The Legend
The year was 1912, the steel industry in Pittsburgh was booming and prosperity was prevalent across the city. At the forefront of this economic expansion stood one Pittsburgh family; the Acres. Rorgoth Acres and his stunningly beautiful wife, Dritha, were the sole proprietors of the Acres estate and commanded over the steel mills located in the South Side of Pittsburgh. Rorgoth worked tirelessly to assure that all was going according to his strict and stringent plans on site and Dritha managed book keeping and keeping up with the power couple’s lavish amenities.
As the expansion of the mills continued throughout the early 1900’s, power and greed began to take a toll on the couple’s marriage. Dritha, content with the fortune that had been accumulated, was interested in bringing new life into the world. Rorgoth wanted no part of such a matter. In his eyes the new child would drive a wedge between himself and his beloved enterprise. Years would pass before Dritha would bring a newborn babe into their wealthy family tree.
1922 brought wealth and new beginnings. On November 12, 1922; Rorgoth and Dritha 
welcomed a new addition to the Acres estate; Theodore Acres. News reports flooded in when the story went public. The Pittsburgh Gazette reported; “Young Theodore is set to be King of Pittsburgh”. Unfortunately, by Theodore’s first birthday, medical problems became apparent. Young Theodore began experiencing epileptic-like seizures while sleeping, a condition now known as Night Terrors. The constant need for the child’s medical attention soon began to pull Rorgoth and Dritha further apart. A choice had to be made for the power couple, relinquish their fortune and fame to care for their child or continue to push for further financial gain at the mills.
Rorgoth was not prepared to give up his life’s work for the infant in question. As time past, he threw himself into further into his work. The strain of his family life and ever growing demands from his fortune began to take a toll on Rorgoth. Young Theodore was left without a father figure. The only glimpse of his former father provided to Theodore was when he visited him at the mills. Rorgoth treated the poor workers in his mills and factories mercilessly, grinding them down at every chance, like the wheels in his mills.
In 1942, the Acres family suffered yet another tragedy. Rorgoth Acres was struck down by a massive heart attack and passed away. This had little effect on Theodore but a pronounced effect on his ailing mother. She took a gun to her mouth later that year. Theodore swore that when his beloved father passed and his fortune was inherited and when he took over the company that things would change; and they did. Young Theodore implemented fair wadges, benefits, and cleaned up and assured a safe and productive work environment in all of the Acres steel mills.
In the Fall of 1943, Theodore fell in love with one of the worker’s daughters; a young nurse named Caroline. The two had a whirlwind romance and soon announced their engagement to the public.
Determined to pursue additional repair for what his father had done, and guided 
by his sweet and gentle bride, he donated generously to build resources for the community of workers. The sweeping family estate grounds, Hundred Acres Manor, were used to house a new hospital. Rorgoth had been an avid collector of the unusual, and had housed these items in a private museum and circus, which Theodore and Caroline opened up to the workers and their families, adding clowns and trapeze artists.
The boom in prosperity of Pittsburgh soon drew the usual crop of petty thieves and soon a small prison was erected to enforce the punishment for crimes such as pick-pocketing and drunken violence on the Manor grounds. The prison was to be named HillHaven.
On a snowy evening in February, a transport of maximum-security prisoners had become stuck in the mud a few miles down the road from the manor grounds and was unable to be rescued until the next day. The small prison would have to become a makeshift home for these violent and disturbed individuals overnight, although it was never intended for such serious offenders to be contained. At 10:53pm on February 6 of that year, lightning struck the north tower of the building engulfing the property in flames within a matter of minutes. Panic ensued as the ill equipped guards attempted to maintain order but rescue was unsuccessful for 136 of the souls trapped within.
The tragic events of that night tore through the entire grounds leaving everything in ruin and disrepair. Are the manor grounds haunted? We will let you decide.
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