THE PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE       CONNECTICUT   BARA-HACK (POMFRET) BACKGROUND: Bara-Hack was settled in 1778 by Johnathan Randall Esq. and Obediah Higinbotham, two colonists of English ancestry. They and their families fled the Randall homestead and farm, situated on the coast of Cranston, Rhode Island, after the British advances of the Battle of Rhode Island of 1778 deemed it too dangerous for them to stay. They settled on land in Pomfret, Connecticut previously purchased by Randall in 1776, and there they built their homes, farms and livelihoods, including a water wheel powered mill, a business which produced spinning wheels for the production of textiles, and a small burial ground that would be shared by individual members of both families. PHENOMENA: Local legend speaks of a ghostly infant lying in repose within a tree on the property. There is said to be a man’s bearded face floating through in the cemetery, streaks of light and orbs. There are unsettling sounds of children playing, horse drawn carriages, farm animals and various disembodied voices. BOOTHE MEMORIAL PARK (STRATFORD) BACKGROUND: Built about 1840 and remodeled in 1914, it is said to be "The Oldest Homestead in America," since it sits on the foundations of a 1663 house, and has been continuously occupied. In 1914 two brothers, David Beach Boothe and Stephen Nichols Boothe, created the Boothe Memorial Museum which maintains a collection of twenty architecturally unique buildings. Some of the structures include a carriage house, Americana Museum, miniature lighthouse, windmill, a clock tower museum, trolley station, chapel, and a blacksmith shop. The property became a public park owned by the town of Stratford in 1949. PHENOMENA: Sometime in the 1970s, it’s said a group of cultists convened at the homestead to conjure evil spirits and were apparently successful as they ended up fleeing the area. Before they did they saw a man in a black suit holding a lantern watching them from a window of an upstairs room. A hot spot of activity is said to to be the upstairs nursery with a great number of visitors and staff claiming to have had supernatural experiences there ranging from feelings of dread to cold spots. A disembodied woman’s voice can be commonly heard in 2nd floor rooms with some believing it to be Betsy Amelia David and Stephen’s mother Betsy who, it’s rumored, possessed rare perceptive abilities. Some items thought to spur paranormal activity were moved to a private exhibit. CAPITOL THEATER (WILLIMANTIC) BACKGROUND: The Capitol Theater was opened on January 21, 1926. By 1941 it was operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. The town of Willimantic has renovated and reopened the long-shuttered Capitol Theater as part of a rebirth of its downtown. Since around 2001, the Capitol Theater has become a regional school for the arts. PHENOMENA: There is a legend that involves an actress from back in the 1930s who was accidentally shot and killed in the balcony by her boyfriend who was actually aiming for her lover. There is another tale of a sword fight that took place during a live performance in which one of the actors was accidentally stabbed to death. (It should be noted that no documented record of these events exists.) There are also reports of apparitions in the balcony and dressing rooms, disembodied voices and footsteps and the sounds of crying infant. CAPTAIN GRANT’S INN (PRESTON) BACKGROUND: In 1754, Captain William Grant built a home in Poquetanuck Village for his wife Mercy and their children. Grant would die at sea, but the family continued their occupancy in their house with Mercy living there well into her 80s. The house served as a garrison for Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War and escaped Civil War-era slaves took refuge there. The house was significantly renovated in the mid 1990s. PHENOMENA: The Adelaide Room is a particular beacon for paranormal activity. A guest awoke one night and saw a Colonial-era woman holding the hands of two children at the foot of her bed. The TV has turned itself on and off and a  shower curtain was mysteriously knocked off its brackets. Some claim to hear knocking or witnessing strange forms. One guest had her face touched by invisible hands while a couple reported a dark, child-like figure passing right through them. It is also common to hear footsteps in the attic. TRIVIA: The inn has been featured in an episode of A&E's Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal. CAROUSEL GARDENS (SEYMOUR) BACKGROUND: Waterbury native William H. Wooster moved to Seymour in 1878 and is sometimes credited for founding the town as he started a bank, the water company, a manufacturing company and was very involved with the schools and church. At one point it became a fairly successful restaurant and is now a beauty salon. PHENOMENA: A number of staff and patrons once heard a glass fall to the tile floor but found no broken glass when they went to clean it up. People report being tugged on or the sensation of being watched. A cat with glowing white eyes has been seen but has never been found upon searching. Investigators and Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the restaurant in 1990 and concluded it’s haunted by the spirit of Helena “Ruth” Wooster. William Wooster is occasionally seen out of the corner of the eye near the staircase and their son Horace is also said to visit now and then. Other activity includes: cold spots, curtains billowing for no reason and the sighting of shadowy figures. CEDARCREST HOSPITAL (NEWINGTON) BACKGROUND: State hospital opened in 1910 as the Hartford County Home for the Care and Treatment of Persons Suffering from