Boston, MA – Ghosts of Boston and vicinity

NOTE: These reports are from readers unless otherwise stated. We cannot confirm every location, safety, accessibility, or how “haunted” each one is. Before travelling considerable distances, call ahead to verify site information.

OUR INVESTIGATIONS

Concord – A local cemetery

One of my most startling daylight photos includes a skull on a Concord headstone that stares back at you, if you know where to look. It’s in downtown Concord, and it looks like this:

Haverhill – Bradford College

Investigated 11 March 2000, with several residual haunting manifestations, and one encounter with an actual ghost. The college is now closed. Read our March 2000 report, Summary of Ghosts at Bradford College.

Lynn – Lynn Woods State Park: Dungeon Rock

This was the scene of intense publicity and spiritualist activity in the 19th century, when site owner Hiram Marble claimed that 17th-century pirate Thomas Veal contacted him with directions to a pirate treasure buried in Dungeon Rock.

The tunnel at Dungeon Rock has been sealed with an iron door which is usually open. Take a strong flashlight, and wear shoes with sturdy rubber soles; the cave/tunnel floor is often water-covered and slimy. Park near the Rose Garden entrance to Lynn Woods, for the shortest walk to Dungeon Rock.

Lights and apparitions, and an eerie atmosphere are still reported in this vicinity. The Marble family is buried nearby, having never found the treasure; they lost their own fortune in the process.

(Source: Our own research and visits to the site, and Snow, Adventures…, p. 20 – 30)

Tyngsboro, MA – Tyng Mansion – John Alford Tyng and others may haunt the Tyng Mansion and the nearby family cemetery. However, since the four-part story begins with a ghost who haunts nearby Nashua, NH, I’ve reported this as a New Hampshire haunting. (Tyngsboro — or Tyngsborough — is just across the state line between NH and MA. One practically blurs into the other.)

These are my articles:

• The Haunting of John Alford Tyng
• Judith Thompson’s vengeful ghost
• Tyng Mansion Ghosts, Tyngsboro, MA
• John Alford Tyng’s cursed grave

OTHERS’ REPORTS

Danvers – Danvers State Hospital
This may be one of the “haunted mental hospitals” featured on a popular Fox Channel broadcast. The hospital was closed in 1990, after many years as a sanitorium and then a sanitarium, possibly for the criminally insane. (A more likely Fox location is Waltham’s Metropolitan State Hospital, see below.)

The Danvers hospital site has been described as “haunted” since the early 1960s, and probably earlier.

Danvers has a colorful history. In Colonial times, Danvers was called Salem Village, and it’s where most of the murdered “Salem Witches” lived in 1692, not today’s town of Salem.

Steady reports (from 2/01 through the present) suggest that the property is actively patrolled by the police, and posted against trespassing. I’ll repeat my standard warning, NEVER trespass on private and/or posted property unless you’re prepared to be arrested.

To get to Danvers State Hospital area: The hospital is on top of a hill overlooking Rte. 1, and it can be seen from Rte. 128. The closest intersection is Rtes. 1 & 62 (Maple St.) and the buildings are old and brick. Don’t confuse them with the newer nearby condos and golf course.

(Source: Readers of Hollow Hill, local legends, and assorted online histories, including the Lovecraft link to this hospital.)

Melrose – 39 Linden Road – A private residence – no trespassing!
This 1894 house, now divided into apartments, is said to be haunted by two ghosts. One is the carpenter who built the house and is angry about what has been done to the house since. The other is the ghost of a woman who died in one of the apartments.

There are frequent footsteps on the stairs, or the phone or doorbell rings, and no one is there. Also, the lights have been turned on and off by some invisible force.

This site has been investigated by a psychic, who confirmed much of the information.

(Source: Myers, Ghostly Gazetteer…, p. 115)

Newburyport – Charles Street Schoolhouse
HOAX – The story was that a schoolboy was beaten and thrown into the cellar of this school in 1858. His ghost supposedly appeared many times from 1871-3, mostly in one classroom. Later revealed as a hoax by several of Ms. Lucy Perkins’ students.

(Source: Snow, Strange Tales…, p. 128)

Nahant – near Egg Rock
Nearly every coastal area has one of these stories. It’s probably just a legend, but — in case it has some truth — here’s the basic information:
Around the autumn of 1815, an Italian named Faustino rowed out to Egg Rock to pick some unusual flowers for his fiancee, Alice. However, a squall came up and Faustino drowned trying to return to shore. Alice’s ghost can still be heard at the rocks of Nahant calling, “Faustino! Faustino!”

(Source: Snow, Strange Tales…, p. 155)

Nahant – near Swallow Cave
Another legend: A 17th century witch, named “Wonderful,” appears among the rocks at Swallow Cave (near Forty Steps) at Nahant. The site is just north of Boston near Lynn and Salem, MA. Then 70 years old, “Wonderful” was instrumental in helping the men of Lynn defeat approx. 40 Narragansett Indians who raided the settlement in 1675. She accurately predicted that they would hide in what is now called Swallow Cave, a 5-foot opening on the shore that opens to a 24-yard deep cave. Today she is seen day and night, but usually at dusk, near the cave.

(Source: Snow, Strange Tales…, p. 156)

Orleans – Orleans Inn
Mary, a friend from my earliest Hollow Hill conversations, reports that the Orleans Inn — one of the oldest buildings on Cape Cod — is haunted. She tells me that lights go on and off, doors open and close on their own, and there have been “cold spots” found inside the building. Other manifestations include fleeting visual appearances, and the sound of voices.

(I don’t really need an excuse to visit the Orleans Inn, since it’s a lovely hotel in a great location. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for an ideal place to spend a night or two, and maybe find a few ghosts, visit the Orleans Inn.)

Rockland – private residence on North Avenue
Maryellen Garland, another friend of Hollow Hill, reports that her childhood home in Rockland is haunted. In particular, she mentions a bedroom at the rear of the house, near the attic. She says that her hair was pulled, her closet door opened by itself, and electrical appliances would turn themselves on and off. In addition, she reports figures visible in mirrors upstairs, and that members of her family have seen the ghost of an old man roaming through the house. He leaves an odor of onions as he walks.

Southbridge – private residence on Cross Street
An anonymous visitor to Hollow Hill provided information about a haunted private home. Objects move from room to room, and people in the house sometimes feel something brush against them.

Taunton – private residence on Tremont Street
An anonymous friend of Hollow Hill reported a haunted duplex on Tremont Street. Twice, members of her family have coincidentally moved into one particular apartment, and both times moved out due to hauntings. In addition to unpleasant sensations among people visiting the apartment, the reader has a photo taken at a Christmas party when the television was off, but the screen clearly shows the image of a woman’s face.

Waltham – Metropolitan State Hospital
Some claim that this was a site used for the Fox Channel “scariest places” program. See back issues of The Boston Globe newspaper for details.

Similar to Danvers, it was on private property. According to one reader, the hospital has since been demolished.