Ghosts & Spooks
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The Ghost of Estherwood
Just a few miles south of Sleepy Hollow—where ghost stories practically grow on trees—you’ll find the Masters School, a private co-ed institution with a knack for blending academics and a dash of the supernatural. Its sprawling 96-acre campus in Dobbs Ferry, NY, is home to Estherwood, a 19th-century Gilded Age mansion built by James Jennings McComb for his second wife, Mary Esther Wood. And while Mary’s been gone for over a century, rumor has it she’s still hanging around, giving us the latest entry in our paranormal playlist: the ghost of Estherwood Mansion. J.J. McComb wasn’t just a man of wealth; he was a man of clever patents—specifically, a cotton-baling…
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The Ramapo Spook Rock & Indian Rock
Rockland County is so aptly named for its enormous relationship with the geological. From the cliffs of the Palisades to the South, to the Ramapo Mountains in the west, “…the county appears to have been well named, and it is not surprising that it was not looked on in favor as an agricultural region” as there are just a lot of rocks. But not just any old run-of-the-mill stones, there are two of particular interest in this region, protruding into modern-day from the past to remind us of the many things that were here before and that sometimes history and lore are forever entwined. Spook Rock The terminology of “spook…
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The Fiery Ghosts of Mount Gulian
Here at Sleepy Hollow Country we first learned of the fiery ghosts of Mount Gulian through a series of articles titled “Weird Westchester Tales,” published in Westchester County newspapers in 1956. Reporter E. L. MacKay opened the series with one of our favorite local legends, that of Spook Rock in Sleepy Hollow. MacKay next shared the following eerie tale from further up the Hudson Valley. The Ghosts of Mount Gulian Unveiled While many have claimed to see or hear ghosts, such stories are often dismissed, especially when the witness is alone. But in this case, the spectral figures were witnessed by not just one, but four people—a policeman and three…
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The Passionate Phantasms of Croton-on-Hudson
The following story is a particular treat for Sleepy Hollow Country. This decades-spanning tale features some incredible facts: a charming adventurer, a renowned opera singer, tragic deaths, no less than four possible ghostly “phantasms”, two separate seances, and a famed ghost hunter; all wrapped up somewhat neatly in a beautiful and unassuming stone mansion located in the quaint community of Croton-on-Hudson. Clifford Burke Harmon Clifford B. Harmon is just the character for a ghost story. Larger-than-life, this entrepreneur, developer, and dashing Edwardian Era wild child deserves a more thorough exploration all to himself. Still, for the sake of brevity, we will hit the best points. Harmon was born in Ohio…
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The Ghost of Sybil Harris King
The ghost of Sybil Harris King is reputed to linger around her former mansion which today is part of the Tarrytown House Estate. This corporate retreat center and event venue, located in Tarrytown, New York, has a rich history that dates back to the 19th century. The property is the combination of three Gilded Age estates owned by wealthy families who were drawn to the Hudson River Valley for its scenic beauty and proximity to New York City. It is situated on East Sunnyside Lane, just off South Broadway and not far from Washington Irving’s home, Sunnyside. Of the three original mansions, two remain standing: Uplands of broker James S.…
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The Ghosts of Emily Shaw’s Inn
Emily Shaw’s Inn, once a popular restaurant, was located just 20 miles from Sleepy Hollow as the raven flies. Generations of Westchester County residents celebrated holidays and special occasions over the more than four decades Emily and her son John operated the venerable Pound Ridge establishment. The original part of the building was built as a residence around 1833, attributed to Alsop Hunt Lockwood. Eventually it served as a boarding house known as Dexter Lodge. By the early 1900s the population of this part of the county dropped precipitously as farming in the area fell into steep decline. By the 1930s the building, like many of its neighbors, was rundown…
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Tragedy at the Boutonville Oak
Let’s hike in the woods of the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation to the Boutonville Oak. We can thread along roads and trails, traverse hollows, and make our way along densely wooded hillsides. It is a nature preserve of nearly 4,400 acres and one of Sleepy Hollow Country’s largest parks. It has a deep and storied history and the many points of interest can lead from one legend to the next. History of the Boutonville Oak Embedded on the far eastern border though, towers an ancient and gnarled oak tree. Known locally as the Boutonville Oak, for its proximity to the hamlet of Boutonville, this sentinel in the landscape took root…
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The Reckoning of the Piermont Ghost
“If ghosts were as plentiful in fact as they are in newspaper columns white-robed shapes and people who can be seen through would be almost as numerous as stray cats. It is astonishing what a quantity of ghost stories are in circulation among the journals of the country.” -White Plains Eastern State Journal, April 23, 1887 Five miles from Sleepy Hollow as the raven flies, or ten by highway, lies a stretch of road where the Piermont ghost had the time of its afterlife in March of 1887, terrorizing residents of the villages of Sparkill and Piermont. Unlike the shy specters hiding in attics, this ghost was the social butterfly…
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The Ghost of Grand View
“It was not long after that when towels were mysteriously removed from the bathroom and left in fantastic shapes in various parts of the house. Whenever all the occupants left the house, things were sure to be turned topsyturvy. Clocks stopped, trunks were unlocked, furniture displaced, but there was never any evidence that these things had been done for the purpose of plunder.” The New York Herald, August 27th, 1908. The Ghost of Grand View Arrives Something strange was happening in the Blauvelt house in the summer of 1908. It began when Mrs. Blauvelt came home to find what appeared to her to be an elderly man sitting on her…
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Haunted Taverns of Sleepy Hollow Country
Alright, fellow ghouls and goblins, it’s time to raise a glass to the spirits—both the ghostly kind and the kind that come in a glass. Our exploration of the haunted taverns of Sleepy Hollow Country is your chance to sip and savor the best wines, ciders, and spirits the Hudson Valley has to offer. Think you’re brave? Join us as we uncover spirits who checked in but never left. Just remember: the Headless Horseman might not have a head, but you still need yours to enjoy all the spirits responsibly. When it comes to phantoms in these parts, Sleepy Hollow’s Headless Horseman is the undisputed big dog. But unfortunately he…