Tuberculosis. Two pavilions and a larger medical center stood atop Cedar Mountain existed for the region's TB patients. The hospital was re- named Cedarcrest Sanatorium in 1925 as part of an effort to improve the image of the facility in the public eye. After the discovery of the TB vaccine, the need for the hospital declined and it ceased treating the disease by 1976. One pavilion was demolished and the other, called "Hospital Two" was left abandoned. Cedarcrest eventually closed in 2012 with the property going to auction. With no bidders, it currently sits abandoned and under state control. PHENOMENA: People venturing close to the buildings have heard disembodied screams, doors slamming, anomalous lights and even full- bodied apparitions. CHARLES ISLAND (MILFORD) BACKGROUND: Originally known as Poquehaug, after the area was settled by the English in 1639 the island became known as Milford Island. After Charles Deal bought the island in 1657 it became known as Charles Island. Deal made a failed attempt to raise tobacco on the island, one of the first such efforts in Connecticut. In 1699, the infamous pirate Captain William Kidd visited the island and legend says he hid a portion of his treasure here which some believe is hidden beneath a giant boulder called Hog Rock. The island is now part of Silver Sands State Park, which also features a nature preserve. PHENOMENA: Legend says Kidd put a curse on anyone searching for his treasure with yet another curse was placed upon it by the Paugussett tribe, who were angry when European settlers took up residence here. Activity on the island includes disembodied voices, eerie noises and glowing apparitions. CHURCH OF ETERNAL LIGHT (BRISTOL) BACKGROUND: One of three original churches in the town began as a school house built in 1884. In 1889 it became a chapel and 2001 it officially became a pagan spiritualist church which it remains today. PHENOMENA: The primary haunting at the church concerns the apparition of an unknown woman seen wearing a early 1900s dress  walking the grounds as well as inside the church. There is a oft-told story that someone was struck and killed by lightening on the steps of the church. Other reports include orbs appearing in photos taken inside the church and people who report hearing unintelligible whispers coming from an unknown source. CONNECTICUT VALLEY HOSPITAL CEMETERY (MIDDLETOWN) BACKGROUND: Founded in 1878, it served as the burying ground for patients of the Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane until 1957. The Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane was established by the state in 1868, as a place for the housing and treatment of its indigent mentally ill. While patients from well-to-do families were typically buried at family expense in private or public cemeteries, the indigent were buried at state expense in this cemetery. PHENOMENA: People claim to have seen a headless man wearing a tuxedo in the immediate area who will vanish when car headlights are shone on him. Others report the ghost of a bride in her wedding gown while others claim their car’s electronics inexplicably malfunction. DANIEL BENTON HOMESTEAD (TOLLAND) BACKGROUND: It is believed that the house was established in 1720 and first became notable in 1777. During this time, more than twenty Hessian officers were detained there waiting to return to Germany. When the British defeated Saratoga, they had surrendered to the Americans allowed to reside in the basement where they were quite happy about their accommodations. Elisha Benton, grandson of Daniel lived in the home and fell in love with a girl named Jemima Barrows who though 12 years younger than Elisha, shared that love for him. Elisha fought for the colonists and eventually was captured by the British and contracted smallpox. He was released as part of a prisoner exchange agreement but back home he was quarantined from all but Jemima who cared for him despite the highly contagious disease which eventually claimed both of them. PHENOMENA: Some have claimed to crying from a female that’s believed to be the spirit of Jemima expressing her grief. Many visitors throughout the years have claimed to see her apparition wearing a wedding dress or common 1700s era. Disembodied footsteps have been heard as well as the sound of objects being moved, faint voices and whispers. DEEP RIVER PUBLIC LIBRARY (SAYBROOK) BACKGROUND: The library was originally a residence built in 1881 by Richard Pratt Spencer, a prominent local businessman who lived there with his second wife and three children until his death in 1910 at the age of 90. When Spencer’s widow died in 1932, a son sold the home to the Saybrook Library Association, which in turn, sold the building to the town for a nominal price in order to convert it into a library. PHENOMENA: Staff members report seeing and hearing odd things like a child’s laughter while no one but two of them were in the building. Disembodied voices, the smell of cigar smoke and a ghostly woman seen floating down the stairs and looking out an upstairs window have also been experienced. TRIVIA: The library was featured on SyFy channel’s Haunted Collector. DEVIL’S HOPYARD (COLCHESTER) BACKGROUND: The park was the site of an attack by the Sons of Liberty, in 1775, on a mill owned by pro-British loyalists. After a portion of the broken millstone was found at the foot of the falls. The park's falls powered "Beebe's Mills" (named after the original owner) until the 1890s. The site was acquired by the state for use as a state park in 1919 at the prodding of A.G. Willard, a resident of Colchester who had expressed her concern with the extent of logging operations taking place in the area. The Hopyard name comes from