Halloween is a unique time for New York History sites around the state as many of them transform themselves into spooky places to learn a little history. Costumed historic interpreters, cemetery tours, haunted historic homes, and the haunted history of restless spirits and unexplained events are all on tap for this Halloween.
What follows is a listing of some of the most interesting, scariest, and fun-filled that are occurring around Halloween night.
Ticonderoga: Discover the unexplained past at Fort Ticonderoga’s Flashlight Nights, Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29 from 7 pm until 9 pm. This family-fun fall program will uncover Fort Ticonderoga’s layers of history and haunted stories at night in the Fort, on the landscape and in the 6-acre corn maze. The nighttime tours of the Fort will be led by costumed historic interpreters and will allow guests to enter areas of the fort where unexplained events have occurred. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 years and under. To guarantee a ticket, reserve a space for this special program by calling (518) 585-2821. Gates open at 6:30 pm and tours begin at 7:00 pm. Tickets are also available at the door the evening of the event between 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Bring your own flashlights. Flashlights required.
Elizabethtown: Adirondack History Center Museum is offering a program about Paranormal Discoveries on Saturday, October 29 at 4:00pm. The program begins with a report from Champlain & Adirondack Paranormal Investigations on their findings of paranormal activities at the museum. Jim Thatcher, Lead Investigator from Champlain & Adirondack Paranormal Investigations (CHAPI), will talk about their night at the museum on July 1, 2011. He will discuss the CHAPI team, their set-up, equipment and findings. Following the paranormal report, there will be a tour of the upper floor of the museum where unexplained activities occurred. Cider and donuts will be served. Come in costume – you may win a prize. Admission for the program is $5 for adults and $2 for students. The museum is located at 7590 Court Street, Elizabethtown, NY. Please call the museum for reservations at (518) 873-6466.
Saranac Lake: Saturday, October 29 at 1:00pm, local storyteller Bob Seidenstein will lead a tour of Pine Ridge Cemetery in Saranac Lake. Pine Ridge Cemetery is a microcosm of the history of Saranac Lake from its earliest settlement, through the village’s busy years as a health resort, to the present day. The cemetery began as a burial place for the Moody family, Saranac Lake’s first settlers. It grew to encompass the old St. Bernard’s Cemetery and the Hebrew Memorial Cemetery, as well as the lots surrounding them. Many of Saranac Lake’s prominent doctors are buried here, along with Norwegian Seamen, guideboat builders, and architects. Admission for the tour is $10 per person to benefit Historic Saranac Lake and the Pine Ridge Cemetery Association, a volunteer organization which maintains the historic cemetery. The tour will meet at 1:00 at the vault on the cemetery grounds.
Saratoga: Halloween Party and Car Show at the Saratoga Automobile Museum, October 29, 10 am to 2 pm. Dress up the car, yourself, and the kids, or don’t dress up at all. Candy bags, goody bags and fun for the whole family. Awards for the Best Dressed Cars and children’s costumes. Vehicle registration of $15.00 includes admission passes for the driver plus one, including the Museum’s new Porsche Exhibit. The Saratoga Automobile Museum is located at 110 Avenue of the Pines, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. For more information contact Peter Perry at (518)-587-1935 ext. 17 or [email protected].
New Paltz: For three nights Haunted Huguenot Street removes the veil of secrecy that stands between the living and the dead. If you are prepared for an experience that may be chilling, certainly repugnant, probably morbid, horrid or simply scary, this may be the perfect way to spend an evening. Tours run every 15 minutes on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29 from 7-11 pm and October 30, 6:30-9 pm. Not recommended for children under 12. A special craft activity prepared and presented by a team of art teacher and curator will be available for younger children for $5. Reservations are strongly recommended. $10/BOOK ONLINE , $15/DAY OF, $10/STUDENTS www.huguenotstreet.org | DuBois Fort Visitor Center, 81 Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY 12561 | 845.255.1660 or 1889
New Windsor: “It was dark back then” at Knox’s Headquarters, Saturday, October 29: Do you remember walking past a creepy looking house at night when you were a kid? Come and see ours from 8:00 – 8:30 or 8:30 – 9:00 PM and tour the grounds, if you dare. Reservations required. Knox’s Headquarters is located at 289 Forge Hill Road, in Vails Gate, New York, three miles southeast of the intersection of I-87 and I-84. The bridge over Moodna Creek, just east of Knox’s Headquarters, was damaged by Hurricane Irene, so access to the site is from State Route 94 only. For reservations and more information please call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.
Cooperstown: The Farmers’ Museum invites visitors to experience “Things That Go Bump In The Night.” Join museum interpreters as they lead you about the shadowy grounds and recount the many mysteries and ghostly happenings that have occurred within the buildings making up the Museum’s historic village. These tours will be held on two more nights only: Friday, October 28- and Saturday, October 29, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Museum guides will walk visitors through the darkened 19th-century village by lantern, stopping at various buildings throughout, including the Blacksmith’s Shop and Bump Tavern, weaving ghostly tales adapted from the Louis C. Jones’ classic, Things That Go Bump In the Night, a timeless record of haunted history and restless spirits in New York State. Participants will hear stories associated with the museum’s buildings as in the tale of a young ghost sighted by staff and guests in Bump Tavern and the mysterious early morning strikes on the blacksmith’s anvil. These hour-long tours will be held every half-hour between 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Reservations are required. Admission is $10 per person (ages 3 and up), please call (607) 547-1452.
Garrison: Author and renowned paranormal investigator, Linda Zimmerman and her partners will lead tour groups through the dimly-lit halls of Boscobel mansion. Accompanying Linda will be psychic and self-proclaimed psychometrist, Barbara Bleitzhofer. Barbara will be using her sixth sense to determine what spirits are present and why they are there. Each group will be armed with specialized equipment to detect the possible presence of supernatural entities, and group leaders will talk about their previous and mysterious findings inside Boscobel, as well as explain their techniques for spying supposed specters. Each tour is limited to 15 people so advance ticket purchase is required. Dates are Thursday October 27 and Friday October 28 at 6pm sharp. Adults $35, Children (12-14) $20, Friends of Boscobel members $30. Cider & cookies will be served. To purchase tickets, call 845-265-3638 x115 or stop by any day (but Tuesday.)
On Saturday, October 22, at 1:00 p.m., author Neil Godwin comes to the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell to talk about the subject of his acclaimed book, We Go as Captives: The Royalton Raid and the Shadow War on the Revolutionary Frontier, published last year by the Vermont Historical Society. Godwin will discuss the background of the Royalton Raid and some of the intrigues of the Revolutionary War in Vermont and the region. The event, the annual Robert J. Maguire lecture, is offered by the Mount Independence Coalition. 
