The true story behind the legend of Western Pennsylvania's Green Man
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (KDKA) — There is a legend that goes back almost 70 years in Western Pennsylvania of a faceless glowing green man that is said to roam the roads and tunnels of the region in the dead of night, chasing away all who dare to gaze upon him.
But it turns out the Green Man wasn't a monster and he was as real as you or I.
"There was a real Green Man," said local ghost historian Thomas White. "His name was Ray Robinson and he lived in Beaver County. He was born in 1910. In 1919 he was out with friends, they were going to go swimming, it was June of 1919 and they had a bet to climb up on the Harmony railroad bridge in Beaver Falls and count how many eggs were in a bird's nest. So he climbs up, he grabs something that he thinks is safe and it turns out that it's the live wire supplying electricity to the trolley."
Robinson was horribly electrocuted, with much of his one arm and face burned off. Most thought the boy would die, but Robinson miraculously — though now mostly blind and disfigured — lived.
As the years went on, Robinson began to walk around the roads and streets near where his family lived in Koppel, always at night. And if his goal was to draw the least attention to himself, people, especially teens in the 1950s and '60s, would go driving around the roads of the town, just to get a glimpse and even meet Robinson.
"Most people actually when they encountered him and started to talk to him found out that he was a great guy," said White. "He knew all the baseball statistics, he had them memorized. People would bring him beer and cigarettes. There were always a few mean people that would do mean things to him. But if you gave him an unopened can of beer or unopened cigarettes or something, he would take them and tell stories."
By the 1970s, Robinson was walking less and many of the teens that used to meet and pick him up had moved away. They began telling the story of the man they knew, but their stories and the truth about Robinson became skewed and the urban legend of Charlie No Face or Green Man persisted and took on a life of their own.
Robinson died in the 1980s, but folks like his great niece Paulin LaCount say that the monster tales that are now associated with her uncle are not how he should be remembered.
"I think his legacy really should be that he was kind to everybody," LaCount said. "He did not not like anybody. He always tried to be friendly to everybody, he was always caring. And I think that that is why he was left here when he was electrocuted at 8 years old, because the Lord wanted him to show people that you can be kind to everybody, regardless of how they look."