the belief a malt house and hop fields were located on the property in the 18th century. PHENOMENA: Three legends of the name “Devil’s Hopyard” exist. One surrounds a tale of Satan sitting atop the waterfalls, playing a fiddle. The potholes in the rocks near the falls are said to have been created because the Devil accidentally got his tail wet and stomped the holes into the ground in anger. An interesting variation of the name involves a minister's son in the 1600s who was not well liked and took revenge on his tormentors by dressing in masks and riding on horseback through the area scaring people who attributed his appearance to supernatural forces. Another is that a tenant farmer named Dibble had a farm in the park where he grew hops for beer. Over the years the name "Dibble" evolved into "devil." DOWN’S ROAD (HAMDEN) BACKGROUND: Awooded stretch of road that used to connect Bethany and Hamden but a hundred years ago an alternate route was developed that left a part of the road abandoned. It’s now closed on both ends and displays the ruins of former homes. PHENOMENA: There are many claims of ghostly sightings in the forest. There are also reports of a feral group of humans wandering the area. Then there is the “Downs Road Monster,” who some claim was actually an albino horse. There are a number of ghostly apparitions and creatures such as the “Melon Heads”, who are said to leave claw marks on vehicles that park in the area. There have also been reports of UFO activity at the location. DUDLEYTOWN (CORNWALL) BACKGROUND: founded as a small settlement in Cornwall, Connecticut in the mid-1740s and was abandoned in the 1800s. Since the mid- 1920s, the land occupied by the village has been maintained by philanthropists as a private land trust, who worked to reforest the land after decades of agricultural use. Few traces, such as cellar holes, remain of the original village. Due to rumors of ghost activity beginning in the 1980s, the village site has been subject to frequent vandalism, and the owners have since closed the land to the public. Dudleytown was never an actual town. The name was given at an unknown date to a portion of Cornwall that included several members of the Dudley family. The area that became known as Dudleytown was settled in the early 1740s by Thomas Griffis, followed by Gideon Dudley and, by 1753, Barzillai Dudley and Abiel Dudley; Martin Dudley joined them a few years later. Other families also settled there. As with every other part of Cornwall, Dudleytown was converted from forest to farm land. Families tilled the land for generations. Located on top of a high hill, Dudleytown was not ideally suited for farming. When more fertile and spacious land opened up in the Midwest in the mid-19th century, and as the local iron industry wound down, Cornwall's population declined. PHENOMENA: Legend has it the Dudley family were under a curse which followed them to America and was the catalyst for crop failures and mental illness as several residents did go insane. One who chose to stay after most had left was John Brophy, who lost his wife and then his two children when, immediately following her funeral, they strolled into the forest and vanished. Video footage of paranormal events have supposedly been captured and hikers and other visitors have seen light anomalies around the area. Some are puzzled why the area is unusually quiet and all but void of wildlife. Ghost stories started in the 1940’s when visitors to the ruins reported strange incidents and apparitions in the woods. Those venturing into the area claim photographic anomalies, unsettling feelings, mysterious orbs and being touched, shoved and scratched by invisible entities. Famous demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren have investigated the area extensively. ELKS LODGE (HARTFORD) BACKGROUND: The lodge was built in 1903 to a design by John J. Dwyer, a local architect who is credited with a number of significant institutional buildings in the city. The lodge has one of the city's finest unaltered interior spaces of the period and was the first structure ever constructed specifically as an Elks lodge. PHENOMENA: Members report an uncomfortable  presence in a few locations inside the lodge, particularly the main lodge room, the ballroom and the bar area. Other phenomena include disembodied voices, tables moving, unexplained footsteps and lights randomly going on and off. There is speculation the ghost there is a former member named Samuel Chamberlain,while others suggest it is a man found dead on the sidewalk in 1972. The entity is felt in the building with one claim coming from a daughter of a member who said she encountered an apparition who told her to “Get out!” TRIVIA: The building was featured on an episode of TV’s Ghost Hunters. FAIRFIELD HILLS STATE HOSPITAL (NEWTOWN) BACKGROUND:  Fairfield State Hospital was created to accommodate crminally insane patients due to overcrowding at the other two state hospitals. On June 10, 1931, the cornerstone was laid for the building (renamed to Fairfield Hills Hospital in 1963). The campus was constructed largely fireproof throughout. Some later constructed buildings were built during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1995, the facility was closed and patients were transferred to the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. During its operation, treatments at Fairfield Hills included hydrotherapy, the use of the drugs Metrazol and Insulin and shock therapy, patient seclusion, electro-convulsive therapy, treatment for alcoholism, and frontal lobotomy. PHENOMENA: Theory holds that the spirits of abused patients wander the halls and underground passages connecting the buildings. Visitors