Providence Ghost Tour 10.10.09

Yesterday Dan and I went on the Providence Ghost Tour. Maureen,Hayley, Matt,and his girlfriend went too. It was fun as a group! The tour was about an hour and a half, and it was a lot of fun! Our starting point was Prospect Park on Congdon St in Providence, where we met our guide, Alyse. From there, we went down the street to an intersection where orbs have been seen near the house that used to belong to HP Lovecraft. I didn't get any orbs, but it was a street that had a steady traffic flow. We continued on to RISD, where we learned about the man whose house is now the admissions building. We walked around to the back, where the old ballroom used to be. We were told that sometimes you can see the ghost of a little girl in that room, and that there was a red stain on the ground that the caretakers try to remove but no matter how they try it seems to come back on its own all the time. We were also told that the former house owner, who was a distinguished gentleman who dressed in suits with a beard and a walking stick sometimes roamed his grounds and did not like people taking pictures. Alyse told us that sometimes people's batteries would drain right at that spot. Soon after she said that, a girl's camera's batteries were completely drained! Alyse decided it was time we left that spot! I have a picture that there MAY be an orb in, I haven't uploaded them to view them larger yet though!
We continued on our journey, and stopped at the John Hay Library which is across the street from Brown. Alyse told us how that library has 3 books bound with human skin. We obviously didn't see the books as the library was closed, but I am fascinated and would like to see them at some point! She said the librarians will allow you to hold the books and take pictures with them! How cool is that?! We then crossed the street to Brown. We all saw a red flickering light in a top floor window. It flickered for awhile, then stopped for a moment and flickered again! Very weird. We went to the back of the building, and Alyse was telling us in two of the windows that people can sometimes see a person frozen in a scream of agony, and then it disappears. I started taking pictures of the two windows. One was perfect every time I snapped it, the other one was blurry! I wasn't moving the camera or doing anything different. I have no explanation for that!
After Brown, we went to the Annmary Brown Memorial, where Annmary Brown and her husband Rush Hawkins are buried. It is a tomb, but it is open every day to the public from 1-4 so they can see artifacts from their lives. Alyse said that people have told tales of how they go in after 4 and they feel very uneasy, and uncomfortable. We didn't feel anything, but we also didn't stay very long!
The next stop was not too far down from the Annmary Brown Memorial. We stopped at the Providence Athenaeum. We learned here of the love story of Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman. Alyse told us how Poe had a drinking problem, and though Sarah loved him, when she learned he had gone back to the bottle, she ended the engagement. Poe died within a year, while Sarah lived for another 30. Alyse also told us about a student who came to study one early morning and saw a man in a suit lying asleep on the stairs to the Athenaeum. He kicked the man, nothing happened. He kicked the man harder, the man awoke and started mumbling something, then vanished. The student was understandably frightened, and ran into the library to speak to the first librarian he saw. The librarian then handed him a book of Poe's works. The student looked through the book and saw the words that had been said by the man outside! He had an encounter with Edgar Allan Poe's Ghost! Sadly, none of us had the same experience. The only thing that happened there was a girl in the group had a panic attack and needed her inhaler. This was perhaps my most favorite of our stops, as I love Poe!
As we walked by the fountain that was outside the Athenaeum, we were told that inscribed over the fountain are the words "Come here everyone that thirsteth." The fountain's water source comes directly from the Pawtuxet River, and the legend was if you drank from the fountain you would surely return to Providence one day. Alyse told us that now if you tried to drink the water you would end up in the hospital with dysentery!
After the Athenaeum we walked down to where the old Knowles Funeral Home was. On the way Alyse told us that the old Steeple St mill is now a restaurant, and that if you go to eat there you could see a couple of ghosts! One that resembles Colonel Sanders of KFC Fame, and another a fatter man, who has no hands! I would love to see that! She also told us of a young woman who was riding a horse down the hill with a male suitor, and her horse got out of control, the young man managed to eventually help her and get her horse stopped, but the young woman kept going. Back then, the fence surrounding the First Baptist Church in Providence was wrought iron with sharp spires. she landed on the fence mouth first, and was impaled straight through her head. Stories say she is still wandering the streets of Providence looking, perhaps for her very stupid suitor!
The Knowles Funeral Home is now a residential hall for students, but there is plenty of supernatural things going on in there, from tv's going off and on to furniture being rearranged. Alyse told us that the Knowles Funeral Home was the first to use embalming methods, and that the students who rinse their paintbrushes in the sinks probably don't know that the sinks were used to rinse out the body cavities to prepare for embalming! She also pointed out that it was 187 Dexter St, and that 187 was police code for homicide. Very appropriate!
After our stop here we walked up an EXTREMELY UPHILL street, that was not only uphill but had stairs! I certainly got my workout in after that! When we all arrived at the top of the hill Alyse told us a final story of a man named Sprague, who was hanged unjustly. He was the last man to get the death penalty in Rhode Island before they did away with it. It seemed to appease his spirit when they got rid of it!
After that we went back to Prospect Park, and the tour was over. Though I did not see ghosts, it was extremely fun and interesting, if anything just to hear the history of Providence and the stories! Would I have liked to see ghosts? You bet! Maybe another time!
After the tour Maureen took us all out for pizza :) (Thank you again!!!) It was a very nice way to end a great night! I do recommend this for anyone who has even the slightest interest in ghosts!
Ok, I am going to post my pictures and then start packing for Florida! I will blog about that when I get back! :)