As we are getting closer to scariest time of the year it’s time for part two of our Creepy Ghost Stories From New York City article.
A Ghosts At The Merchant’s House
Perhaps the most famous spirits in New York City are the ghosts that haunts Merchant House Museum. The Merchant’s House Museum, known formerly as the Old Merchant’s House and as the Seabury Tredwell House, is the only nineteenth-century family home in New York City preserved intact — both inside and out. Built “on speculation” in 1832 by Joseph Brewster, a hatter by trade, it is located at 29 East Fourth Street, between Lafayette Street and the Bowery in Manhattan.
Joseph Brewster, the builder, sold the house to Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy New York merchant, for $18,000. Tredwell’s daughter, Gertrude, was born in the house in 1840. Gertrude and her seven siblings, two brothers and five sisters, all lived in the house together with their parents, four servants, and an ever-changing assortment of nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and other relatives. Only two daughters and one son ever married, which was unusual for that era and for an affluent family with social position.
Seabury died in 1865 and the remaining family lived at the home into old age. Gertrude, the youngest member of the immediate family, lived here alone for 24 years after the death of her sister Julia in 1909. As she grew older and more eccentric she became obsessed with holding on to the elegant home in a neighborhood that had become, by the early 20th century, a run-down, semi-industrial, and disreputable part of town. Burdened with severe financial hardship in her last years, she somehow managed to keep the beautiful home in nearly original condition, long after all the neighboring private homes had been demolished or converted into rooming houses, tenements, or commercial structures.
The Merchant House is also considered Manhattan’s most haunted house. The 3 ghosts that are seen the most often are all members of the Tredwell family. Many believe it is Gertrude Tredwell, in particular, who is watching over her family home. She sometimes appears as a young woman but more often as an elderly lady. She is seen on the staircase, in the front bedroom where she died and “hovering within view of the front door.”
Since the early 1930s museum staff, volunteers, visitors and neighbors–including people who just pass by the home have reported seeing, hearing and smelling unexplainable things.
Mickey the Sailor
The Ear Inn, aka The Green Door (perhaps an allusion to the O. Henry short story), began its life at 326 Spring Street as the James Brown House in 1817. The first owner was James Brown who fought in the Revolutionary Army. Legend has it that he was an aide to none other than George Washington himself, and that he even appears at Washington’s side in Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 painting titled “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”
The spirits said to haunt the Ear are sailors who never left, victims of the river’s relentless tide, people who lost themselves to a bottle or twenty, and women of the night who remain stuck in the darkness. And then of course, the most popular of ghosts, Mickey.
There is no clear answer on how Mickey sailed his last mortal voyage. One leading theory is that Mickey, after a long trip at sea, craved alcohol. After disembarking his ship, he dashed from port into the bar in a deranged froth, desperate for a drink of hard liquor. He got what he wanted, and more, as he drank, and drank, and drank until it poisoned him. It is believed, per this theory, that he died on the very place he sat, his bar stool, and that his spirit, undeterred by his cause-of-death, has been an ongoing patron ever since.
The other leading theory on Mickey’s death states that Mickey wasn’t away at sea, but right at his home-away-from-home, the Ear Inn, in 1920. He had a normal night, per his habits, of heavy drinking, but then decided to go to his real home. As he drunkenly sauntered out of the bar, his walk was cut short. He was struck by a car in the midst of crossing the street, and shortly died from his injuries. Given this account, it is possible that his spirit took perpetual refuge in the bar, as it was the last safe place his mortal form knew before his sudden death.
After his death, Mickey’s love of the Ear Inn is as strong as ever, albeit even more debauched, as if he’s been emboldened by crossing over. As a ghost, he’s developed a preference for a particular style of supernatural teasing and torment. He doesn’t wail and spook bar patrons like the average ghoul, or seek to drive visitors into spirals of shock and fear with grotesque projections.
Instead, he prods at waitresses, making them squirm and shriek all the same from his literally cold, presumptuous advances. Female guests who’ve dared to stay upstairs overnight have also complained that Mickey has cheekily snuck into bed with them, seeking to cozy up with the warmth from the (feminine) living.
In addition to his lustful pursuits, Mickey also has, in stereotypical sailor fashion, a penchant for casually stealing swigs from patrons’ drinks. All too commonly, one moment, a bargoer orders a drink, brings it from the bar, and sets their drink down at their table. The next moment, their drink is mysteriously quaffed, leaving them with both a dry glass and deep, deep confusion.
Washington Square Park Ghosts
The park may seem ordinary with benches and beautiful trees to the eye but once you find out whats actually there your whole mind concept shifts. The park has a rich history of paranormal events.
The haunted Washington Square park is located in Greenwich Village on West 4th street. Centuries ago before the park was even established a stream flowed throughout the ground giving fresh water to the Indian Lenape Tribe. Many report that the park was a burial ground for the Indians. Years later after the Revolutionary War the parks ground was used as a potter’s field. Because, an outburst of yellow fever epidemic occurred the park became a burial ground for over 20,000 bodies.
One of the many structures the park has is a beautiful fountain. This is the exact place where many criminals were being executed and buried.
Upon the parks brutal history, there have been many reporting’s where people have witnessed paranormal occurrences. Some even said they have seen people walking around dressed up in 18th century outfits and then just disappear. The park is also famous for its particular tree which is knows as “Hangman’s Elm” It is located in the Northwest corner of the park. Legend has it that a woman named Rose Butler was hanged from this tree for committing a treacherous act where she burned down a house she worked in. Some people have reported that they have seen a shadow swinging from the tree.
Anomalies At Green-Wood Cemetery
Of course this overtly Gothic graveyard – consisting of 478 acres of graves and remarkable mausoleums – is haunted. How could it not be? This necropolis of peaceful rolling hills and sculptures wasn’t actually a cemetery until 1838. And in 1776, it had been the site of the Battle of Long Island. The land has seen its share of bloodshed, so it’s no surprise that witnesses have seen hazy figures and felt strange gusts while visiting the grounds.
People have also claimed to capture ghostly figures in their photographs and some have even come face-to-face with the spirit of Mabel Douglass. Douglass’s body was found at the bottom of Lake Placid, petrified, in perfect condition, 30-years after she disappeared. She is now buried in Green-Wood and people still claim to see her roaming around often.
The catacombs, which are closed to the public, can only be explored around Halloween when they turn the final resting place of 560,000 people into a haunted-attraction. As if that weren’t bad enough, some bozo decided to start lurking around the cemetery dressed in full creepy-clown attire carrying balloons. Anyone looking for an all around strange time, should stop in at Green-Wood.
A Haunted Dorm At NYU
The Brittany Residence Hall over at NYU is infamous for its alleged haunting. Since its opening, many guests have gone in an out of the building, but one young child never left. That guest is Molly, a young old girl who, nearly 90 years ago.
Allegedly, during construction in the hotel Molly was playing in the hallway with her dolls when she lost her balance and fell down an elevator shaft and died. Her body was never recorded to be found, leaving the haunting question of whether or not her spirit ever passed over. Many residents throughout the years have had experiences that say she is still in the dorm haunting the halls and looking for playmates among the new herd of college freshmen each year.
Other reports about Molly include hearing knocks on dorm room doors in the middle of the night, taps on the walls, and a quiet humming heard throughout the building late at night. The floors creak when no one is there, and cold breezes rush through the halls though the windows are closed.
Further reading:
Creepy Ghost Stories From New York City (Part 1)
