The Ghost of 507 Lansing Street

DATE SUBMITTED: 3/9/14

NAME: Carol

WHAT TOWN IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY ARE YOU FROM: Utica

PLEASE TELL YOUR EXTRAORDINARY TALE ABOUT THE MOHAWK VALLEY:

We lived in an old home in East Utica on the corner of Lansing St and First St. It was an old house loaded with antiques and collectables of the past resident and owner of the home. My husband and I have always been drawn to the past and old things. So when we got the chance to move into this home, we jumped on the opportunity. We lived there for four years. While living there, I would go into the attic and old canning rooms in the basement and look through the artifacts that were left behind. Sometimes finding photos or pieces that would draw me in and for some reason I felt I “had to” take them with me and display them in the home in the light. We were remodeling the home which was in disarray and I always got the feeling that the woman who lived there last (a past nurse who was also a closet alcoholic we found out)was happy with what we were doing. The photos I had found were of her in her gardens and the home was beautiful. We heard stories from the neighbors that she was so very proud of her home and loved to work in her gardens. Whenever I was in the basement doing my laundry, I would feel her there with me. I would talk to her. To me, she seemed to like that. My niece was young at the time and she would never sleep in certain bedrooms in the rear of the upstairs and she said going up the stairs gave her the creeps. I knew exactly what she meant. I had never told her my feelings because she was so young and I never talked about them around her. So they were truly her feelings. I would at times tell my husband how I felt and things I thought. Also, I could NEVER go up the stairs in a regular fashion. You know that feeling you get when you feel like someone is watching you or that someone is behind you? That is exactly how I felt. So every time I went up the stairs, I would go up with my back against the wall and I would run into the bedroom, jump on the bed and pull the overhead light chord. Only when the light was on, did I feel safe.

Also, EVERY NIGHT, the TV would turn on at PRECISELY 3:30 am. This tv did not have a timer. It was an old TV and not digital at all. I would wake and talk to “HER” and tell her I had to get some sleep and could not talk to her right now. I would then feel calm and drift off back to sleep. My husband always laughed at me and told me I was silly. He did not want me to feel scared or afraid. Only after we bought our home and moved out, did he tell me that he also “felt” something “weird” on the stairs. He said he never told me because he knew it would frighten me. He told me that he was walking up the stairs to the second floor and something/one actually TOUCHED him. He said it was like no feeling he has ever felt before. It was definitely not a muscle twitch or anything like that. He truly felt the hand on his shoulder. While living in that home, we were foster parents. One of our foster children of that time slept in the rear bedroom when he was about 3 years old. We moved from that home when he was three. He came with us to our new home. We have since adopted him. When we talk about our past and different homes we lived in and when he came to us, we tell him we were living in the home on Lansing St. 507 Lansing St to be exact. He tells us, “I did not like that place. I always felt like someone was watching me in my bed and I heard noises at night”. Now he was only three, so I do not know how he would remember that time in his life. But he does. Again, we NEVER shared our stories about our experiences or feelings there with him. Our cat and dog also would sit at the base of the stairs and just look up at them sometimes for about 15-20 minutes at a time. And when the dog would come upstairs with us at night, HE WOULD RUN up the stairs. He was an old dog and never ran anywhere. Not even up stairs anywhere else. Only there. So that is it. That is all I have. I do have a photo somewhere, but I forget now where it is, of the woman who used to live there while she was working in her garden. For some reason I felt! I HAD TO! take it with me. Since being in our new home, we do not get those feelings anymore. She did not come with us. I do not believe anyone is living in that home now. I know someone did live there once after us, But it has been empty ever since. So, there it is. Not sure if it means anything, or if it was even REAL… BUT IT SURE FELT REAL!! TO EVERYONE WHO WAS EVER THERE. I will STRESS, “SHE” WAS NICE. “SHE” LIKED US AND WAS HAPPY WE WERE THERE AND FIXING UP HER NEW HOME AND BRINGING HER GARDENS BACK TO LIFE.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Property Details: 507 Lansing Street, Utica, NY 13501
About: 507, Lansing Street, Utica, NY 13501
Google Map: 507 Lansing Street, Utica, NY 13501