Penn State’s “Old Coaly”

Penn State's oldest known ghost story is about, believe it or not, a little ghost mule. 

Coaly was a pack mule that came to Pennsylvania from Kentucky in 1857 with his owner, Piersol Lythe. The university hired the mule on a day-to-day basis to help build the original five-story Old Main building—Coaly’s job was to bring limestone from a nearby quarry located near what is now the intersection of College Avenue and Pugh Street.

After the job was completed in 1863 the university purchased the mule for $190, which was a considerable amount of money for the time. At first, the mule was kept on the lawn at Old Main and later at the farm. Coaly’s service to the university spanned 30 years.

He helped with the landscaping and construction of various buildings at Penn State. In the 1800s, students were required to work on the university farm as a class requirement. Many of these students formed a bond of affection for the little mule.

One favorite prank perpetrated by Penn’s students was to take Coaly up to the top of Old Main’s bell tower and leave him up there for a few hours before bringing him down. To some, this seems unduly cruel, but these same students made Coaly the “unofficial mascot” of Penn State. *

Coaly died of natural causes on January 1, 1893. The students at the time decided to preserve his skeleton. 

This skeleton remained on display in the original Old Main building until it burned down in the 1900s. Among the items saved from the flames was Coaly’s skeleton. 

His bones were temporarily moved to the basement of Watts Hall and put in storage. Then they were moved to the attic of the old Penn State veterinary hospital, where they were used as a teaching tool in Zoology classes in the 1900s. From here, they were moved to the Agriculture Building.  **

Soon after the bones were moved to the basement in Watts Hall, students started to report seeing the mule standing outside the storage room door. 

Some saw him wandering the halls while other students reported hearing braying sounds and the sound of hoofbeats around the building. 

At first, the staff felt this must be a student prank, but several staff members saw the mule and heard the sounds as well. 

It appeared the ghost of “Old Coaly,” as the students and staff started to call him, was not happy with the move—some state the reason for this was he missed all the attention he had received in Old Main before it burnt down. ***

As his remains were moved over the years from place to place, the ghost of the little mule was still seen and heard. 

Even when his bones were given a more “visible.” location in the Agricultural Building, it seems Old Coaly was still not happy with this new location. Today from time to time, startled students and staff still come forward to report they have seen the spirit of Old Coaly. 

People at one point claimed that these sightings were a result of student pranks. But the idea that students from one generation to the next would keep this prank going was improbable. In fact, many Penn State students today do not know the Old Coaly story.

* It wasn’t until 1906 that the Penn State student body chose the Nittany Lion (a mountain lion) as the school's official mascot.

** When Penn State celebrated its 150^th anniversary—university officials had Old Coaly’s skeleton placed in a glass case and moved to the HUB, Robeson Center--the student union building and campus auditorium. 

*** Penn State rebuilt Old Main in 1930 on almost the exact location of the original building that burnt down.