Bradford College – now Northpoint Bible College – has an eerie reputation.
From well-known ghosts in places like the college theatre and tunnels beneath the college, to the connection with Lovecraft’s Necronomicon, it’s a mysterious site.
It’s also private property, since Bradford College closed, and was sold to a new owner.
However, the legends remain. Those who’ve lived at Bradford, and those who’ve investigated its ghosts… we won’t forget what a strange, sometimes creepy place it was.
The following photos show one of the tunnels beneath what was then Bradford College, near Denworth Hall.
First photo, enhanced & annotated:
First photo (original):
It was not especially damp in this tunnel, and there were no shiny surfaces to reflect the flash. Dust is a possibility, but the question is: Why do we have lots of orbs in some photos – but not in others – when those photos were taken seconds apart from each other?
In the original photo, I can see at least ten orbs. I’ve indicated many of them in the smaller photo, above. Some are clearer than others.
This is not proof that Bradford College is haunted. Orbs are not necessarily ghosts.
However, unexplained orbs usually indicate a location where we’ll hear many ghost stories.
With or without orb photos, the intense first-person stories — including those of our investigators and the students we interviewed — suggest that Bradford College (no longer at that location) — is truly haunted.
I’ve investigated several Haverhill cemeteries, multiple times.
My most memorable investigations were during dramatic tour of three Haverhill sites, thanks to the Essex Ghost Project.
Here are my notes from that eerie and fascinating tour:
Walnut Cemetery, Haverhill, MA
Located at: Kenoza Street, Haverhill, MA
Walnut Cemetery is large and has some very harsh, ghostly energy, especially around the Victorian-era graves. I was immediately drawn to the large, crypt-style embankment, where bodies were once stored during the winter, until the ground was soft enough in the spring to dig their graves.
Check it for EVP, and the usual EMF spikes, of course.
Next on that tour, psychic Gavin Cromwell was drawn to an area with a large tree… and an odd marker of cement and stone, left resting against the tree. In that area, Gavin perceived the spirit of a woman in black. She was pointing towards the area where the flagpole is. She’s connected with something maritime, perhaps a sea captain.
Then, I was drawn to a hilly area with some of the oldest graves in the cemetery. Some of the best photos of the night were taken in that area. So, be sure to use the flash on your camera or phone when you’re taking pictures… and take lots of them in that part of the cemetery.
A local historian and paranormal researcher – who asked to be unnamed due to his day job – accompanied us in this cemetery. He directed us to another set of graves, bearing the surname Ela.
We attempted to record EVP, but Gavin & I felt that male energy (either living or ghostly) was suppressing efforts by some spirits to communicate. We came up with the word “sin” in connection with this.
Several investigators – including me – saw the little angel figure move, and both Gavin and I felt that at least one child (perhaps disabled, who died young) is not with his or her mother, Effie Ela.
In general, that cemetery is too large to visit after dark without a preliminary visit to see where the “hot spots” are. Also, the energy is generally muted at first. You’ll need patience – and at least an hour – to get the most from your investigation.
However, once the activity starts surging, it’s worth the wait.
Pentucket Burial Ground
Location: off Groveland St., Haverhill
This burial ground includes a memorial to victims of a Native raid, and the grave of a Salem “Witch Trials” judge.
In general, it’s a chilling cemetery, even on a sultry summer night.
And yes, I mean “chilling” in more ways than one.
When we stood in a circle, holding hands, and asked Judge Saltonstall to make his presence known, the blast of icy air was astonishing.
Gavin felt certain that the judge won’t “cross over” because he’s sure that his destination will be Hell. However, the judge was asking us to save Mary or help Mary… perhaps his wife or daughter. (We didn’t think that Mary was still there.)
Nearby, a few graves set apart from the others – often indicating that they died “in sin” – are worth further research.
Before leaving, we searched for the grave of Polly Winters.
Gavin had felt the presence of Polly Winters during a Haverhill investigation in 2008, and – even before we saw the grave – he was certain that she was in this cemetery.
When Gavin said it, his voice was different. He didn’t have his usual introspective manner; it was like he was reporting the name on cue, not sensing it.
It’s still something that troubles me. In retrospect, the Polly Winters “psychic connection” didn’t seem authentic. I’m not sure where that came from, or why.
Haunted Hilldale Cemetery
Location: Hilldale Ave., Haverhill
This cemetery is a gem for research, with apparitions and very clear spectral energy. (That may sound dramatic, but the site is definitely unusual.)
However, until the cemetery has been cleaned up and some holes filled in, it’s not wise to go there… especially after dark when it is closed and patrolled. (You will be arrested if you go there at night. We were there with permission.)
