In search of haunted Boston
Written: Oct 29 '05 (Updated Apr 11 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: A city of major historical significance, lots of haunted locations
Cons: There's never enough time to see everything
The Bottom Line: Phenomena definitely exist in Boston, but my pursuit in finding haunted sites and ghost stories was just a slice off the top.
|
|
|
| adriennefoster's Full Review: Boston |
The 62nd World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon 62) may have been what prompted me to go to Boston in September 2004, but as a big fan of ghost folklore and history, along with some genealogical ties, I had plenty of other secondary reasons for visiting Massachusetts. Boston was the hotbed for the American Revolution and the dangers the activists faced in that movement were traumatic enough to leave a lingering tension well beyond the deaths of the participants. If not that, then maybe the recently ended curse of the Bambino may have had something to do with its atmosphere, too. Phenomena definitely exist in Boston, but I just wish I had the time to find more ghost stories.
The big tip for seeing Boston is the Freedom Trail. Face it, the attraction that stands out most about this city is its Revolutionary history and several of the buildings from this period still survive. In 1951, when tourists bumbled around trying to locate the significant sites from that movement, a journalist urged city leaders to make this easier for visitors. Soon, a thick red line, which starts in front of the Visitors’ Center in Boston Common, was painted on the streets of Boston, leading folks to such sites as Paul Revere’s home, the Old North Church, and Copp’s Burial Ground. Without any fee, they can follow this red line on foot and see Boston’s most significant landmarks. (However, there is a nominal admission fee to enter some of these buildings.) Today, parts of the Freedom Trail’s red paint have been replaced with a double row of red bricks and it is briefly broken in places. It is a self-guided walking tour, but plenty of pamphlets are on sale around the city to give a little more background on the 18 sites along the trail. Plan on starting early and allow a full day to follow the track through the Boston side of the tour, especially if planning to explore inside some of the buildings, most of which open around 9–9:30 in the morning during peak vacation season. Crossing the bridge to see the sites in Charlestown, which I understand was not originally part of the trail, can be another half day. I was skeptical when I heard this advice at first, but it did indeed take me a day and a half to finish the walking tour.
Be that as it may, I knew this was a good place to go for ghost stories, and I was not disappointed. When I returned and developed my film, several of my pictures showed "defects," with one of them indisputably being a spirit photo. Following is a list of the attractions I saw in my pursuit of ghost stories. Those I have written on more extensively have their titles linked to my reviews.
New England Ghost Tours
The "Boston Spirits Walking Tour" is billed as Boston’s original ghost tour. The group I was in met the guide, Jim McCabe, in front of the Boston Common Visitor Information Center at 147 Tremont Street, near the Park Street T station. For the next hour and a half or so, Jim led us around the streets of Boston telling us ghost or macabre stories and answering any general questions about Boston we had. The stop that struck me the hardest was the Boston Common Burial Ground. When work began on Boston’s subway system, which runs underneath the park, the men digging the tunnels were caught unaware when they uncovered the remains of hundreds of bodies. Apparently, officials had long forgotten the area had been used as potter’s fields, where the unclaimed bodies of Revolutionary War soldiers and the impoverished had long been buried. We also heard the story of how one man, reading the gravestones, was tenaciously tapped on the shoulder for about 10 minutes, but there was no one around when he looked for the culprit. When the tapping was finally topped off by tug on his coat collar, he surveyed the cemetery and saw a little redheaded girl standing in a back corner. Feeling uncomfortable by her stiffness, he turned around to make a quick departure. As he did so, he was startled to see her in the corner at the opposite side of the graveyard, about 50 yards from where she stood seconds before. He turned around a couple more times, only to have it happen again. When he finally reached the sidewalk, he felt a hand in his pocket and watched as his car keys were levitated of their own accord and dropped to the pavement.
Ghost walks tend to attract restless spirits, so I learned long ago to take cameras with me when I go on one. While listening to the stories of the Burial Ground, one of the photos produced a couple of white, body length images. These were midway into the roll of film and none of the other shots had any problems, leaving a definite spooky image in front of the fence enclosing the headstones.
New England Ghost Tours also operates bus tours for groups of 30 or more to Salem/Marblehead or Concord/Groton. Cost of the walking tour is $15 each for adults and $12 for children 8–12. $12 each for groups of 10 or more. Advance reservations are required. For more info, go to http://www.newenglandghosttours.com.