report odd noises, screams, moans, disembodied footsteps, hearing voices and seeing dark figures. TRIVIA: Fairfield Hills has attracted many members of the film and television industries and was used as a set for the 1996 film Sleepers as well as an episode of MTV’s Fear. GAY CITY STATE PARK (BOLTON) BACKGROUND: The isolated hollow on the Blackledge River was first settled by religious leader Elijah Andrus and his followers in 1796. A succession of ill-fated mills marked the town's history—the first built around 1800 and the last burning down in 1879. Village history has also been burdened with tales of community tensions caused by the free use of alcohol during twice weekly religious services and of grisly murders gone unpunished. Following construction of a sawmill and wool mill, the village became known as Factory Hollow and grew to about 25 families, many of whom bore the surname Gay. The wool mill's commercial success ended with the War of 1812 and it burned down in 1830. A paper mill revived the village's fortunes but it too fell victim to fire, leading to the village's ultimate demise. The property was sold to the state by one of the town's last descendants in 1943, at which time the name Gay City was bestowed on the site. A year later the land became a state park, Connecticut's 54th, in 1946. PHENOMENA: Legend speaks of the ghostly presence of a young blacksmith who was murdered and decapitated who still wanders through the trees and underbrush of the park. Some claim to have witnessed him holding his severed head in his hands. Other claims include disembodied voices, phantom footsteps and anomalous mists. GLEBE HOUSE (WOODBURY) BACKGROUND: The Glebe House was built around 1740 for Rev. John Rutgers Marshall and his wife Sarah as the rectory for St. Paul's Church in Woodbury and they lived there from 1771 until 1785. Rev. Marshall was twice beaten and left for dead by Colonial supporters who resented his alignment with the Church of Britain. On March 29, 1783, it was the site of the first episcopal election in the United States. Ten clergy met at the house and selected Samuel Seabury and Jeremiah Leaming as candidates for Bishop of Connecticut. Leaming was the first choice of the clergy with Seabury as backup if Leaming declined, which he did, due to age and health. After the Marshalls left the house, it fell into disrepair by the 1920s. In 1923, the house was purchased by Edward C. Acheson, Bishop Coadjutor of Connecticut, who formed the Seabury Society for the Preservation of Glebe House PHENOMENA: It’s been said that a ghostly black woman, possibly a slave, makes her presence known on the 3rd floor. A Girl Scout leader on a tour with her troop of 7 year olds, took a picture of  what looked like a smiling black woman on the first floor. A older man gentleman with white hair and two women in long dresses are said to haunt the 2nd floor. It’s further said that one of Rev. Marshall’s attackers is the ghost who haunts the attic, but it’s also speculated that this could be a negative entity whose presence is connected to the nearby graveyard. GUNNTOWN CEMETERY (NAUGATUCK) BACKGROUND: An old cemetery in Naugatuck that was established in 1790. Many of Naugatuck's citizens who supported independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War are buried in the cemetery. The Gunn family has been traced to before the colonization of Connecticut. The first to arrive was Scottish-born Jasper Gunn. His first journey was from London to Boston in 1635. He and his wife then made their way to Roxbury, CT. Looking to start his own small colony, Jasper and several other families from Roxbury and Dorchester, purchased even more land from the local Indians. In 1640, this area was named Milford. Being considered one of the founders of Milford, Jasper was also considered to be Milford's first physician. After living in Milford for a time, he and his family moved around Connecticut a few times; in 1647 they moved to Harford. PHENOMENA: The cemetery is considered to be haunted by many, among them famed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who designated the cemetery as "officially haunted". The sound of children's laughter and music coming from the surrounding woods is a common claim here. A spectral black dog or, “hell hound”, has been seen near the cemetery which in many cultures foretells disaster or even death. Photographs have revealed orbs, balls of energy, and strange mists. In some cases, orbs of varying colors have been seen with the naked eye. HUGUENOT HOUSE (HARTFORD) BACKGROUND:  Built by Rev. Lieutenant Edmund Bemont in 1761 for his family; wife Abigail and sons Makens and Elijah. Bemont was a minister who also served in the militia during the time of the French and Indian Wars. Makens became a successful leather tanner who eventually moved his own family there. It’s puzzling why the home is called “The Huguenot House” but it’s speculated the name is somehow tied to French Protestantism. PHENOMENA: It was when the house was moved to Merit Park and underwent restoration in the 1980s that claims from workers and residents of paranormal activity began.  