In a circle there, I felt the presence of a spirit saying, “Sheridan, James.” I wasn’t sure if it was actually James Sheridan, saying his name as if reporting for duty.
Later, an Essex County Ghost Project historian told me that someone named James Sheridan is buried in that cemetery.
(Note: I rarely perceive names, and certainly not given and surnames in combination. So, this had to be very intense energy for me to discern the full name with such certainty.)
Also, researcher Chris G. and I both saw an odd, squat figure – too large to be an animal – that vanished, as well as an apparition of a man, crawling along the far edge of the hill.
These Haverhill sites are definitely eerie, and likely to be haunted. If you’re looking for ghosts, start at any of them and see what happens.
I think you’ll be impressed.
Related news stories
Big-name ghost hunters descend on Merrimack Valley (Eagle Tribune, 26 Mar 2009)
“Well-known paranormal investigator Fiona Broome will join the tour of Haverhill graveyards that date back centuries, as well as the walk of the Tenney property in Methuen…”
Haunted in Haverhill (Haverhill Life, October 2017) – Includes details of a Hilldale Cemetery investigation, and a list of other, nearby haunts.
If you’re looking for a real, scary ghost photo, this may be it.
When you’re studying ghosts and hauntings, and have taken thousands of cemetery pictures, orbs become routine.
I also know what my (film) camera’s limits are, in dark, damp, and misty conditions. So, I discount photos that might be caused by the weather or my own breath.
(The latter is why I recommend holding your breath when you’re taking a photo: Make sure your own exhales aren’t putting moisture in front of the lens.)
So, when I see something like the eerie mist in this photograph, I get very excited about it.
Forget about the bell-shaped orbs; they’re just the fog when I took this photo. (That’s one reason I like this Canon camera. Its internal lenses refract light bouncing off moist air in a bell-shape that can be used to distinguish “fake anomalies” from the real ones.)
However, the mist coming up from this grave fascinates me. It reminds me of vampire movies. (Later note: This article was written long before the Twilight series was even written.)
I like the contrast between the rising mist -whatever it is – and the larger water droplets in the air, which photographed as “bells.”
I’m not claiming that this mist is an anomaly. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely rising up from one of the haunted graves where we get our strangest “ghost photos.”
This was taken at Gilson Road Cemetery, Nashua, NH, on 26 Nov 1999, at about 6 p.m. The grave belongs to Rufus Lawrence.
When we charted the non-orb anomalies we’ve captured on film at this cemetery, his grave is Ground Zero for many of them. For example, the purple-streaked photo featured elsewhere at this site, was take just to the right of Mr. Lawrence’s headstone.
Camera: Canon Snappy LXII, point-and-shoot
Film: Kodak Max 800 ASA
(Yes, this is a color photo, and no, I didn’t edit it with PhotoShop or any other program.)
Is this a real ghost at haunted Gilson Road Cemetery, Nashua, NH?
This “ghost photo” was taken at Nashua’s Gilson Road Cemetery when we were researching ghosts and hauntings. It’s one of my favorite “What is this?” pictures.
I took this ghost photo with a $6 disposable Fuji camera. On that night, a group of us were testing inexpensive cameras to see what an amateur could expect when taking photographs at random in a haunted location.
By the time I took this photo, the fog was just starting to roll in. We could see clearly without a flashlight, and many of our cemetery pictures were normal, but the mist became a factor later in the night.
We took two identical shots at every spot, and the photo immediately before this was almost entirely black and crisp. (You can see it at my article about the strange mist that night.)
The photo after this one was also sharp. It looked identical to the first of the three. There was no photographic evidence of humidity or fog, just a few orbs. It’s typical of what we see in photos from Gilson.
No one was smoking. There were no houses nearby when this picture was taken, so there was no risk of wood smoke from a fireplace, either.
(Since then, a subdivision has been built immediately across the street from this cemetery.)
What is this weird, swirly mist…? Is that a gravestone to the right?
It should be, because that’s what the camera was pointing at.
We’ve had dozens of letters from readers, suggesting everything from a ghostly finger to the Virgin Mary. This is our most popular real “ghost photo.”
Whatever it is, it’s weird. And cool. And yes, this is real. It’s not altered from the original film print in any way at all.
I don’t think that it’s scary, but some people do. In fact, it reminds me of an old InfiniteFish background, in a way.
Camera: Fuju disposable Quicksnap, 800 ASA Developed at: One-hour processing, Shaw’s Royal Ridge, Nashua Location: Gilson Road Cemetery, Nashua, NH When: 26 Nov 1999, about 5 p.m.
2012 update: After testing photography techniques, I’ve realized that this might be the result of exhaling while taking the photo.