Cheers—Beacon Hill
Formerly known as the Bull & Finch Pub, the proprietors gave up on the name and removed the old sign from its premises. Once it became known that Glenn and Mary Ann Charles based the set of Cheers on the architecture of this establishment, its former intent of being a British style pub was lost. Thanks to the sitcom borrowing the façade for its exterior shots, it is one of the most recognizable restaurants in the country.
Cheers is located in Hampshire House, which was originally built to be the mansion home of Judge Bayard and Ruth Thayer in 1910. Their family life took an unfortunate turn there when one of their 13-year-old twin daughters had emotional problems and hanged herself with a bedsheet from the grand staircase. Cheers management claims the third floor of the building, which is not open to the general public, has had phenomena. One manager claims hearing her name called when she was working alone at night. There is another report of seeing the image of a girl wandering around the floor.
Old South Meeting House
The Old South is one of the sites to see along the Freedom Trail. Built in 1729, it was originally intended to be a Puritan meetinghouse. Benjamin Franklin was baptized there. Phyllis Wheatley, America’s first African American author, worshipped there. On the other hand, when public meetings became too crowded at Faneuil Hall, groups would move to the larger space of the meetinghouse. Outraged citizens met there December 16, 1773, just before their charge to dump tea into Boston Harbor. In retaliation, the Royal Army invaded the Old South Meeting House and disrespected its purpose. They drank liquor in the balcony and used it to exercise and stable their horses.
As I walked the Freedom Trail, I made a point of exploring all of the open historic buildings and asking staff if they were aware of any paranormal activity at the site. The lady tending the till readily confirmed the Old South has seen some phenomena, but most of it occurred in the basement, which had been remodeled fairly recently. She said it occasionally smells of hay and horses. One woman felt she was being shoved in the rest room, although she was alone at the time.
The Old South Meeting House is located at the corner of Washington and Milk Streets. From November to March, it is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. From April through October, it is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A nominal admission fee is charged. It has a souvenir shop and an elevator has been installed for handicap access.
Old State House
The Old State House can also be found along Boston’s Freedom Trail. The current structure was built in 1713 on the same spot as Boston’s first Town House, which burned down in 1711. For decades, it accommodated both government and commercial interests. In 1761, James Otis gave his impassioned argument against the Writs of Assistance, one of the pivotal events that led to the American Revolution, in its assembly room. In 1766, the concept of providing a public gallery when elected officials were in session was realized there. In 1773, the Boston Massacre occurred just steps from its entrance. The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was done from its balcony on July 18, 1776.
Despite the dramas and traumas this building has seen, the two staffers I talked to said there were no sign of ghosts here; however, the outcome of superstitious sea tale, otherwise known as the Cursed Masthead, resides there.
The Cursed Masthead is a carved wooden statue that was originally adhered to the bow of a French frigate. When U.S. relations with the French became hostile at sea, the Masthead became a spoil of a war when it was removed from the French vessel and attached to an American. Not long after that, the American ship sank. The Masthead was retrieved from the ocean. In a day when materials were more highly valued, the Masthead was reattached to another American ship, which eventually sank. The Masthead was recovered yet again, but sailors, being the superstitious lot they are, quickly concluded that it was cursed because it belonged on a French ship. It was then stored at Lincoln Wharf for quite a while, before it was donated to the Bostonian Society, who in turn kept it stored in the basement of the Old State House for decades. While it was hidden away, I was told the staff there were constantly having little things go wrong in the building, such as things knocking over and small items breaking. Some have even gone as far as attributing the fire that occurred in the 70s at the Old State House to its keeping of the Cursed Masthead; however, at the time I visited, the staff said the little problems were decreasing. The ornament was currently being refurbished and would soon go on display. Frankly, a lot of ships sank during the period the Masthead spent on American vessels, so it’s hard to listen to this story without some skepticism. The Cursed Masthead went on display in October 2004 and is still there.
The Old State House is located at State and Washington Streets. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A nominal admission rate is charged for visiting. It has a souvenir shop and the first floor is handicap accessible.