That activity includes footsteps, disembodied voices, doors opening and closing, strange rapping and scratching on items inside the home, unexplained bangs and crashes and light forms witnessed near the fireplace. A female entity wearing a blue dress appearing both inside and outside the house was given the moniker, “The Blue Lady”. For years she has been seen looking out the windows of the house, but especially one in the children’s second floor bedroom. LAKE COMPOUNCE AMUSEMENT PARK (BRISTOL) BACKGROUND: Opened in 1846, it is the oldest, continuously-operating amusement park in the United States. The lake's name is derived from Chief John Compound, a Mattatuck/Tunxis Native American. On December 3, 1684, his tribe signed a deed that left Compound's Lake to a group of white settlers, including John Norton, who had migrated to central Connecticut from Massachusetts. The property was left to the settlers in exchange for a small amount of money and miscellaneous items, including a large brass tea kettle. A local legend states that Chief Compound drowned while trying to cross the lake in it. Another version of the story has him killing himself upon realizing he didn’t get fair value for the land, and another says his own tribe murdered him in retaliation for ceding sacred ground. During the 1940s, famous big bands came to play the Starlite Ballroom, including Tommy Dorsey’s band featuring a young Frank Sinatra. PHENOMENA: Stories abound of workers being killed in accidents or children drowning in the lake and while it’s jhard to say they resulted in hauntings, some of these have a basis in fact. A 16-year-old girl fell off a moving roller coaster when she tried to stand up in 1981. Then in 1999, a 16-year-old park employee was struck and killed by the Tornado ride. In 2000, a 6-year-old boy drowned on the Lake Plunge water slide and in 2001, a 23-year-old maintenance man was killed while working on Boulder Dash. A 5-year-old boy was tragically killed when a tree branch fell and struck him in 2004. Shadowy figures and apparitions have been reported at the Starlite Ballroom, along with ghostly music and disembodied voices. Inanimate objects are said to move and lights turn on and off by themselves in the ballroom. Overnight security guards claim to see strange occurrences after hours. TRIVIA: This park was also the site where, on July 21, 1989, Milli Vanilli’s Rob and Fab were performing and their music started skipping which exposed the fact that they were lip-syncing and unleashed the subsequent public ridicule that followed.  In addition to the 14th oldest wooden roller coaster in the world, Wildcat, its newer wooden roller coaster, Boulder Dash, has won the Golden Ticket Award for the #1 Wooden Coaster in the World for five consecutive years. LAMSON CORNER CEMETERY (BURLINGTON) BACKGROUND: The cemetery dates back to at least the 18th century and displays stones that have collapsed or been worn smooth over the years from the elements. PHENOMENA: One standing gravestone (albeit not the original) belongs to Elisabeth Palmiter, who died in 1800 at the age of 30. She has been given the nickname, “The Green Lady”. It’s said she drowned in a swamp near the cemetery while her husband Benjamin either stood by watching or committed the killing himself. She is viewed here as a green mist or in a ball gown on the road leading to the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, which is also known as “Green Lady Cemetery”. A ghostly  war veteran has also taken up residence here whose spirit was once seen by a young man visiting the cemetery. Thinking the spirit was a living person, he called out to ask what time it was. Much to his surprise, the old man disappeared into thin air. Motorists and visitors have reported seeing weird lights and orbs inside the cemetery. LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE (GROTON) BACKGROUND: New London Ledge Lighthouse was built in 1909 on the southwest ledge. It was originally called the Southwest Ledge light, but this caused confusion with Southwest Ledge Light in New Haven, Connecticut, so it was renamed New London Ledge Light in 1910. The United States Coast Guard took over in 1939 upon its merger with the Lighthouse Service and the light was automated in 1987. The original fourth order Fresnel lens was removed and was later put on display in the Custom House Maritime Museum. PHENOMENA: It’s famous ghost is that of a former keeper named Ernie who it’s been said jumped to his death after his wife ran off with the Block Island ferry captain. The Coast Guard crew on duty at the lighthouse reported unexplained knockings taking place at night, doors opening and closing repeatedly, the television turning on and off and sheets being pulled off beds. One officer wrote the following in the crew's log on the last night before the automated light system was installed: "Rock of slow torture. Ernie's domain. Hell on earth—may New London Ledge’s light shine on forever because I’m through. I will watch it from afar while drinking a brew." In the 1990s, a television reporter from Japan spent a night inside the lighthouse investigated the story of Ernie. He heard loud whispering noises throughout the night which allegedly are audible on camera. TRIVIA: Ledge Light has been featured on paranormal reality shows such as Scariest Places on Earth and Ghost Hunters. LITCHFIELD INN (LITCHFIELD) PHENOMENA: The spirit of an elderly Native American woman often shows up in photographs and haunts the kitchen and dining room of the inn. A guest reported seeing a woman sitting on his bed when he checked into his room. He then excused himself and shut the door and reported the booking mistake to the front desk. They gave assurances he had the right room and there was no mistake and when he returned, the woman was gone. NATHAN HALE HOMESTEAD (COVENTRY) BACKGROUND: Despite the name of the property, Nathan Hale never lived in the house that is named for him though he did live in a home that was located in the same spot as a child. That house was demolished in order to create a larger living space for the family. As a militia member, he was captured and executed as a spy by the British. His famous last words before being killed, were “I regret that I have only one life to give for my