Category Archives: Cambridge

The Cat Lady at the Bayly Orem House

 

cambridge-bayly-orem

An old lady and her beloved cat are remembered in this house on High Street in Cambridge.

The house, known as the Bayly Orem House, was built in 1888 and was occupied by a very a lady who grew old in the house and like many older people, she became set in her ways. She lived alone with her beloved cat who was her constant companion. When people visited – including her own family – she denied anyone access to the front parlor and resolutely refused to use it herself. She kept it meticulously cleaned and dusted it compulsively.

According to a neighbor, the old lady fell down some stairs and couldn’t reach out to anyone. It was her devoted cat who made its way outside to notify people of the lady’s fall. Sadly, help arrived too late and the lady died from her injuries at the foot of the steps in this house.

And where do you think her family laid her body out for visiting friends and relatives?  Continue reading The Cat Lady at the Bayly Orem House

The LeCompte Curse – Cambridge

LaCompte House - Cambridge

The LeCompte Curse – Blindness in the Male Line

There’s an old legend about the LeCompte family curse of blindness befalling male descendents. The curse was cast by Indians in the Cambridge area that Antoine LeCompte drove off of his land back in the 17th century.LeCompte Bay is named after Antoine LeCompte and it was on those shores that the curse was allegedly cast. Oddly enough, the LeCompte do have a legacy of blindness in their male line.

We stop at theLeCompte House on High Street to tell this story. And while this  house has no particular haunted legend, guests on our ghost walks get more oddities in photos at this stop than any other stop on the tour (there are 14 stories shared on the tour). Continue reading The LeCompte Curse – Cambridge

Haunted Minute – Cambridge and Bloody Henny

Bloody Henny was hanged next to the Cambridge Courthouse

Spring Valley was the name for the area that is now a nice park with a fountain adjacent to the Cambridge Courthouse.

Human emotion certainly impacts the energy field around a site, so when there’s a traumatic occurrence, the energy field picks up those emotions. When the trauma is repeated and repeated – as in a place of corporal punishment – the energy gets stronger and stronger, and the sense of place takes on those emotions.

Hangings, whippings, slave auctioning and public judgements all happened in this spot. Today, it is linked with legends of spirits that still prowl around this park at night.

Join one of the Cambridge Ghost Walks to experience this place up close and personal, and hear the full story of Bloody Henny, plus 13 other haunted properties on High Street.

SEE ALL AVAILABLE CAMBRIDGE GHOST WALKS

 

 

The Child in the Mirror

The Josiah Bayly House – Oldest House in Cambridge

Josiah Bayly House - Oldest House in Cambridge. Originally built in Annapolis, then dismantled and brought to Cambridge by barge adn rebuilt.

When new owners moved into the Josiah Bayly House in the 1990s they found shackles on the walls in the attic. They believe the shackles were to constrain enslaved people held by early residents. These same owners found the attic full of stuff left from owners over the past 100 years.

One of the items found was a cheval mirror (a full-length mirror on a stand that allows it to swing and lock into the desired angle for reflection). The woman who’d bought the house cleaned it up and put it in her bedroom.  She reported that on occasion she would see the reflection of a little girl in the mirror – a reflection that would quickly vanish, but the child’s facial features were discernible… and it was always the same child. Continue reading The Child in the Mirror

Sullivane House - Cambridge

Confederate Ghost at the Sullivane House

The Sullivane House in Cambridge is haunted by a Confederate soldier – or at least it was when the previous owner saw the soldier in the yard and later in her hallway.  Built in 1763 from brick brought over from England, the Sullivane House has been standing in this spot on High Street for over 250 years.  It has a strong history of owners who served in the American military and in Dorchester County politics.  Continue reading Confederate Ghost at the Sullivane House