The haunted places of Lake George Village

Image: Artistic rendering of a specter some claim to have experienced in Lake George

Lake George Village draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, and most experience it as a bright place of unparalleled beauty and year-round fun. During the warmer months, the streets, beaches and parks are filled with people dining and drinking on lakeside decks. Shoppers crowd the sidewalks to peruse the t-shirts, souvenirs and gifts offered at shops along Canada Street and Beach Road. The ding of pinball machines ring out from the arcades, and the Minne-Ha-Ha’s calliope plays happy tunes before heading out with boatfuls of tourists.

Cool weather moves much of the activity inside with live music, dancing, hearty food and drink by a crackling fire. February’s chill brings crowds to the Village for Winter Carnival’s races, food cook-offs, dog shows and high-spirited polar plunges. Cheerfulness is reflected in the sparkling snow and ice.

For these reasons, and more, Lake George is a top vacation destination. However, this modern scene is built upon grounds that have seen bloody battles, a horrific massacre and other dark events that many claim have left behind restless spirits that haunt the Village. The history of Lake George is buried, literally, under the buildings, streets and sidewalks of the Village.

More than once over the decades, street repairs and new construction projects have come to an abrupt halt with the discovery of human remains. A former Village Street Department worker tells of a time back in the 1970s when infrastructure work was stopped when a skull rolled out of the embankment where they were digging. A Cortland Street construction project was put on hold in February 2019 when the crew uncovered a Revolutionary War-era burial site.

When history reveals itself in Lake George, it is not always as inanimate bones. Those sensitive to paranormal activity report many close encounters with spirits from the nether regions. These are some of the most active haunted spots in town:

The Woodbine Hotel

The old Victorian house at 75 Dieskau in Lake George Village has quite a history. It originally stood on Canada Street but was moved to the back street in 1926.  At that spot, next to the Caldwell Cemetery, Samuel “Pinky” McFerson and his wife Dorothy operated the Woodbine as a hotel and restaurant. They catered to an African American clientele, and the Woodbine became known for its Southern-style soul food, jazz and blues.

The McFersons have passed on, but the Woodbine remains open. In recent decades, the Victorian lady has been home to the Lemon Peel Lounge and is now the Backstreet BBQ.

Over the years, many have reported seeing ghosts in the building. Some claim the spirit of Dorothy McFerson resides in the kitchen. Long-dead Woodbine patrons have been seen in the barroom. They appear very much alive, no different from any living customer (with the exception of the vintage clothing) but, rather than leaving the establishment through the front door, they disappear into the walls.

Activity from the spirit world isn’t confined to the street level. One former lodger, whose room was in the third-floor tower, says she always heard footsteps and laughter in the hall outside her room, but when she opened her door, the hallway would be empty. These spirits do not appear to be malevolent; they are partying spirits who do not want to rest in peace while good food, live music and booze are being served up at the old Woodbine.

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The Old Warren County Courthouse

The 1845 courthouse was the seat of Warren County government until 1963. In its time, the building has seen many criminal trials and has housed some notorious outlaws. The Lake George Historical Association has preserved the building and keeps it open to the public as a museum of local history. 

Association members Scott and Sandie Bauberger have often been in the museum after closing time to finish Association business.  They both report unsettling incidents — unexplained cold drafts, an invisible clammy hand gripping Sandi’s shoulder, a radio that begins playing music on its own. By far, the creepiest place in the building is the old basement jail.

A narrow flight of stairs descends into the damp and musty area. The windowless cells, with their cold stone walls, are barely large enough to hold a flimsy cot. According to Scott, many visitors that dare to open the iron-barred doors and step inside quickly retreat as the pressure of a haunting “presence” makes it difficult to breathe.

Fort William Henry

The Fort William Henry Museum is a replica of the original fort that stood on that spot at the head of Lake George. The original British fort was built in 1755 and burnt to the ground two years later following a massacre that was sensationalized in newspapers of the time. Accounts describe scenes of terror as rogue Native Americans, allied with the French, attacked and scalped surrendering British and Colonial troops. Victims included women, children and the infirmed. Fascinated with the history, James Fenimore Cooper made the massacre the climactic scene in The Last of the Mohicans.

Museum employees and guests have reported strange occurrences within the rebuilt fort, unexplained footsteps, erratic lights and brushes with unseen entities. SyFy Channel Ghost Hunters Investigators looked into these reports in 2010 and did confirm paranormal activity on the site. Fort William Henry Museum offers candlelit Ghost Tours for those brave enough to enter the haunted fort after dark.

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The Indian Fountain in Battlefield Park

Adjacent to Fort William Henry is the State-owned Battlefield Park. It is the site of the 1755 Battle of Lake George fought between the British and French as the two empires clashed over control of North America. Several hundred were slaughtered that September day, and visitors to the park report the sound of musket fire can still be heard on the grounds and ethereal regiments of colonial soldiers are seen marching past what is now the Warren County Bikeway.

Educational markers are spread throughout the grounds to assist visitors with a self-guided interpretive tour. Monuments and statues depict important figures in Lake George’s history. In a shady glen of the park, a statue of a Native American drawing water from a stream is reported to be the site of paranormal activity.

Visitors claim they’ve seen the specter of an Indian briefly mimicking the statue’s pose, then fading from sight. Native Americans figured prominently in the Colonial Wars, allied with both the French and the British. These wars forever changed their culture, and this haunting seems a sad reminder of what was lost when the Europeans turned these native hunting grounds into bloody battlegrounds.

The Caldwell Cemetery

Graveyards are gloomy places even on the most brilliant of summer days. The Caldwell Cemetery in Lake George is a hodgepodge of small plots created over 200 years. Tombstones along its Northern border disappear into the woods. The cemetery is built on top of an 18th Century burial site. Smallpox victims from Fort William Henry were laid to rest at this spot a safe distance from the living.

The Caldwell spirits do not rest easy. Visitors to the graveyard report hearing musket fire and smelling burnt powder as they walk the graveyard’s paths. Some have reported seeing apparitions in the forms of soldiers at the site. Author Lynda Lee Macken, who has written several books on haunted places in New York and New Jersey, wrote that as a teenager, she had her own paranormal experience in the Caldwell Cemetery.

According to Macken, while on a Lake George camping trip, she and friends were investigating the graveyard when they saw a burial vault glowing orange. She returned the next day to discover it was the tomb of Lake George founder James Caldwell.

Caldwell, a Donegal County, Ireland immigrant, was a successful businessman in Albany, and in his later years, spent much of his time at his Lake George property, eventually establishing the Village of Caldwell in 1810. His namesake town was renamed Lake George in 1962.

While his mills and other enterprises flourished, he had much tragedy in his personal life, outliving his children and several grandchildren. He died in Albany in 1829 and was buried there with his family. In 1855, the family’s graves were moved to the Caldwell Cemetery.

The Caldwell Cemetery is next to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. James Caldwell was a Presbyterian and Northern Ireland expatriate. One wonders if the orange glow from his grave is a protest against the burial of his bones in a Catholic churchyard.