county.” News of Nathan's death came when his family grew concerned for his well-being. His brother traveled from Coventry to Old Saybrook to meet with the army and inquire about Nathan's whereabouts. He was informed that Nathan had been killed and was given a trunk of his belongings. This trunk is in the house. After the Hale family, the house was sold to a series of other families who used it as a private residence, and the story of Nathan Hale became forgotten as just another story of a fallen soldier. A Connecticut lawyer named George Dudley Seymour became fascinated by the story while living in New Haven and was instrumental in the effort to recognize Hale's efforts. After championing the cause of erecting a statue of Nathan Hale at Yale University, Seymour learned that the farm in Coventry, which had been owned by Nathan's father, the Reverend Deacon Richard Hale, was for sale and in disrepair. He purchased the property in 1914 and restored the house to its original dignity, furnishing it with Connecticut antiques and artifacts, including Nathan's trunk. PHENOMENA: A short time after Seymour purchased the property, he and a friend took a trip out to see the homestead. His friend went up to the front school room window and looking inside, came face to face with the apparition of Deacon Hale, who had also been peeking out of the window to see who was coming. A servant of the family, Lydia Carpenter, has been spotted eavesdropping around doorways while still going about her duties. She sweeps the upper hall in the early morning hours and prattles about in the kitchen. One morning, the wife of a former caretaker heard someone come down the back stairs with a loud clomping noise but she found no one there. Much of the activity occurs at night, or in the early hours of the morning. NORWICH STATE HOSPITAL (NORWICH) BACKGROUND: Originally established as Norwich State Hospital for the Insane and later shortened to Norwich Hospital, it was a psychiatric hospital located in Preston and Norwich. It opened its doors in October 1904, and though the number of patients and employees were drastically reduced, it remained operational until October 10, 1996. Norwich State Hospital was a mental health facility initially created for the mentally ill and those found guilty of crimes by insanity. Throughout its years of operation it also housed geriatric patients, chemically dependent patients and, from 1931 to 1939, tubercular patients. PHENOMENA: Visitors report a general uneasiness about the property with the Salmon Building being one of the more active areas. This was the maximum security building where the criminally insane were kept, complete with steel doors, bars on windows and rooms resembled cell blocks. Nurses reported seeing children on the second floor and screaming from within Salmon. Doors scraped the floors while opening despite the fact there was only one way into the building. Staff would allegedly starve patients, beat them, sexually abuse them, or pack them in ice. Disembodied voices, objects moving and doors slamming by themselves are common with some of that also happening in the Earle Building. The tunnels on the compound are also very active as people claim to hear a woman crying. Security guards have heard beeping sounds from the lobotomy rooms, as if operations are being carried out. There are also reports of cold blasts of air, even during hot and calm summer days. LINDLEY ST. (BRIDGEPORT) BACKGROUND: In 1960, Gerald and Laura Goodin purchased the home, where they lost their only son at the age of 6 to cerebral palsy, in 1967. They later adopted a little girl named Marcia and bizarre things began to occur immediately after she entered the home. PHENOMENA: In November 1974, a story gained national attention after the former Bridgeport Telegram published a story about police and fire authorities entering a Lindley Street home where they encountered "unusual occurrences" of moving furniture. First responders these occurrences as well as a small girl being thrown against a wall. The phenomenon supposedly included talking animals and phantom noises.  By 1974 things had escalated to the point where, not knowing where to turn,  the family contacted the police. The foundation and structured were examined and found to be otherwise sound. Clergy were summoned to investigate and subsequently bless the home. Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famous paranormal investigators, also visited the home and later displayed pieces of a cross they claimed had “exploded”. They labeled the goings-on in the home, "one of the most famous well-documented poltergeist cases in history," according to a 1995 Connecticut Post article. MANSFIELD TRAINING SCHOOL (MANSFIELD) BACKGROUND: The hospital opened in Lakeville in 1860 as the Connecticut School for Imbeciles at Lakeville. Its name was changed to the Connecticut Training School for the Feebleminded at Lakeville in 1915. Two years later, it merged with the Connecticut Colony for Epileptics (founded at Mansfield in 1910) and acquired its present name. When it opened in 1917, the merged institution had 402 students in residence and by 1932, the resident population had grown to 1,070. During the Great Depression and World War II, demand for its services increased which resulted in both overcrowding and long waiting lists for enrollments. Staffing levels increased during the 1960s as philosophies on treatment of mental retardation changed. In 1993, after numerous lawsuits concerning the conditions of the hospital, Mansfield Training School was closed. PHENOMENA: Spirit orbs are often seen throughout the facility, as well as unexplained voices, sounds and shapes, especially in the Knight Hospital. TRIVIA: