Haunted Beardslee Castle Ghosts and Other Paranormal Activity

Built on haunted Mohawk Valley ground, Beardslee Castle, now a restaurant, has ghosts, poltergeist activity and other inexplicable events.

When Augustus and Lavina Beardslee were on a European vacation in the early 1860s, she fell in love with the castles, especially an Irish one. He hired an architect to create a copy of that castle, then brought back the blueprints and Irish stone masons to build it in the Mohawk Valley on land that had already seen its share of tragedy.

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One-hundred years earlier, during the French and Indian War, the land housed a French homestead or fort, according to varying references, filled with ammunition. A band of AmerIndians slipped into the fort and accidentally blew it up when sparks from their torches ignited gun powder. Beardslee Castle was the scene of subsequent tragedies. The building and its grounds are haunted.

Ghosts of Beardslee Castle

People have sensed a strong AmerIndian presence on the grounds and surrounding area.

Legend is that Abigail, one of the haunters, was a bride who died the night before her wedding. People have felt the presence of a woman wearing a high-collared white dress. Workers noticed a strong smell of perfume in an empty carriage house.

Pop Christensen owned the first restaurant in the castle and hanged himself in the building following a long illness. Some believes his ghost haunts the castle.

Many witnesses reported seeing the blue light of a lantern on the castle’s grounds. One of Pop Christensen’s granddaughters saw the lantern floating by itself behind the building. Some believe it’s the ghost of Guy Beardslee roaming on the grounds, holding the lantern, searching for his lost son who either drowned in a pond or had been hit by train, according to varying accounts.

Drivers have seen a ghostly young child walking by the roadside late at night.

A couple driving past the castle were horrified when a young woman stepped into the road. Their car struck her, according to the couple and witnesses in another car. The police were called and, although all checked the road in the vicinity of the accident, no woman was found and there were no marks on the car.

Paranormal Activity in Beardslee Castle

When staff members were playing with a Ouija board, lights went out and one player was pushed in the chest and, allegedly, flew across the room. The next morning, tables and chairs had been overturned and silverware, broken bottles and glasses had been tossed about the room.

The center stall toilet in the upstairs ladies room flushes by itself and runs, despite numerous repairs. These are typical poltergeist activities. A bartender who worked in the Dungeon said she kept getting pinched on her derriere.

Snapshots taken in the room contain shadowy white figures, mysterious marks or orbs. Staff members have reported hearing raspy whispers calling their names, footsteps, disembodied unintelligible voices, music, a woman singing, keys jingling, loud crashes, doors opening and closing and a booming screaming or howling.

Beardslee Castle Phantom Lights

Travelers along Route 5 reported seeing a bright yellow or blue light, sometimes blinding, that would rush at their vehicles from the trees or chase them down the road.

Several fatal accidents happened along the bend in the road where the lights were reported. One survivor of an accident said the light blinded the driver, who died in the wreck.

Beardslee Castle Today

Before new restaurant owner Randall Brown began renovating the building in 1994, he had it blessed. He admits he’s a believer, but doesn’t think he’ll see anything concrete, although he has had strange feelings and mysterious experiences. He’s not totally convinced ghosts are causing the phenomena.

One of the most common experiences with ghosts is sensing their presence. Apparitions and residual hauntings can be seen, heard, felt by touch, smelled, tasted and sensed. Apparitions have intelligence and can interact with humans.

Residual hauntings have no intelligence and is energy imprinted on time and space. Poltergeist activity is a manifestation of psychokinesis, PK, the ability of the mind to affect matter. Poltergeists have human or entity agents. There are many cases of mysterious lights, but it’s extremely rare for them to be so bright that they blind people.