Traverse City,
Michigan – It’s hard not to get a little spooked at night if you’re walking
around the Grand Traverse Commons. Surrounded by thick forest, the turreted
buildings of Traverse City’s
former mental asylum loom out of the darkness like ruined castles, filled with
strange shadows and furtive rustlings.
It should come
as no surprise, then, that dozens of legends about ghostly appearances have
accumulated around the 19th century asylum, which is being gradually
redeveloped into a smart “village” of condos, boutiques, offices and
restaurants. There are stories of mournful apparitions in the halls, strange
physical sensations – and even an enormous gnarled tree that’s supposed to mark
the “gateway to Hell.”
People can be
forgiven for letting their imaginations run away with them. In spite of the
extensive makeover the former asylum is getting, many buildings on the 500-acre
Commons campus are still waiting to be restored – and their gaunt, crumbling
hulks seem ready-made for scary stories of demented spirits and restless souls.
Every year, fans of the occult come to the Commons searching for thrills and
chills, even though the owners of the property don’t exactly encourage the
attention.
“There’s a ton
of us who live and work here, and I’ve only heard one or two stories about
things people couldn’t explain,” says Kristen Messner, who works for the
project developers. “These are old buildings, and sound sometimes travels in
strange ways. That’s it.”
The attitude
toward hauntings is a bit more welcoming a few miles up the coast at the Grand Traverse
Lighthouse Museum.
For years, the isolated lighthouse at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula
has held a family-oriented “haunted lighthouse” program in honor of its own
ghostly inhabitant, and it now has added a series of October “ghost walks.”
Small groups of visitors are invited in on Friday and Saturday nights to prowl
the living quarters and working spaces of the historic 19th century buildings.
Established in
1850, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse is one of the oldest lights on the Great Lakes. It occupies a lonely point of rocky coast
(now the site of a state park) marking the outer edge of Grand Traverse Bay,
with sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the distant Manitou and Fox Islands.
One believer in
the lighthouse ghost is museum director Stefanie Staley, who has spent more
than her share of fall evenings alone at the isolated light station. She says
she’s heard lots of inexplicable noises: voices in the hall heading toward the
tower stairs, and the sound of someone with hard-soled shoes walking across the
hardwood floors.
“I hear it, I
walk out, and there’s not a soul anywhere,” she says.
Nor is Staley
the only one who’s been dealing with strange happenings. The lighthouse runs a
volunteer keeper program where people can stay in the lighthouse for weeks at a
time, caring for the buildings and showing visitors around. Over the years,
several volunteers have mentioned strange phenomena: the sensation of being
brushed past by a moving form, and in one case actually seeing a man at the
doorway, kicking off his boots.
Some locals
claim the ghost is that of Peter Nelson, a Danish ship captain who settled in
Northport and became the lighthouse keeper from 1874 to 1890. But no one knows
of any particular scandals or secrets associated with Nelson’s life, and the
haunting – if that’s what it is – seems to be a fairly amiable one.
Not so with the
goings-on across the bay at Bowers Harbor, a lovely cove on the western shore
of the Old Mission Peninsula, where the area’s most celebrated ghost has been
carrying on at the former Bowers Harbor Inn for decades. Genevive Stickney,
whose husband built the rambling waterfront home in the 1880s, is said to have
died in the house under tragic circumstances. Although recent research has cast
doubt on much of the backstory told about the Stickneys (that Genevive was a
scorned wife who committed suicide by hanging herself in the elevator shaft),
the case has been featured in several books and television programs.
Guests,
employees and visitors to the inn (now home of the Mission Table restaurant)
insist that they have experienced strange rapping noises, doors slamming,
lights suddenly turning on, mirrors and paintings falling from walls. One
restaurant guest was severely frightened when she looked into a full-length
upstairs mirror and saw the reflection of another woman standing behind her –
dressed in clothing from the 19th century, her long hair pulled back into a
tight bun. When she turned to speak to the stranger, there was no one there.
Having a ghost
on the premises isn’t bad for business, so long as things don’t get out of
hand. Far from downplaying their ethereal resident, the owners of the Mission Table and the adjoining Jolly Pumpkin Brewery enjoy regaling newcomers with
tales of Genevive’s pranks. The restaurant has even devoted a page of its
website to the ghostly legend.
Ghost walks at
the Grand Traverse Lighthouse
Museum are held every
Friday and Saturday in October, starting at 7 p.m. Groups are limited to 12
persons, and tickets are $5 per person; to make an advance reservation, call
231-386-7195.
For more
information about Traverse City fall festivals
and activities, and for help with lodging and dining options and other
attractions in the Traverse City
area, contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at
1-800-TRAVERSE or visit the website.
