Lily Dale Assembly is advertised to be the world’s largest center for spiritualism, offering lectures and other events and experiences. There are two places here that are believed to be haunted. One is the circa-1880s Assembly Hall, where there is an apparition of a bearded man with spectacles and Victorian clothing who walks across the podium. And at the spiritual retreat called Inspiration Stump at the end of the trail in the Leolyn Woods, male and femalw entities are said to reside.
Lily Dale Assembly
Cold Springs Cemetery
Cold Springs Cemetery, incorporated in 1840, is believed to be haunted by a girl who was murdered here while hitchhiking.
Crandall House
The Crandall House was built in the 1800s by unsuccessful stockbroker Sylvester Crandall for himself and his wife Julie. Legend has it that the two fought incessantly over money, and Sylvester was often seen by himself in the house’s cupola. In 1887, Julia’s mother, sister and stepsister came to take Julia home, and Sylvester shot Julia’s mother and stepsister to death while Julia’s sister ran and hid. Then Sylvester shot Julia before going up to the cupula and shooting himself. After this, the neighbors were puzzled to see Sylvester walking on his property at night or sitting in the cupola. The light there would stay on until the sun came up. There is also an account from neighbor James Mann, who became stuck in the snow one night and was helped by another man who appeared to be Sylvester.
Albany Rural Cemetery
At Albany Rural Cemetery, locals say many ghosts walk. Some include a hitchhiker ghost in a prom gown, a phantom mad horse who died when from hitting its head on a monument while running away, and a sad apparition of a gray-haired woman whose body was found after dragging the lake. There is also Mrs. Mary Douglas Scott, who killed herself by drinking arsenic at the cemetery, and Mrs. Anna T. Osterhoudt, who shot herself to death at her husband’s grave. But folks say many more colorful characters have met their ends here, and there’s no telling whom or what visitors may meet up with.
Orchard Hall Restaurant
Orchard Hall Restaurant is housed in a building that dates to the early 1840s and may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Locals say its upper floor is haunted by Julia, who used to live there in a room called the Red Room. There are different legends that explain how Julia died, from being shot at the bar to bleeding to death in childbirth. Witnesses say her rocking chair moves by itself.
Spook Rock Road
The name of Spook Rock Road comes from the large rock formation thought to have been created by Lenape Tribes and rumored to have been used as a sacrificial stone. One legend tells of a Dutch woman and her Indian lover who met here and were murdered by other Dutch settlers in a hate-crime. Their shadows are said to be seen in the moonlight and their screams heard in the woods. Another tale is of an Indian who kidnapped and murdered the teen daughter of a Dutch settler whom he thought had wronged him. Her ghost is said to roam the area.
The Country Club Of Troy
The private Country Club of Troy was established in 1925 and is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a waitress who worked there in the 1970s. She drove off the nearby bridge in some icy conditions. Also, some folks maintain that her footsteps can bee seen in the snow near the area, leading off into the woods.
Devil's Hole State Park - Cave of the Evil Spirit
Devil’s Hole State Park in Niagara Falls is said to have ghosts who are left over from its tragic past. The Devil’s Hole itself is a stone staircase, a tricky climb down to the Niagara River, and it could be dangerous. Near the bottom is the Cave of the Evil Spirit, and anyone who enters here is said to be cursed by tragedy and misfortune. The legend came about in 1763 when a British wagon train came through and was attacked by 500 Senecas, known as the Devil’s Hole Massacre. Around 80 bodies of British soldiers were found floating in the Niagara River as a result of the battle. It was the Senecas who first warned the British about the Cave of the Evil Spirit.
SUNY Plattsburgh - Macdonough Hall
Macdonough Hall at SUNY Plattsburgh is reportedly very haunted, say witnesses who have heard toilets flush and radios and fire alarms turn on, seen strange apparitions and bathroom lights that come on and off, and found locked doors unlocked. The hauntings are believed to stem from before the hall was built on the marshland that once stood here. In 1949, construction workers turned up the bones and headstone of “wife of Benj. Vaughn and daughter of Nathan and Rosann Averill. Died Dec. 12, 1812, age 47 years.” Another grisly tale about the hall says it was built by a wealthy family who intended to sell it to the college. The family’s old butler, Mortimer, had some mental health issues and killed a young girl in the house, hiding her body in the attic. This is how students explain the ghostly sounds of a screaming girl or a man laughing heard here on occasion. However… Michael Duane of the class of ’80, now a tax attorney in Pennsylvania, admits to making up and telling this story to freshman, who have perpetuated the rumors. Still, many swear that there are ghosts that are not works of Duane’s imagination in Macdonough Hall.
SUNY Purchase
SUNY Purchase college is believed to be haunted in several spots, incuding its small cemetery, where strange noises and ghostly presences have been reported, and the house across from Starbucks, where resides, according to rumor, the ghost of an elderly man who hanged himself in the attic or the basement. Another spot of interest to ghost seekers may be the Elephant Tree–it is said to have branches that sway without wind, perhaps due to the legend that someone was once hanged here, believed to possibly slaves or be a young girl who committed suicide. Lastly, the water tower is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died in the water long ago.