The Mansfield School was featured in a 2011 episode of Paranormal Witness. MARK TWAIN HOUSE (HARTFORD) BACKGROUND: Home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. Clemens biographer Justin Kaplan has called it "part steamboat, part medieval fortress and part cuckoo clock." Poor financial investments prompted the Clemens family to move to Europe in 1891 and The Panic of 1893 further threatened their financial stability, so Clemens, his wife Olivia, and their middle daughter, Clara, spent the year 1895-96 traveling so he could lecture and earn the money to pay off their debts. Their other two daughters, Susy and Jean, had stayed behind during this time, and Susy died at home in 1896 of spinal meningitis before the family could be reunited. They could not bring themselves to reside in the house after this tragedy and spent most of their remaining years living abroad. They sold the house in 1903. PHENOMENA: It’s now said to be haunted by the ghosts of Susy and Twain with claims of smelling cigar smoke in the billiards room. Staff and visitors have seen the apparition of a young woman in a long white dress who walks the halls and reported witnessing ghostly faces in the windows. Clothes have been tugged at, the laughter of children has been heard along with whispers and many other unexplained noises. TRIVIA: The Twain house was featured in an episode of TV’s Ghost Hunters. RED BROOK INN (MYSTIC) BACKGROUND: Now empty and up for sale, the home was built in 1770 by the Crary family. A woman named Ruth Keyes bought the property in 1980 and turned it into a bed and breakfast. PHENOMENA: Nancy Crary was born there in 1820 her apparition of Nancy Cracy has been described as a gray-haired woman in a shawl. She is often seen in the North Room on the second floor, and is rumored to have saved lives there when she awakened the guests after a fire broke out when some guests forgot to open their fireplace flue. Another resident ghost is a previous owner’s wife who banned her best friend from her home for 12 years after she discovered she was having an affair with her husband. When she passed away and her husband married the best friend. Years later, when the new wife booked her former husband’s 75th birthday at the Red Brook, a horrible stench of rotting or decay followed her and her guests from room to room, spoiling the party. A birthday carrot cake, created by the finest bakery in town, simply broke apart into hundreds of pieces when it was cut into. Voices and cold spots have been reported in the North Room by guests and staff alike in the years that have passed. REMINGTON ARMS FACTORY (BRIDGEPORT) BACKGROUND:  Founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. Remington is America's oldest gun maker and is claimed to be America's oldest factory that still makes its original product. Remington is the largest U.S. producer of shotguns and rifles. The company has developed or adopted more cartridges than any other gun maker or ammunition manufacturer in the world.  In 2014, a new plant was built in Huntsville, Alabama to produce AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles and Remington 1911 R1 pistols. In 2015, the Freedom Group was renamed as Remington Outdoor Company. Remington filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in March 2018, having accumulated over $950 million in debt. Remington exited bankruptcy in May 2018, less than two months after filing for protection under Ch. 11 laws. PHENOMENA: In terms of accidents there, two employees once fell to their deaths into a giant molten metal pot and an explosion on the production floor took place in 1942 that resulted in the deaths of seven workers and injuries to eighty others. It’s been assumed the explosion is responsible for the shadowy figures and disembodied voices and screams heard at the factory. Police responding to reports of intruders have claimed to witness some incredible activity. TRIVIA: The location has been featured on an episode of Travel channel’s Ghost Adventures. SEASIDE SANITORIUM (WATERFORD) BACKGROUND: Originally built to treat kids with tuberculosis but used as an elderly home, medical hospital, and a facility to treat the mentally disabled. In the 1930s it opened for children with tuberculosis. Then in 1958, it was used as an elderly home for 3 years, it was then used to treat the people with developmental disabilities until 1996. During the period in which they treated tuberculosis, it was called Seaside Sanatorium. When it housed the elderly it was called Seaside Geriatric Hospital. Then when reopened again it was called Seaside Regional Center for the Mentally Retarded. Governor Dannel Malloy made the decision to rebuild the Seaside Sanatorium as a state park. PHENOMENA: Staff who worked there reported cold spots, disembodied footsteps and a host of strange sounds when in there alone. Objects are said to move on their own and there are claims of the playground equipment outside moving as if being used by unseen figures. STEPNEY CEMETERY (MONROE) BACKGROUND: Established next to the Stepney Green in 1794. Many of the area's earliest settlers are buried in the cemetery; the oldest headstone belongs to Nathaniel W. Knapp (died 1787). The cemetery is also known as Birdsey's Plain Cemetery or Beardsley Plain Cemetery. PHENOMENA: Knapp, a Revolutionary War soldier, is said to toy with the cemetery guests. Urban legend alert >> He will pull the hair of young woman who visit and legend has it that if you visit his grave and say the words “Nathan, Nathan, come and play” you will feel his hand touch your shoulder. The cemetery is the home of the “White Lady” who visits both Stepney and Union Cemeteries. She is allegedly the spirit of