique experiences to learn about the town’s more chilling and unusual stories.
Paul Sookiasian’s job is to expose those dark, supernatural tales. Most of us walk through the streets of town not knowing much about West Chester’s deep and haunting narrative. Historians go so far as to say that nearly every building in the borough is haunted. As the owner of ChescoTours, Paul has a lot to say on the matter. Born and raised in West Chester, Sookiasian leads historic ghost tours around town. Paul has been a volunteer cemetery tour guide in the area for over ten years, which is where his passion began. This year, Chesco Tours celebrates its third season hosting haunted history tours. He uses this experience as a vessel to teach others. While he wouldn’t call it scary, he says that some stories are definitely more disturbing than others. “It’s a backdoor to teaching people the history of West Chester to supplement organizations like the Chester County History Center. I don’t think your average person on the street knows what happened in the very buildings they are standing in front of, but they would be interested to find out.” Jennifer Green, the Director of Education at The Chester County History Center, also hopes this will inspire others to do some deeper research. “Learning about crimes and disasters might seem like an odd way to inspire a love of history, but often learning about the way someone died can tell you a
lot about the world in which they lived,” Jennifer told us. “We'd love for people to come into the History Center or the County Archives to dig deeper into something we tell them. The History Center is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich history of Chester County, so if we can inspire that interest in someone, then we have succeeded in our mission.” The Chester County History Center previously offered a ghost tour by Malcolm Johnstone. It was after Malcolm retired that Paul started offering a ghost tour of his own. It is open to all ages and not intended to scare participants.
Born and raised in West Chester, Paul Sookiasian leads historic ghost tours around town, and he’s been a volunteer cemetery tour guide in the area for over ten years “By making it fun, entertaining, and spooky, it will bring people out that ordinarily wouldn’t commit to a history tour,” Paul said. Paul also prides himself on the authenticity of the tour. He cites his sources from many years of research, whether through books or walking around West Chester interviewing the locals. “Talking to people
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