However, there’s a problem with that theory. The orbs in this photo… they’re not consistent with other false anomalies (with the same camera) from exhaling.
That’s part of debunking: Not just saying “it might be ___,” but also confirming that it’s consistent with the new theory.
On the evening of 21 May 2002, I visited Gilson Road Cemetery, Nashua, NH, to experiment with photographs.
My goal was to take photos with normal, false anomalies (insects, pollen, etc.) to show students in an upcoming class. Unfortunately, almost all of my orb photos from that night… they’re paranormal.
Using a digital camera, I took just two “regular” photos after dusk. One has no anomaly:
The next one has an orb-type anomaly:
Many people have asked me if that’s a “smiley face” in the second photo. It’s not. Enlarged, here’s how it looks:
I use this photo to illustrate the qualities that separate rain orbs, pollen orbs, etc., from the orbs that we consider anomalies, or “ghost orbs.”
When the Tanglewood Estate was first moving in, anomalies weren’t reliable at Gilson Road Cemetery. Frankly, I expected all ghostly activity to stop, since the area had changed from being very rural to being very… well, suburban.
The good news is, after the biggest changes were over, Gilson’s orbs returned:
Remember: Always take two photos in a row. If you can, remain completely still and don’t even breathe between photos.
If there’s an identical orb in both photos, you can probably assume that it’s a reflection.
If orbs are in just one, and the orbs aren’t insects or pollen, and there was no explanation at the time, I’d assume it’s an anomaly.
2008 was a turning point for haunted Gilson Road Cemetery.
Except for a notable number of new houses and subdivisions in the area, little has changed… with one big exception.
The denser wooded area in back of the cemetery seems to provide the illusion of cover for the spirits who visit during daytime hours.
While we were there, we noted several figures moving stealthily in the woods. Most of them were about 20 or 25 feet behind the back cemetery wall.
I also saw a momentary flash (residual energy?) of a Native gentleman. He’d appeared to us in the same place – the back left corner (where there’s a break in the wall) – during a 2003 visit to Gilson.
The Lawrence headstones have remained among the most active in the cemetery. Many of our photos showed orbs. Here are two photos taken within seconds of each other:
This is a good reminder of the importance of always taking two photos, as close together as you can. (If that orb looks familiar, it’s because we’ve photographed it before. From a slightly different angle, it’s in the photo in my article, Gilson Road Cemetery – ghost orbs return 6/02.)
Who Were These People…?
Rufus Lawrence – like many people interred in this isolated cemetery – has been difficult to find in any records of the era. Despite numerous records for other members of the Lawrence (or Laurence) family, and generally good census records (at least for adult males), Rufus and several others in Gilson remain elusive.
At first glance, it seems like Gilson’s Rufus Lawrence was probably related to Samuel Laurence who married Betsy Thyng (or Tyng) and named a son Rufus in 1815. In the Nashua/Tyngsborough area, that seems likely.
Well, maybe.
The problem is, here’s another Rufus Lawrence, courtesy of Ancestry.com’s records:
That Rufus Lawrence may have been the second Rufus born to Henry Lawrence and Sally (or Salley) Simonds Lawrence. (The first was born in August 1813.)
But… that’s not a perfect match for the grave, and I suspect Gilson’s Rufus Lawrence was from Epping, NH, and the son of – or closely related to – David & Anna Lawrence.
Here are other Rufus Lawrences that might help us identify the correct one, also courtesy of Ancestry.com:
For now, I’m adding this research to my “to-do” list. Rufus is intriguing, but – at the moment – other research projects are a higher priority for me.
But this is important: We’re not sure why the people in Gilson Cemetery were buried there rather than in the old burial ground in the middle of town. (Today, that’s by the shopping center at Daniel Webster Highway near Spit Brook Road. That cemetery is nicknamed “Schoolhouse Cemetery.”)
Haunted Cemetery Walls?
Another note about Gilson: One of our group noticed that the back wall of the cemetery appears to include pieces of broken headstones. When you visit, take a close look at the shapes of the stones, and – amid the usual round-ish rocks and boulders – you’ll see several slabs of stone.
If those really are pieces of headstone, I’m not surprised that the back wall of this cemetery is one of the most haunted areas in a profoundly eerie graveyard.
Also, outside the wall just south of the gate, we noticed several pieces of headstones, as well. I’m not sure why these suddenly became obvious, but they indicate another area for research.
As a guideline, any time you see graves, monuments, or pieces of headstones near (but outside) a cemetery, check it for anomalies.
Those are often the graves of “sinners” who couldn’t be buried in hallowed ground.
Whether or not they were unjustly accused of crimes and mortal sins, these spirits often return to haunt their remains.
Perhaps to them, being shunned after death isn’t the final word, after all.