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New York's Falls to the Finger Lakes
New York's Falls to the Finger Lakes
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Sweet Dreams or Ghostly Screams

by Kelly Rapone


Five Haunted Overnights for the Paranormal Fan

Are you afraid of the dark? Find out when you spend an evening at these haunted inns and experience the things that go bump in the night. You may just mingle with guests who once checked in, but never checked back out...


Allegiance Bed & Breakfast

The Allegiance is a beautiful, historic, and elegantly restored circa-1838 mini-White House mansion, tastefully decorated to reveal the grandeur of the Victorian era. Although its name honors Francis Bellamy, a "local son" who authored our Pledge of Allegiance, it's not Francis who frequently pays a visit. The inside is home to two friendly yet mischievous permanent residents – Karen and Raymond (don't call him Ray - he doesn't like it). Karen has been spotted ascending the stairs a few times with her straight, gray hair and long dress, and Raymond is known for being quite chatty.


Genesee Falls Inn

Genesee Falls Inn offers more than a comfortable bed and delicious breakfast. In fact, many guests express getting a strange feeling upon entering the building, built in 1870. Previously, the building was an inn with a restaurant where people gathered to have a good time, and on the third-floor ballroom men often practiced bare-knuckle fighting.

This Victorian-era bed and breakfast has 11 renovated rooms available for overnight visits. Being a half-mile away from Letchworth State Park makes it an ideal location from spring to fall. Visitors are also welcome to stop in during normal business hours to walk around or call ahead to schedule a ghost tour for 1-10+ guests. Paranormal groups are also invited to explore, with an appointment.

Guests to the bed and breakfast report hearing people walking up and down the hallways at night or doors shutting on their own. The building’s current owners have witnessed a young child walking through the kitchen in period dress, and a man sitting in one of the bedroom’s chairs. It’s also common for items to go missing and, following a request for the spirits to return them, they are put back in their rightful spot. Paranormal groups say the building is pretty active and have watched their flashlights turn on and off when prompted.

 

 


Hart House Hotel

The Hart House Hotel welcomed its first travelers to Medina in 1876. At that time, it was Medina's finest inn, boasting over 30 well-appointed rooms with restaurant, bar, and billiards room. After 40 years, dwindling hotel demand caused the Hart House to go dark in 1918.

For the next 85 years, the building was home to a shirt factory owned by Robert H. Newell, a clothier with a growing high-end shirt business. Extensive renovations turned the hotel into a factory, utilizing all three floors of the 14,000 square foot building for its 100 employees. The company did more than just shirts - in fact, pajamas and even undergarments were custom fit and tailored. Satisfied shirt customers included Bob Hope, John Jacob Astor, Winston Churchill, and Warren G. Harding, to name a few. Shirt workers recount seeing auras of women in white, while others speak of inexplicable yet purposeful footsteps bounding down stairs.

In 2005, a 10-year restoration began to accommodate new businesses - Shirt Factory Cafe (aptly named for the building's history), 810 Meadworks, and a euro-inspired boutique hotel that serves to revive the building's original name and purpose. The hotel rooms, individually designed, are inspired by actual shirt factory customers like Churchill, Astor, and Hope.

Of all the buildings in Medina, the Hart likely had more souls tread over its threshold than any other building in town. And with a long, storied past, original floors, and intact historic windows, it's no surprise that this building is haunted. People have reported hearing names called aloud when no one is around but the spirit seen most often is a woman in a long, flowing dress with shoulder-length brown hair that stands at the top of the first staircase and greets visitors unexpectedly.

Tuck yourself in to the Hart House Hotel and see who may still be lingering around after all this time.


Heaven Sent B&B

Heaven Sent B&B is a converted church and rectory from the 1800s is now a delightfully charming, yet haunted, bed and breakfast located at the southern end of Letchworth State Park. While steeped in history, otherworldly activity didn’t start until renovations on the property began. Owners suspect much of the harmless activity stems from Father Maurice, the first priest to live and die in the rectory.

Guests have reported the sensation of being touched on their back or shaken from sleep, while the owners have witnessed lights that turn on and off by themselves and the feeling of someone walking behind them when they’re alone. It's not unusual to hear the sound of footsteps traveling down the hallway, ghostly children running around, or hushed conversations taking place right outside the door.


Tillman's Historic Village Inn & Fair Haven Inn

Tillman's horse and buggy signage is no fiction - it's fact. This historic establishment dates back to 1824, when it was a great destination or rest stop for visitors traveling between the Genesee and Niagara Rivers. Thousands of people have visited the property, many have stayed the night, and some have even died here. Today, guests can view the marvelous artifacts of centuries past throughout the restaurant. These may all be reasons why this facility has had numerous supernatural events and sightings witnessed.

Village Inn's owner, Mark has witnessed most of the strange occurrences. His first experience was on Christmas Day when he announced to the empty restaurant, "Merry Christmas, Village Inn." Just then, he heard a boom and saw that the men's bathroom door - which was held open by a heavy bar stool - had been slammed shut.

It's not uncommon for guests to step inside and immediately feel a presence in the Village Inn. Mark has been told a time or two that there's a lot of activity in the place. Most recently, a woman dined in booth A1 and told Mark that his grandma and great aunt keep watch over the building. She also mentioned seeing a man in a cowboy hat sitting at the bar that would dissolve every time she turned to look at him. There's also two little girls dressed in white outfits from the 1800s that have been seen running up and down the building's ramp or playfully peering out of the door and then running away.

 

Experience One of The Most Haunted Locations in North America!

Rolling Hills Asylum was established in 1827 as the Genesee County Poor House (originally a working farm) soon became a refuge for some of society's less fortunate. Widows and orphans mingled with the mentally ill and the unclaimed dead were buried on the property. With over 1,700 documented deaths and hundreds not recorded, it's no wonder Haunted North America rated it as the second most haunted site in the United States.

 


Rolling Hills Asylum has been featured on Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" and "Paranormal Challenge" as well as on SyFy Channel's "Ghost Hunters" and FX's American Horror Story's Asylum's special webisode "Get Committed to the Asylum." Rolling Hills Asylum has a small on-site museum, offers public ghost hunts, private ghost hunts, and special events.

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