Old Town Trolley Tours
Unable to locate another walking tour until just before I left Boston, I decided to give the "Ghosts & Gravestones" trolley tour a try. Reservations were required and I was a little taken back to learn that their tours were $30. I cut them some slack since simple walking demands less capital than operating a trolley, so I gave them my Visa number to insure my spot that Monday evening.
When I arrived at the designated meeting spot, which was across from the New England Aquarium on Old Atlantic Avenue, they do definitely give a performance during this tour. Everyone, including the ticket seller, driver, and guide, were all in costume and character. There was no problem with my reservation and I was handed a plastic ghost brooch, which allowed the insertion and removal of a little glowstick. We were asked to put them on, since we would be getting out of the trolley for a closer look at some of the sites and this would indicate we were a paid member of this tour.
The part of the tour I enjoyed the most was probably when our guide locked us into the Granary Burying Ground, the small cemetery where such luminaries as Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin’s parents were laid to rest. It is also located behind the Boston Athenaeum. Shortly after the gate closed, another guide appeared from behind a tree or gravestone and then started to tell us stories related to the immediate vicinity. The more memorable ones wove around the Athenaeum, which was formed in 1807 and has been located at the spot since 1847.
Before moving to its current location, no less a personage than Nathaniel Hawthrone was a member of this club and library, which was formerly at 13 Pearl Street. He went there daily to do his research. Another daily visitor to the sitting room was Dr. Thaddeus Harris, who liked to read the newspaper at the nearby fireplace. They were just passing acquaintances who used to give each other a friendly nod, but Hawthorne taken back when he learned the older fellow died. Death never stopped Harris’s routine. For weeks afterward, Hawthorne continued to see Harris sit and read in the chair by the fire, waiting to see how others reacted to his presence. Neither Harris nor the other patrons seemed disturbed by each other. There was also a story that the Athenaeum houses the only book bound from leather of human skin.
One of the advantages of a trolley tour is that it allows a look at a much more widespread variety of attractions. It is also better suited to people who have problems walking for long periods of time. During the course of the evening, they pointed out the building where the last victim of the Boston Strangler was found. They also pointed out and told stories of the Parker House Hotel (now a part of the Omni chain), where Boston cream pie and the Parker House rules originated. I suppose one of the reasons I prefer walking tours is because it allows visitors to go a little more up close and personal. Ghosts & Gravestones repeated several of the stories that I had heard during the Boston Spirits Walking Tour. On the walking tour, we went inside the Parker House and were shown exactly where JFK proposed to Jackie and the suite Charles Dickens occupied when he stayed in Boston. We just passed by on the trolley. The tours were done by different companies, so it would be unfair to ding them for the overlapping stories. That’s just a risk visitors take when they do similar tours done by different organizations.
One thing that threw me was when they recited the story of the Cursed Masthead, which I had heard earlier that day. The guide ended his story with something like "...and it has since disappeared to nobody knows where." I was rude enough to say it was at the Old State House.
This company also runs similar tours in San Diego, California, and St. Augustine, Florida. For more info on the trolley tour, go to http://www.ghostsandgravestones.com.
USS Constitution & Museum
For anyone wanting to see a truly outstanding monument of our heritage, it’s hard to find one more pivotal than the USS Constitution, aka "Old Ironsides." She is the one anachronism on the Freedom Trail, because her glory days were during the War of 1812. Many historians actually consider that the Revolutionary War, part II, so in a way it’s fitting. During a sea battle with the British frigate, the Guerrière, a cannonball hit her steel-plated side and literally dropped into the ocean. One of the crew yelled that she had sides of iron, hence her nickname.
As a vessel that has seen a few successful battles, it is in essence a mobile battlefield. Battlefields are notorious centers for paranormal activity. Finding someone who would confirm my suspicions was hard, but one did say he and two other witnesses heard a door slam when they were the only ones on the berth deck, one that had to be watertight and therefore had no ventilation to create drafts. Its dockyard also saw some of the action during the battle of Bunker Hill and I was also told sailors had seen the TV and lights turn themselves on without human help in the barracks across the way. That building also houses the Constitution’s museum.
The bottom line
With barely a week to spend in Boston, I’m sure I could have found plenty of other sites that were haunted, but these were the attractions I saw firsthand. It seems whenever I go somewhere with juicy ghost stories, there is never enough time to see everything and I frequently learn of a good one I missed later. For anyone looking for haunted sites to see, Boston is a great place to go.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.