Hammond Castle Museum Investigation

Hammond Castle Museum is a 70% Medieval Castle set by the sea in Massachusetts. We went here in mid 1995 unaware of the ghostly presence there. We actually visited the castle twice in the same year, returning a couple weeks later for the Vampire Nights Tour.

The castle alone is amazing and given the history of the items within, it has an enormous amount of energy flowing through it to the point where the ghostly activity is nearly explained. Scattered through out the walls of the castle you will find gravestones of those who walked before. Inside in a case in the Great Hall is a skull of a crew member of Christopher Columbus' crew. Hammond, who was an inventor collected numerous items for his home from many different places around the world, thus adding a large amount of energy from these items within the walls of the castle.

The castle is rather large and impressive and rests along the sea on Hesperus Ave (the same location named in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem). When we decided to go here, we were completely unaware of the reported haunted activity. We later learned of it after reading a story from the local paper that was posted on a bulletin board inside the castle.

We did not experience anything ghostly on either trip to the castle, though we did get at least one questionable photo with a white spot near the eagle and the screen Bach once played behind. We did however ask an employee about the hauntings and got some very interesting information from him.

Stories from an employee at Hammond Castle.

An employee told us all of the following series of ghostly activities he had known to have occurred at Hammond Castle as well as his theory on why the castle is haunted.

The ghost of Mrs. Hammond has been seen above the organ in the Great Hall (on the balcony)

Shadows have been seen on the walls of the Great Hall

The furniture has been pulled away from the walls of the Dining Room

People have heard whispers apparently in a foreign language in the Tower Galleries

People have heard rattling sounds and moans in the Tower Galleries and have complained about the organ's 'sound system' (which they blamed the sounds on) It was not the sound system--but it was another paranormal phenomenon

People have seen a candelabra candle lift up, float for a moment, and then drop to the floor

And last, but certainly not least! The caretaker brought his daughter down to the castle and gave her a tour of the place. While they were in the Library, she screamed and ran yelling "Daddy, Daddy." She said she saw a three-foot black raven sitting on the arm of a chair. The caretaker went back to see what was wrong. Of course the raven wasn't there. He claims that he heard a voice in his head saying "Sorry, we got a little out of line, it won't happen again

A theory on the hauntings, by the employee.

"Everything has its own energy. When you touch something, you leave your energy upon it as you take energy from it. Hammond collected many pieces of furniture from many countries. Some has come from abandoned houses. Such an item is the fireplace in the Great Hall, which was taken from a crumbling château in France. What it is, is all of these negative energies coming together with nowhere to go."

If you ever find yourself near the castle just looking for something to do - go. You won't regret it. I only wish I could get back there again after all these years. Perhaps one day I will return.