ELLICOTTVILLE — Although the air was crisp and rainy, the spirits were active the night of Oct. 12 when about a dozen people gathered in downtown Ellicottville for the second annual ghost hunt presented by the Ellicottville Historical Society.
John Koerner and Rob deGuehery, of Paranormal Walks, guided the group along with officials with the historical society through several historic sites within the village, explaining some history and looking for any paranormal activity along the way.
“I think it was really cool,” said Ellen Frank, vice president of the historical society. “We had a few more people this year,” Frank said. “The weather probably held off some people.”
The night began at the Ellicottville Gazebo where interested ghost hunters gathered to go over what the hunt would include.
“John likes to say ghosts like to attach themselves to items,” deGuehery said. “They might follow an object or an item that was very close to them.”
Throughout the hunt, the group visited the town hall, historical society building, the United Church of Ellicottville and the Jefferson Street Cemetery, which had the most history and potential ghost activity and was both the first and final stop in the hunt.
“This year we added the church and the cemetery because last year we just did the town hall and the museum,” Frank said.
Established in 1817, the Jefferson Street Cemetery was the first to serve the village. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
This settlement-era burial ground consisting of eight to ten rows of burials. Over 400 burials are here dating from 1817 to the last in 2003. The markers are of marble, granite and sandstone.
“From what John has told me, ghosts have a lifespan of maybe 200 or 250 years, so we were in a pretty good parameter here,” deGuehery said.
On the hunt, Koerner and deGuehery used several methods to detect any activity, such as recordings and photography and by using mandrake to awaken the spirits.
The group visited a couple gravesites that produced some sounds on recorders and strange images on pictures, such as orbs, shadows and one with a deformed face.
The next stop on the hunt was the Ellicottville Town Hall, located in the northwest corner of the village square. Constructed in 1829, replacing a log courthouse and jail built in 1820, this building once served as the Center of Cattaraugus County Government.
In 1868, the county seat moved to Little Valley, so the town purchased the building to use as the Town Hall. Until the turn of the 20th century, plays, concerts, lectures and other forms of entertainment were held on a stage installed on the second floor.
A fire heavily damaged the building in 1969. Saved from demolition by a determined group of citizens, the exterior was restored to its original appearance and the fire-gutted interior was fully remodeled. In 1973 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now the center of both Town and Village governments.
The group made recordings in the upstairs court and conference rooms, the back staircase and the back parking lot where the jail would have stood. Hunters asked questions about debates, court cases, hangings and prisoners, some of which spiked the recorders’ activity.
Some of the most visual evidence of awakened spirits came at the United Church of Ellicottville on Elizabeth Street. Constructed in 1829 as the United Church of Christ, the church merged with the Free Presbyterian in 1976.
Paranormal activity was most prominent at the front entrance near the old staircase that goes up to the balcony and old organ. As the group gathered recording for evidence, several coat hangers and a door into the sanctuary began to move by themselves.
At the end of the hunt, the group gathered back at the Ellicottville Historical Museum.
Constructed in 1853 as one of the former corners of the Village Square, the current museum site has been the location of the County Clerk’s Office, a bank, a German Protestant Lutheran Church and a millinery shop.
In 1894, a belfry was added and the brick structure became a firehouse for the volunteer fire department meetings. The fire department stored their man-powered firefighting equipment in a shed in the back of the building.
Since then, this structure has served as a school with a Home Economics Classroom and a public library, but the hundreds of old artifacts there now gave off plenty of paranormal activity for the hunters to pick up, including a couple wedding dresses.
“One thing we have set up in the history museum around the dresses is the white noise going and we actually have magnetic tape doing the recording,” deGuehery said. “We did a number of digital recordings last year and they did end up presenting some sounds.”
Frank said because of the increased attendance despite the weather, the historical society is already planning on trying for a third ghost hunt in 2019.
For more information and to see evidence from Friday’s hunt, go to www.paranormalwalks.com.
(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)