Attention all Ghostbusters! For a chilling view of some of our nation's creepiest corners, visit America's Byways®. From cemeteries to theaters, hotels to parks, supernatural phenomena keep visitors on their toes. Ghosts generally keep to themselves, so the faint of heart need not be afraid. Those travelers with a good eye for the paranormal are likely to leave with something for their journals. If you're seeking an otherworldly experience, let America's Byways lead you into a new realm.
Indulge your superstitious nature on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, where fearless visitors to the Union Cemetery in Easton have told tales of chatting with life-like apparitions who vanish after a couple of minutes. Reports of a mysterious white lady wandering through the trees and headstones of the Union Cemetery are whispered throughout town. Wait until midnight and follow her for a first-hand encounter at the nearby Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel Cemetery in Monroe. Keep your eyes peeled while driving by at night; you never know who, or what, you might see.
With a history that includes the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812, it’s no wonder the Lakes to Locks Passage is home to many restless souls and spirits. Tour Skene Manor in Whitehall, NY and perhaps you’ll meet the ghost of Colonel Skene’s wife roaming the halls of this Victorian Gothic manor turned restaurant. A few miles south at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site in Schuylerville, you could witness the reunion of two ghostly sweethearts. “David,” the ghost of a slave of the Revolutionary War General Philip Schuyler, still awaits the return of his beloved. Or spend a night further south at the Rice Mansion Inn in Cambridge, NY, haunted by the “Lady in Red.”
A scenic link between New York's early days as a wild frontier and its dramatic growth along the Erie Canal, the Mohawk Towpath Byway has a healthy supply of spooky stories. Start your journey at Wat Hoix Gap, a geologic formation in the Mohawk River near the byway’s towns of Clifton Park and Halfmoon. The rapids here were known to early Native Americans as the "White Horse," or "Evil Spirit." Elsewhere along this short byway with a long history, legends from colonial times say that restless souls reappear from time to time to deliver otherworldly messages. Tales of strange disappearances and deaths still haunt the area.
Further north and west, journey along the Seaway Trail into St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties in NY and join a nighttime bus tour to visit sites where “unexplained occurrences” have happened, as featured in the public television documentary, Folklore & Frost. A local group of paranormal investigators known as the Shadow Chasers accompany the tours to places such as the Burrville Cider Mill, where you might smell former owner Captain Burr's spectral cigars, and the Sackets Harbor Battlefield, where you could hear ghostly musket and cannon fire. Or continue on to Mount Albion Cemetery in Orleans County to connect with the spirits of David and Claudius Jones, builders of a better mousetrap - it says so on their gravestone! Listen for a Civil War horse's ghostly hoofbeats at the grave of Billy Sherman in Wilson on the shores of Lake Ontario in Niagara County. Finish up your spooky tour on New York's Seaway Trail by taking a walk on the weird side in the town of Lewiston, NY on the Niagara River. Let the costumed players of the Lewiston Council on the Arts take you back in time to their town's haunts on the Marble Orchard Ghost Walks, or join supernatural historian and author Mason Winfield's Haunted History Ghost Walks and Haunted Pub Crawls for an illuminating evening of paranormal discussions, supernatural stories and ghostly lore.
Continue west along the Seaway Trail into Pennsylvania, which is no stranger to frightening stories and experiences. Take a chilling horse-drawn carriage tour through Erie, PA with the Erie County Historical Society each October for a first-hand view of the town's grisly history. Listen to stories of graverobbers at the Scott Mausoleum or cringe at the site of murderer Henry Francisco's execution. If you are feeling especially adventurous, explore the 24-room Victorian Watson-Curtze Mansion by candlelight complete with an evening full of stories of boiled bones and vanishing corpses, or join one of the Society’s Erie Cemetery Walking Tours, home to many of Erie’s more interesting residents. Also in Erie each October, the Eerie Horror Film Festival showcases the best in horror, suspense, and science fiction in movies, video games, and screenplays. Join your fellow fans of fright and meet directors, performers and other celebrities of the horror community at this annual five-day event. Who knows? Perhaps a few otherworldly fans of phantoms will join you.
