Ghosts & Spooks
From headless horsemen to haunted mansions, Sleepy Hollow and the surrounding Hudson River Valley is a treasure trove of ghostly encounters waiting to be unraveled. Join us on a thrilling journey as we delve into the mysterious and supernatural, uncovering the chilling history and spine-tingling tales that make Sleepy Hollow Country a destination like no other.
Know of a ghost whose story we should tell? Please write us at ghost.editor@sleepyhollowcountry.com.
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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, is a stretch of road where the Piermont ghost terrorized two villages in March and April of 1887. We cover a lot of reported ghost sightings in these pages but this one stands out for the regularity of the ghost’s appearances…
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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…
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The Baychester Depot Ghost
Andrew J. Parker died “suddenly” at the age of 63 in September 1885 in the village of Pelham, NY. For most of his life, he worked as a chemist, and in Pelham, he had been the manager of the Neptune Powder Mill, a dynamite company. As an employee of a dynamite manufacturer, he lived much longer than anyone of that time would have figured; as it was a volatile and dangerous trade. But he was lucky to have survived and retired to spend time with his family. News reports at the time never explained exactly how Parker died, but not being blown to pieces was perhaps the most unexpected part…
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Ghosts of St. Barnabas Church
“Most longtime parishioners at Irvington’s Church of St. Barnabas cheerfully accept the idea that there are ghosts that haunt the venerable Episcopal Church and its Rectory.” –The Hudson Independent, October 2, 2011. St. Barnabas Church in Irvington, New York, an Episcopal congregation, traces its history to the mid-1850s when The Reverend John McVickar purchased a 30-acre property north of Main Street for a summer residence. This was in part due to his friendship with author Washington Irving whose own home, Sunnyside, was less than a mile away. Around 1852 McVickar set about improving his property and the spiritual well-being of the community by launching the construction of a chapel and…
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Ghosts of the Octagon House
“We have a ghost here, you know. Oh yes, we have. It followed us from 144 West 12th Street in New York City where we used to live. We’ve never seen it; it’s a fragrance that haunts the house.” -Carl Carmer This colorful house is an architectural and visual gem. With a string of occupants as colorful as the house itself, you would be perfectly reasonable to suspect a few lingered on after death. Before we get to the ghosts—and several owners have heartily embraced the presence of resident spirits—let’s take a brief look at its history and the characteristics that make it one-of-a-kind. The Armour-Stiner House is one of…
