There are hundreds of ghosts stories that originate along the canal, many right here in Lockport. I've heard of different accounts of the bridge story. Most often I've heard it was a soldier who was killed in or near the Cold Springs cemetery. To this day he still carries out his sentry duties by keeping an eye on those who cross the bridge. Legend has it that if you drive by at a certain time of night or during a new moon, if you dare to look in your rear view mirror you will find the ghost staring back at you, escorting you past the cemetery.

I've heard of two ghosts that specifically haunt Wyndham.

John Pound was a community activist, serving as a lawyer, a mayor of Lockport and many other offices of leadership. Among his many board positions, he was President of the "Home of the Friendless," which later became Wyndham Lawn. His ghost is said to walk the grounds night and day.

The other is that of a young child who contracted some unknown illness. 19th century doctors couldn't figure out what his affliction even was, thus he spent weeks in quarantine. Kept in solitude, the boy eventually succumbed to his ailment and died. His ghost has been seen peeking out through windows of his room, trying to catch a glimpse of the other children playing.

I've also heard of cases where things are moved around or go missing, footsteps in the attic, that sort of thing. I'm sure there are other sightings or ghostly activity there, as it's a very old establishment.

-- Edited by Mindcrime at 08:21, 2005-09-11

-- Edited by Mindcrime at 08:29, 2005-09-11

PFFF, you're no fun! =P

SCBan wrote:

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And if you stay up on Christmas eve you can see Santa.

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Boy you have a lot to learn SCBan. Everybody knows that if you stay awake all night on Christmas eve Santa won't come. I think the legend goes something like this:

...he knows if you are sleeping

   he knows when your awake

   he knows if you've been bad or good...

This is a compelling piece of footage.

Ghost On Film?

Judge for yourself...

Something wierd with the link, the scroll bars disappear, so you may have to turn up your sound manually and then right click on the black box, and select "Play."

-- Edited by Mindcrime at 01:38, 2005-10-16

RattyJenn -

I know what you mean - it makes my skin crawl just to drive by the place -

and that's in mid-afternoon!

That was really cool! I went in that house before as a kid a few times at night....I mean a friend did. It's real freaky!

Wow, you are a brave soul...I actually put a bid offer in on the old Robert Clark house down on Day Rd...it is also very historic, and creepy! I don't know, I drive by there a lot (Summit St.) and it is interesting, but not creepy, so to speak. I guess I am more weirded out by the mundane, like clowns and monkeys...especially monkeys!!! I must never go to the circus...

Did you guys ever check out those Mason Winfield books? They're really good. He writes all about local paranormal stuff. Don't read his books before you go to sleep!

 

I was just gonna write back, hey, I'm not from here, what's a butterface, then I got it...

I'll be the first one admit I'm a little dim...

The guys from TAPS, or most other 'ghost hunters' for that matter, are either scam artists or simply don't know what they're doing. You can't just walk through a house with night vision goggles and a $20 valence meter from Radio Shack and call yourself a paranormal investigator. Electronic thermometers and motion sensors aren't going to prove the existence of ghosts.

TAPS is a great example of well-funded amatuers, stumbling through the darkness, looking for a floating sheet. It's insulting to the ghosts, if they exist. They are plumbers. They have no formal training in physics, bio-chemistry, psychology, engineering, electronics, or any of the other specialties that real ghost hunters bring to the table. They don't know the capabilities of their equipment, they can't explain away something as rudimentary as 'orbs,' nor have they done any real investigation into the history of the sites they explore. They rely on questionable hearsay and conjecture to establish their conclusions.

I'd rather bring in real investigators, but not to that house. It's just an old house, and because it fits some haunted house stereotype, everyone thinks it MUST have some kind of presence. There are plenty of truly active sites in Niagara that would prove more interesting.

Mindcrime wrote:

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The guys from TAPS, or most other 'ghost hunters' for that matter, are either scam artists or simply don't know what they're doing. You can't just walk through a house with night vision goggles and a $20 valence meter from Radio Shack and call yourself a paranormal investigator. Electronic thermometers and motion sensors aren't going to prove the existence of ghosts. TAPS is a great example of well-funded amatuers, stumbling through the darkness, looking for a floating sheet. It's insulting to the ghosts, if they exist. They are plumbers. They have no formal training in physics, bio-chemistry, psychology, engineering, electronics, or any of the other specialties that real ghost hunters bring to the table. They don't know the capabilities of their equipment, they can't explain away something as rudimentary as 'orbs,' nor have they done any real investigation into the history of the sites they explore. They rely on questionable hearsay and conjecture to establish their conclusions. I'd rather bring in real investigators, but not to that house. It's just an old house, and because it fits some haunted house stereotype, everyone thinks it MUST have some kind of presence. There are plenty of truly active sites in Niagara that would prove more interesting.

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Whats a Orb?

What exactly is the difference between a profesional ghost hunter & an amature ghost hunter?
Judging by the lack of mainstreem evidence I can't really consider ghost hunting a profession.

I don't recall if I've met any Bio-Chemists so I don't know if many work as ghost hunters.

Do a search on the internet & you will find many theories on what people think orbs are.
But that is all they are.
Theories, ghost hunting isn't an exact science.
It isn't even a science.

Most pictures of orbs are just the flash reflecting off dust anyway.
My whole house was filled with orbs when I took pictures while they were refinishing my floors.

Do ghosts exist?
I don't know.
But until someone can show they can locate & prove the existence of spirits consistantly I don't see how anyone can critisize another's methods of ghost hunting.

I like ghost hunter's much better than the Travel Channels ghost shows where overdressed "Sensitives" over emphasize everything they say & cry ghost whenever a floor board creaks or equiptment malfunctions.

Nitrogen_Widget wrote:

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What exactly is the difference between a profesional ghost hunter & an amature ghost hunter? 

 I don't recall if I've met any Bio-Chemists so I don't know if many work as ghost hunters.

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Professionals know their equipment, and they know why and how it works. This is the only way to determine if what their equipment registers is naturally occuring or if it's 'out of place.'  Amatuers take their digital video camera, an EMF detector and a casette recorder and look in 'spooky' places hoping to catch a ghost on tape.

Professionals do more work in libraries and records halls than in darkened attics, researching and reading about a given site. Amatuers crowd into an old house waving flashlights and demand that the ghosts speak to them.

Professionals investigate a site and make conclusions based on what they find. Amatuers go into a situation with a pre-conceived notion and then try to find evidence that supports it. That's backwards science.

Bio-chemists can be effective members of any ghost hunting team, because to understand what an ethereal being would manifest itself as, you must first understand what the living ones do. A living being can change the ambient temperature in a room, make audible disturbances without knowing it, cause changes air density, and even give off their own electromagnetic field. When you understand how you yourself react with your environment, you can then determine what evidence is not the result of a living observer.

Orbs are the most common results of spirit photography, the specific attempt to capture a ghost on film. They are also the most easily dismissed. They appear as tiny balls of light, usually blurry and indistinctive, and as NW pointed out, they are most often the result of light relected off of airborne particles, reflective objects and even dirty lenses.