Further south on the Atlantic coastline, visitors to the Ashley River Road in South Carolina will find no lack of ghostly adventures. With over 300 years of history, Charleston has its fair share of skeletons in the closet. Rumor has it that the ghosts of 29 pirates hanged in Battery Park in 1729 still inhabit White Point Gardens. Near the waterfront, tread lightly and perhaps you'll see the ghosts of long-dead Confederate soldiers march eerily along the water's edge. If you want help finding these apparitions, check out the visitor's guide for info on ghostly walking tours (and more).
Would you trust the word of a ghost? Head to the state of West Virginia and uncover the famous case of the Greenbrier Ghost on the Midland Trail, the only incident known where the word of a ghost helped to convict a murderer. After Zona Heaster apparently died of natural causes, her ghost paid a visit to her mother and insisted that she had been murdered by her husband. The case was re-opened, the body exhumed and the autopsy proved the ghost correct. The court sentenced Edward Shue to the state prison for life.
Travelers who seek a ghoulish encounter on the Ohio & Erie Canalway in Ohio should stop for a night out in Akron. Take a tour of the Akron Civic Theatre, where tour guides tell the story of Fred the janitor. After a life of devoted service at the theater, Fred has stayed on duty even after his demise. Teenagers at prom, among others, claim to have seen his phantasmal form chasing potential vandals from the restrooms. Other supernatural encounters in Akron include the ghastly sounds of a weeping woman near the canal that still runs under the theater. Or travel to Rogue's Hollow in nearby Doylestown where you can visit Cry Baby Bridge late at night and wait for the sounds of a woman crying over her drowned child.
For an interactive experience with the undead, don’t miss Alton, Illinois on the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route, “one of the most haunted small towns in America.” Stop by the Mineral Springs Hotel and shiver over tales of murder, suicide, and accidental death. Are you brave enough to visit Joesting House's haunted halls, where the spirits of murdered children still hide from the Nasty Nanny? Or will you dare to spend the night at McPike Mansion, where ghost hunters have documented hundreds of spectral phenomena, such as unexplained orbs of light and mysterious human figures in windows and doorways? Sign up for a Halloween campout on the grounds or seek spooks in the cellar under the guidance of a clairvoyant.
From the streets of Aurora on the Lincoln Highway in Illinois, the doors of the legendary Paramount Theater transport you to another world. Built in the 1930s, the meticulously-restored Paramount boasts an air of extravagance akin to the Chicago Theater and Joliet’s Rialto. Sink deep into original plush seats, and while you wait for the show to start, look around. Can you see shadows of theater-goers from the 30s and 40s seated all around you or hear ghost notes of acts long-gone float by? But backstage is where the "real” specter waits. Who is it? No one knows for sure, but curtains move, a man's deep voice spews orders, lights mysteriously flick on and off and objects disappear from dressing room tables. Some Paramount employees believe the restless spirit is that of the great-grandfather of a current stagehand. At least one person from each generation of this Paramount-loving family has been employed at the Paramount since its opening.
With its turbulent and romantic history, it's no surprise the American West boasts several colorful ghost stories of its own. The pink exterior of the Rosemount Museum on the Frontier Pathways Scenic and Historic Byway in Colorado may look innocent, but forgotten souls roam its hallways in the still of the night. Some people hear footfalls, and a mysterious mummy was found in the top story of the mansion.
In Red Lodge, Montana, on the Beartooth Highway, strange happenings encountered today at the Pollard Hotel date back from when Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickock bunked there while touring with the Wild West Show. Employees will tell you about Room 310, where the light never turns off. Or perhaps you can listen outside the racquetball court for the faint sounds of a game, even when no one is inside. Sneak around the corner of the third floor hallway and you might catch glimpses of flashing white lights.
Make your way to the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway in Oregon and stop at the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, considered the finest hotel west of Salt Lake City back in its day, and now on the National Register of Historic Places. Restoration work seems to have awakened former visitors. As you walk its 100-year-old halls, maybe you'll be among those who've witnessed people vanishing through walls, telephone calls coming from unoccupied rooms, and laughter and chatter on the balcony overlooking the dining room when no one is around. A local psychic has reported, “They all seem to be laughing and sipping champagne and having a wonderful time. They just don’t have feet.”
From East to West, America's Byways attract ethereal visitors along with more lively travelers. Be sure to share the road on your adventures.
