Just about six miles west of Lancaster and a mile or so south of the old abandoned Pennsylvania Railway on Delmont Road lies Sand Hill. It was here that there use to be an old distillery operation. A local eccentric named Kiger lived there in an old log cabin on the east side of the hill, and spent a large amount of his time at the distillery. It was said that he would consume large quantities of the vile brew, and then stagger on his way home.
Well on one evening he stayed on at the place well near to midnight talking to the men who ran the operation, and helping himself freely to the home brew. Bidding his hosts farewell he then began his lonely trek home to his cabin. He was last seen making his way up the road to the top of the hill towards his home.
The next morning some local timber cutters found Kiger's headless body lying in the middle of the road. It was felt that some local feral hogs which ran wild had happened upon the poor sod after he had passed out from the vast amount of moonshine he had consumed. The hogs had then partially eaten the old fellow where he had fallen in the road. Apparently they had packed of the man's head as it appears it was never found. Kiger's headless body was wrapped in a blanket and buried near his beloved log cabin.
There after on dark nights the spirit of the poor unfortunate man would haunt and terrify all who encountered it. It took the appearance of a headless man that would sometimes hover directly over the road, or float and drift back and forth across the road. Possibly he was searching for where the hogs had left the remains of his head. For a time the road was avoided at night. A then local doctor who claimed to be a psychic tried to make contact with the unfortunate Kiger, but never succeeded.
The ghost now appears to have gone his way giving up the search for his lost head.
The location of this site is in the middle of a group of four haunted locations. Kind of spook central of Western Fairfield County. As best as I can tell the the road in the story is Delmont Road SW just off State Route 22 west of Lancaster. The railway is not visible, but I have it on a map in my home. The hill is not labeled, but from the description in the account, its the hill that has the graveyard on top of it just north of U.S. Route 22. Schadel Hill Cemetery. (According to a German acquaintance of mine "Schadel" is german for Skull Top.)This post, including photos and commentary, originally appeared on James A. Sheets' site.
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