So I thought I would do my first real blog post focusing on my own school, SUNY Purchase. There have been rumors of various places on campus being haunted. The first and most obvious haunted site is the cemetery. It is a very small cemetery located right next to the Stood. The cemetery contains the remains of Colonel Thomas Thomas, the original land owner and Revolutionary War hero, his family and his servants. There are only a few, very old and damaged headstones left in the cemetery. Over the years students have reported hearing strange noises and feeling an odd presence in the buildings surrounding the cemetery.
Another haunted site on campus is the house located across the street from Starbucks right next to the day care center. It is reported that an old man hung himself either in the attic or in the basement many years ago and his spirit still remains in the house and can be seen in the windows from time to time.
The old Elephant Tree is also reported haunted. While students sit under the tree reading, studying or just relaxing they claim that the branches and leaves sway even when there is no wind. It is said that someone was hung from the tree; either a young girl took her life by hanging herself from the tree or it may have been used to hang slaves.
The water tower behind the Farside dorms is also said to be haunted. The rumor is that a young boy somehow died in the water years ago.
So, those are the rumors surrounding the haunting of SUNY Purchase.
I went to SUNY Purchase in the late 90's when the "asylum" was where Bellfair is today. High Point Hospital was previously the Straus Hilholme, which belonged to the family that owns Macy's. The Hilholme Gardens were one of the oldest and most beautiful gardens in Westchester. That was one of the darkest, coldest places I have been to (even during the summer months). I am curious if people that bought those houses have any issues. I know people that had terrible nightmares after taking things from the asylum, nightmares that only stopped once the person returned the items. It is said that kids died in that place, which I confirmed by reading medical records left behind at the hospital. Here is an entry by a former patient http://highpoint80.tripod.com/
ReplyDeleteIt was such a freaky place, rooms like the kitchen were left as if someone was preparing a meal and just walked off. I don't know how a hospital can be abandoned like that, with all the medical records in the basement. There were even patient journals in a secret room off the boiler room in the basement. Everyone that went to that place felt the coldness and evil of that place, it just wasn't right.
My friends that have been on the purchase campus told me ab out that tree. One friend told me the color of it was off, like blackish color
ReplyDeleteI went to that college as well. I would see ghosts walking around the elephant tree a lot and even saw a black dog one time. Sometimes I would be sitting under it and hear rustling, walking and whispers with no one there. I used an Oujij Board there one time and a white spirit actually showed up.
ReplyDeleteThe cemetery has some activity too.
I actually saw a colonial ghost on campus once.
The story about the haunted house on campus was if you knocked on the door someone would knock back. Well, every time I knocked someone would knock back, until it was renovated.
I heard Far Side was haunted too, that place had some freaky energy.
Im currently dorming in farside, does anyone know exactly where in farside it is claimed to be haunted? I heard maybe the basement.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean. The part where it is usually considered to be haunted is by the silo. There are rumors of faint crying coming from that location. There is also another story located in the basement of Far Side where the radio station is or once was. In the mid-eighties it is alleged that a student committed suicide while on air because he was broken-hearted over his girlfriend leaving him for a fellow classmate. I don't recall what song he was playing however he played a particular song that was acoustic and they say that sometimes in the dead of night roughly around 2 p.m. you can still hear the faint sounds of a guitar strumming. Some say he hung himself others say that he overdosed on sleeping medication while playing the song that was on the air. Hope that helps
DeleteIncredible. I used to give random tours to students about these haunt sites while being at purchase late 90s. Some other places that were haunted was the basement of the Visual Arts building where it is said that the ghost of a child runs through bouncing a ball and has what looks like easter clothing. And of course the insane asylum that I ventured into it and definitely experienced some super natural stuff.
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ReplyDeleteI remember most of these stories during my days at SUNY Purchase in the early to mid 90's. Love the elephant tree; it was a great place to just lay back. But to add to the mystery of Purchase. I am not sure if anyone remembers what was called the Dungeons. It was the way to get from one dorm to another underneath the buildings. It had a late night store to get snacks... Maybe it is called something else now.. But, there was a bathroom in the dungeons that was completely graffitied . It was called the hell bathroom. Apparently there was some strange happenings there too; I never experienced. But, some students did. My own experience, a couple of classmates and I were studying in the Humanities bldg. We were almost done with our studies and just chatting. A soda can that was stationed next to the window of the classroom we were in all of a sudden fell for no reason. None of us touched it. But, here is the really kicker...the can landed straight up on the table we were sitting. No joking! At that moment we decided study session was over. We left so fast! Another incident someone try to kill themselves or did kill themselves in the woods first day of school back in the early 90's. As far as, I know it wasn't a student. Pretty unnerving for my first day at Purchase. Yet, I still love and miss Purchase with all it's mysteries.
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ReplyDeleteI'm currently writing an article on the haunted locations at Purchase College and I was curious where you got this information from? Is this part of the oral history at purchase, passed down from student to student, or is there any documentation for the origins of the stories? Like are there any news articles of suicides taking place on the campus? This is a pretty old blog so I'm not expecting a response, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
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