Plattsburgh Paranormal

The city boasts several easily accesible locations with spooky histories.

Story and photos by Megan W. Munroe

For 364 days of the year, many would call themselves fairly rational, no-nonsense, sensible people. On those 364 days, reality seems very tangible; the realm of the physical and the visible is all that seems to matter.

But for one day, October 31, we get in touch with our supernatural side. Whether or not you believe in ghosts and ghouls becomes unimportant that day. It’s enchanting just to make-believe for a few hours that the sheet-draped sixth-grader you pass on the sidewalk is a restless spirit, or that cackling teenage girls in tangled wigs and green splotches of face paint are wicked witches out to conjure up mischief and curse whomever crosses them. That’s the magic of Halloween.

Anyone who truly believes in the supernatural, however, will likely tell you that all things designated “otherworldly” are not restricted to one day alone. Paranormal activity, they’ll tell you, is an everyday thing; ghosts can and do roam the earth without a care for what the calendar says.

For a few weeks around Halloween, the Battle of Plattsburgh Association organizes “Haunted Haunts” tours of local spooky places, where legends tell of ghostly specters and other strange encounters. Though one can certainly pay for a ticket and enjoy listening to these stories and seeing these supposedly haunted sites from the safety and comfort of a warm bus, the more courageous (and of course those whose supernatural interests aren’t restricted to a single day) can venture out to experience the Plattsburgh paranormal for themselves — at any time of year.

"It’s not just ghost stories. It’s ghost stories mixed in with history."

Gordie Little, the tour’s narrator and author of a new book, “Ghosts of Clinton County,” describes a few of the stops and the stories that go along with them.

The U.S. Oval area, where the former Plattsburgh Air Force base used to be, is said to host a number of hauntings. The current City Recreation Center was once a morgue, and gym members have reported strange noises with no obvious cause. The Old Post Cemetery, where a number of unknown Battle of Plattsburgh soldiers and victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic are buried, is said to be haunted by a woman in white, eternally searching for her dead baby.

"The site of the former Mount Assumption Institute and Seton Catholic Center, now a senior center, was once called 'hanging hill.'"

A psychic friend of Little’s called the Old Stone Barracks “the most haunted building on the base,” Little says, but he points out that some of the rumors regarding the barracks are not true. Some ghost stories tell of the barracks’ purpose during the Revolutionary War — but it wasn’t even built until 1838. The building is not open to the public, but passersby might hope to catch a glimpse of an ethereal soldier — just don’t mistake his uniform for Revolutionary War garb.

The site of the former Mount Assumption Institute and Seton Catholic Center, now a senior center, was once called “hanging hill,” Little says.

Public hangings used to take place there, and today there are reported many reported hauntings in the immediate area and all along North Catherine Street.

In the heart of the city, Tiffany Way Apartments was formerly an orphanage, where children were severely abused. “The ghosts of these children are seen in the building all the time,” Little says. “Lots of stories come from there.”

Great stories aren’t always true, however, which is why the Battle of Plattsburgh Association tries to research local legends in the special collections section of Plattsburgh State’s Feinberg Library before adding a stop to the tour.

“It’s not just ghost stories,” Kristina Parker-Wingler, Battle of Plattsburgh Museum manager, says. “It’s ghost stories mixed in with history. Wherever we can, we go to firsthand accounts and historical information.”

The tour is still historical entertainment, so costumed actors are stationed in some locations to give tour-goers a little extra jolt.

The Battle of Plattsburgh Association has increased the number of tours to 10 because of previous years’ demand. This season, the tour’s fifth, is expected to turn out 140 people eager for a good ghost hunt.

Of course, many of the featured locations, particularly on the Old Base, are always available for brave soloists looking for a close encounter with the unexplainable.

The Northern New York Paranormal Research Society has investigated some of these famed Plattsburgh haunts, including Plattsburgh State’s Macdonough Hall and the City Recreation Center, where the city’s first Paranormal Expo was held Saturday, Oct. 24.

NNYPRS had a table with equipment and information set up at the Paranormal Expo, and visitors had many questions ranging from how investigations are set up, why popular TV programs like Ghost Hunters investigate at night with the lights out, or whether hauntings in their own homes might be real.

"We’re looking to give people answers and find the truth. That’s our motto – ‘Seek Truth.’ Plain and simple."

NNYPRS member Brian Leighton discussed past cases and case methods. In their investigation of the Recreation Center, he says, the team conducted a “standard investigation” using digital video cameras, EMF meters, tape recorders and other equipment – and found nothing.

“In this place, it’s all about acoustics,” he says in regards to reports of gym members hearing strange and seemingly inexplicable noises. The investigation lasted five hours, and found that any noise from upstairs could be heard in the basement and vice versa – a scientific explanation for the alleged “haunting.”

In Macdonough Hall, however, Leighton says the group recorded “a lot of interesting sounds” that could be evidence of a haunting, but that noise from student residents couldn’t be ruled out as a possible cause. Though the results were inconclusive, the team did verify some rumored history of the building – that during its construction, several gravestones were unearthed but building continued in the same location.

Such local history is a big part of their investigations, Leighton says. The team spends a significant amount of time researching a location’s history, usually all the way back to the first settlement. This documented history is presented to all clients, in most cases homeowners, when the group presents the report of their findings after the initial investigation has concluded. In some cases, the team will return to a location several times to follow up on initial results. Each investigation is done free of charge, and the team operates entirely on member dues, donations, and fundraising events like the Paranormal Expo.

“We’re looking to give people answers and find the truth,” Leighton says. “That’s our motto – ‘Seek Truth.’ Plain and simple.”

And in most cases, Leighton says, clients are really just looking for “someone to tell them they’re not crazy.”  

Have you or anyone you know had a paranormal experience?