By popular demand folks have requested that my 3rd #Roc based #Ghost story be about Corn Hill hauntings.
For those who don’t know about Corn Hill. It is one of Rochester’s first neighborhoods. Home to some of Rochester’s most notable & affluent people.
For those who don’t know about Corn Hill. It is one of Rochester’s first neighborhoods. Home to some of Rochester’s most notable & affluent people.
The first homes in Corn Hill were built in the early 1800’s.
Large, palatial & well appointed these were the homes of Nathaniel Rochester, Jonathan Child (the first Mayor), the Fox Sisters (noted spiritualists) and the Selden family, developers of Western Union & other inventions
Large, palatial & well appointed these were the homes of Nathaniel Rochester, Jonathan Child (the first Mayor), the Fox Sisters (noted spiritualists) and the Selden family, developers of Western Union & other inventions
In 1990 I moved to Corn Hill.
I lived in The Wilmot which was home to the Selden family.
My apartment faced the rear - you can see my 2 balconies on the 2nd & 3rd floor in the photo on the left.
I loved to walk through the neighborhood & admire the mansions.
I lived in The Wilmot which was home to the Selden family.
My apartment faced the rear - you can see my 2 balconies on the 2nd & 3rd floor in the photo on the left.
I loved to walk through the neighborhood & admire the mansions.
Corn Hill is a gorgeous neighborhood. Home to artists, people who love old homes & ghosts. I will tell you the tragic story of the most haunted block in the neighborhood.
Hubbell Park is a tree-lined street with beautiful old homes. If you’ve attended the Corn Hill Festival in July - you’ve most likely wandered down it’s length admiring jewelry, pottery & paintings. Perhaps you felt a cold chill down your spine & dismissed it as a cool breeze.
Most likely, you’d never heard of the Rochester Orphan Asylum fire of 1901 which took the lives of 30 young children & 3 of their caregivers. Perhaps you did not know that the orphanage sat on the very spot where you are deciding whether or not you will splurge on that painting.
It was a cold January day in 1901.
There were over 100 children between the ages of 2 - 14 who lived at the “Orphanage.”
Some children truly did not have any family, but most were children of single parents who paid $1.50 per week so their children could be fed, housed & educated
There were over 100 children between the ages of 2 - 14 who lived at the “Orphanage.”
Some children truly did not have any family, but most were children of single parents who paid $1.50 per week so their children could be fed, housed & educated
The younger children played in the snow that day, while the older children did chores or had jobs as newspaper boys or laundresses. All of the children were expected in for dinner time, and everyone went to bed by 8 p.m.
They were locked in.
They were locked in.
The orphanage had a laundry on site. A gas jet was used to heat the large iron presses that flattened the sheets and table clothes for not only the orphanage, but for outside clients who needed laundry done.
Someone forgot to turn of the jet.
The door to the laundry was shut & gas began to fill the room.
The gas seeped out into the hallway & reached a gas lit wall sconce about midnight causing a large explosion & fire.
The door to the laundry was shut & gas began to fill the room.
The gas seeped out into the hallway & reached a gas lit wall sconce about midnight causing a large explosion & fire.
Curtains, desks, furniture - it all ignited.
By the time the children & matrons awoke - the halls were filled with thick, black smoke. The windows could not open. The doors were locked. The older children grabbed the younger ones & began to climb to the roof.
By the time the children & matrons awoke - the halls were filled with thick, black smoke. The windows could not open. The doors were locked. The older children grabbed the younger ones & began to climb to the roof.
Two young men coming down S. Plymouth Avenue noticed a plume of smoke in the air & used the call box to notify the fire department. The dirt roads were icy & full of holes and rocks. It took forever to bring the water. It was freezing cold. The water froze.
Neighbors reported seeing the children’s terrified faces pressed up against the windows. Some of the older children & staff broke windows. Neighbors brought ladders & blankets and worked with fire fighters to save about 70 children. Three matrons died trying to get children out.
It’s said that sometimes late at night you can hear what sounds like children crying & a woman trying to comfort them on Hubbell Park. Sometimes you just feel a chill & wrap your sweater around your shoulders a little more tightly.
Some people swear they see a young newspaper boy, walking down the street toward the City with a shoulder bag waiting to be filled with newspapers - as if he’s reporting to work in the early morning - unaware that he died in the night over 100 years ago.
Having lived in the neighborhood, I can attest that I’ve felt the strange chill, the errant breeze, the hairs on the back of my neck rising for no reason. It could be because of the orphans trying to find their way home ——-
Or it could be the Fox Sisters, mediums and noted Spiritualists - becoming spirits themselves and trying to make themselves heard.
Tomorrow - my ghost story will be about them & the movement they started.
Happy Hauntings!
Tomorrow - my ghost story will be about them & the movement they started.
Happy Hauntings!
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