ELLICOTTVILLE — The annual Ghost Walk series hosted by the Ellicottville Historical Society is back, keeping alive the history of Ellicottville with a spooky twist.
It’s an evening of seeking out spirits and storytelling outside some of Ellicottville’s oldest buildings and the Jefferson Street Cemetery. During the ghost walk, attendees will hear new stories of people and things that have happened in and around the village.
Guided by Ellen Frank, historical society vice president, participants stroll through the village and make their way to Jefferson Street Cemetery where she talks about Ellicottville’s history and tells ghostly tales of former Ellicottville residents from the 1800s along the way. While at the cemetery they will visit more graves than in past years.
Jefferson Street Cemetery is said to have the most paranormal activity during the annual ghost walks series. Frank said there has been quite a bit of paranormal activity in past years.
“Ellicottville is full of ghosts,” she said. “I’ve never really thought of Ellicottville as haunted but the stories show that we could have spirits.”
Frank said one story is a well-dressed gentleman, presumably from the 1800s, who sometimes makes an appearance in the kitchen at Finnerty’s Tap Room that sits on the site of a former building owned by Fitzpatrick & Weller lumber. Frank researched this man and thinks there may be a possible connection between a fire in the late 1800s which killed three workers in that area.
“There was a hanging where the Ellicottville Brewing Company is now located. It was a furniture factory and undertaker business in 1835,” she continued. “They say fire is a big reason for spirit activity, and in the 1800s Ellicottville had a lot of fires. The whole block burned in 1890 and the Catholic Church burned twice, the court house twice.”
Frank has four new ghostly stories from the mid-to-late-1800s to tell on this year’s walk. She gets her information from articles published in local newspapers from the 1800s, and most involve murder.
“This year, I have eight people I talk about in Jefferson Street Cemetery. Some are from the past, but I have a couple of new ones that I found last year,” she said. “Through my research, I discovered a story about a man who was hung and is buried in the cemetery and I take the group to his gravesite.”
The use of ghost-hunting applications on their cellphones makes the experience even more fun for the participants. Frank said attendees are encouraged to use a free version of Ghost Observer, a ghost app that creates a simulation and turns a cell phone camera into a ghost tracker. She said the sightings and occurrences are different every year as far as what the participants are going to hear, sight or pick up on an app.
According to Frank, one attendee in a 2021 tour experienced an encounter with a friendly ghost. Marvin, a postal worker in Ellicottville over 200 years ago, made an appearance through the app.
“Last year, we also had some paranormal activity near the Jefferson Inn Bed & Breakfast, which was once a funeral home,” she said. “This was the first time we’ve ever had anybody have any activity at that site. They had a meter and it spiked showing that it detected activity and nobody had ever seen that on their app.”
Now in its sixth year, Frank said this is her third year of leading curious people on the Ghost Walk tours hosted by the historical society. She said the groups get bigger as Halloween gets closer, and they’ve had as many as 55 participants show up.
“History can be fun, and this is one way I love to show it while supporting our local museum,” she added.
The Friday night events have been underway for several weeks with two more walks scheduled for Oct. 21 and 28. Participants meet at the village gazebo in front of the village hall at 7 p.m. and the walk begins at 7:30.
The walks are family-oriented, interactive and instructive. They take place rain or shine, last about 90 minutes and are limited to 50 people. Bringing a flashlight or using a smartphone when walking through the cemetery is recommended.
The cost of the event is $10 per person, cash or check, and may be paid the night of the walk. Walk-ins are welcome. Proceeds from the ghost walks support the Ellicottville Historical Society and Museum. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Frank at (716) 699-2276 or (716) 474-8528.
