You won’t see ghoulish figures or be terrified by eerie shrieks, but you will discover the spooky side of Saratoga Springs during a haunted History Ghost Walk lead by author, researcher and supernatural historian Mason Winfield.
“Saratoga Springs has a lot of famous people who come back as ghosts,” said Winfield.
For 90-minutes, Winfield leads ghost walkers on a trek through downtown Saratoga Springs, starting on Broadway and passing through Congress Park and surrounding streets.
“We [talk about] haunting sites, buildings and supernatural folklore relevant to Saratoga Springs,” said Winfield. “Most people seem to enjoy the tour; it’s quite popular and they like our mix of skepticism with our understanding of both local history and parapsychology.”
Winfield hasn’t always been a ghost walk tour guide. He’s always had an interest in ghosts but said it wasn’t until he left his job as an English teacher that he made it his life.
“I’ve always been interested in the subject of ghosts and paranormal but the decision to specialize in it was a career move,” said Winfield. “I needed to be economically sustaining … to set up as a ghost walk guy, I can get started right away.”
That was back in 1996, when he led his first ghost walk around East Aurora in western New York. In 1999, he brought the walks to Saratoga Springs and now Winfield balances western New York business with Saratoga business.
“When I realized how common supernatural folklore was in my home area, I decided that doing a ghost walk would be a great way to promote local history,” said Winfield. “I was shocked at the success. We have a number of employees [now] and are incorporated.”
He doesn’t claim to be an expert on the paranormal or to even know the truth about it. He said he’s not a “ghost hunter” like many people see on TV and he doesn’t go out searching for a paranormal experience.
“What I find is much more interesting is the type of places that get the ghost stories. I spent a lot more of my energy studying the physical places,” said Winfield. “I think I’ve seen a ghost or two in my life; never when I was looking for it.”
Most of what people think they know about ghosts is wrong, said Winfield. For example, they’re not devious and evil and they don’t return for revenge.
“The general public often believes that ghosts are all satanic and dangerous; they’re really scared,” said Winfield.
He will never tell people what to believe, said Winfield, but in his opinion, many supposed ghost sightings are often unfounded and likely the product of an overactive imagination.
“Your typical ghost that the eyewitness reports is a quick image, makes no noise, it’s usually in color and it seldom shows any sign of self awareness. It just stays a few seconds and is gone,” said Winfield. “It really takes a lot of projecting to believe that the average ghost is back with a message … I think most ghost sightings happen by accident … you’re just minding your own business and all of a sudden you see something.”
Seeing a ghost is actually quite rare, said Winfield.
“Psychic phenomenon is pretty rare, really. It’s very common in the big picture of life but very rare that it enters any individual’s life,” said Winfield.
Whether Saratoga residents have seen them or not, Winfield said the city has plenty of supernatural folklore and ghost stories.
There’s Madame Jumel, who has been known to frequent the site of her former house on Circular Street. The casino in Congress Park has attracted two notorious spooks: John Morrisey, a boxer, and Reubena Hyde Walworth.
“Reubean was a young woman and member of a very prominent Saratoga family. Her father was a wackjob who had committed a murder … and she appears in the casino because an exhibit of her family belongings there is associated with her,” said Winfield. “Reubena was also reported independently as an after death vision. She died very young in her 30s … and she actually came back 50 years later as a ghost who is seen comforting her dying younger sister, who was on her deathbed.”
There’s a classic spook from the 1700s named Angeline Tubbs who was the “witch of Saratoga” and the original owners of Hattie’s Restaurant and Caffe Lena have been known to frequent Phila Street.
“Not only is her spirit associated with the site, but Lena, toward the end of her life, was reportedly accompanied by some kind of spiritual presence that looked out for her and the restaurant,” said Winfield. “Hattie was a very colorful woman; the stories about her and her husband are really interesting. The moment she died the restaurant acted up but it seems she may have had some kind of magic.”
The ghosts that frequent Saratoga are special, said Winfield.
“Saratoga has some terrific women ghosts. Most places have a little girl ghost, that’s more common, but it has women ghosts who are very strong,” said Winfield.
Winfield got most of his material from a “great ghost file” in the Saratoga Springs Public Library, as well as through interviews around town. He compiled his findings into a book released in 2009, “Supernatural Saratoga,” but is quick to insist it was his friend David Pitkin who paved the way for Saratoga ghost stories.
“David Pitkin is a good friend of mine and put together the first account of spirituality in Saratoga,” said Winfield.
He knows the ins and outs of Saratoga’s ghostly past but Winfield said he’s just preserving haunted history.
“I’m not an investigator, I’m a culture preserver. I try to help raise awareness about these things,” said Winfield.
History Ghost Walks of Saratoga Springs cost $10 for adults and $5 for children age 7 to 11. All tours leave Saratoga Arts at 320 Broadway at 7 p.m. For more information call Saratoga Arts at 584-4132 or visit www.masonwinfield.com.