a young woman who passed away in her mid to late 20’s during child birth and, like Knapp, plays pranks on people. She is usually sighted along Route 59 at night and motorists (including police) report seeing her along the side of the road or wandering the graveyard. In 1993, an off duty firefighter heading home struck the ghostly woman, leaving a large dent in the front of his car, but no body was found. TRIVIA: Stepney Cemetery is also known as the final resting place of famed demonologist Ed Warren. STERLING OPERA HOUSE (DERBY) BACKGROUND: On April 2, 1889 the doors of the Sterling Opera House were opened to the public to serve both political and entertainment needs. The lower two levels and the basement were actually the town's City Hall and police station until 1965. The auditorium was used for hundreds of shows and live musical performances in its day and many world-famous performers such as Harry Houdini and Red Skelton took the stage at Sterling. PHENOMENA: Visitors have experienced seeing shadow figures, orbs of light and objects moving on their own. It’s thought that the spirit of Charles Sterling, the man who the structure was named after, still visits the building. Other examples of activity include seeing and hearing a little boy named “Andy” playing with a soccer ball up in the balcony seats. Soccer balls and other toys scattered across the building are said to move from place to place or disappear. TRIVIA: The opera house was also the setting of an investigation in a 2011 episode of Ghost Hunters. UNION CEMETERY (EASTON) BACKGROUND: Union Cemetery dates back to the 1700s. According to ghost hunters, it is one of the "most haunted" cemeteries in the entire United States prompting Connecticut demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren to write a book about the cemetery entitled Graveyard. PHENOMENA: Ed Warren claims to have seen the ghost and have video of it. “The White Lady" haunts Union cemetery just as she does Stepney Cemetery in Monroe. She is described as wearing a white dress, nightgown or wedding dress and a bonnet. It’s been said the White Lady is a murder victim from the 1940s but some maintain she is a mother mourning the loss of a daughter. Many claim to have seen her, including police and firemen. Another spirit considered a staple here is called “Red Eyes”. A pedestrian visitor claimed to see a pair of red eyes peering at him from the bush and when he turned around to run, he heard footsteps following him. Researchers speculate that “Red Eyes” is the ghost of Earlie Kellog, the man who was said to have been set on fire in the street in 1935. WARNER THEATER (TORRINGTON) BACKGROUND: Opened on August 19, 1931 as part of the Warner Bros. chain of movie theaters. In the 1960s Warner Brothers sold the Warner Theater to a private owner who continued to show movies until the late 1970s. By the early 1980s the theater was closed and slated for demolition when a group of local citizens banded together and formed what is now known as the Northwest Connecticut Association for the Arts. This non-profit group worked passionately to save the landmark from destruction. After a successful grass-roots campaign, the association purchased the theater and re-opened it on May 22, 1983. PHENOMENA: One of its recurring spirits is said to be a man called 'Murph', who visits occasionally and roams all areas of the theater. He was said to be a homeless man looking for a warm place to spend the night and drunkenly stumbled down some stairs, eventually dying of his injuries. The apparition of a misty figure has been seen in the balcony during rehearsals has been described as a man in shabby clothing who vanishes from sight when he is spotted. Voices are often heard in the projection room and a glowing white figure is said to roam through the theater seats. A phantom usher appears in the lobby as a real and solid figure dressed in theater staff attire from an earlier era. YANKEE PEDLAR INN (TORRINGTON) BACKGROUND: In November 1890, Frank Conley brought the lot on the corner of Main Street and Maiden Lane for $8,000. His wife, Alice, was a native of New England while he had emigrated to the United States from Ireland. The couple then opened open the Conley Hotel making Alice the manager and Frank the hotel's operator. Throughout much of the first half of the 20th century, it was managed as a family business. After the couple died, the hotel was taken over by their niece and  was later expanded and renovated after it was sold by the family. Since then the inn has had many managers, owners, and employees. The business did not receive its name "The Yankee Pedlar Inn" until 1 March 1956, when the hotel was combined with the restaurant. The inn closed on 1 December 2015 for extensive renovations, which were expected to take 7-9 months to complete but subsequently stalled due to lack of funds. In September 2017, the property owner, Jayson Hospitality, said renovations would begin again that fall but the inn has never re-opened. Locals believe it never will. PHENOMENA: One of inn's the most haunted rooms is 353 where Alice Conley died and a rocking chair often moves on its own. Room 295 has had guests seeing spirits and feeling a presence climb into bed with them. The basement is another active spot with visitors reporting dizziness, doors opening and closing and the feeling of heaviness when entering. One guest reporting having bizarre dream then discovering their companion had the same exact dream. TRIVIA: Due to the notoriety of the inn, filmmaker Ti West shot the horror film The Innkeepers at the hotel which was based entirely around the inn's paranormal activity. RETURN TO PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE