Spooky Worcester History

What are some spooky places and events in Worcester’s history? That’s a question you might be asking this time of year; colloquially known as “spooky season.” Certainly, Worcester has its share of things that could be described as grim, and ghastly, such as driving through Kelley Square. But is Worcester haunted? Well, in the words of great-American poet Ray Parker Jr: “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” Nor should we be afraid of learning about the rich, albeit occasionally ghoulish, history of Worcester.

One of my favorite spooky mysteries is the apparently still unexplained shaking house on Douglas Street. During the early 1950s, the tenement house was known to visibly shake to the point that it could be seen by passersby with the naked eye. While various explanations were offered from poltergeists, from a geologic fault, to a prankster with a powerful motor, it was never conclusively solved. However, by the mid-1950s, it seems to have stopped shaking for good. The Evening Gazette later opined in 1952: “but so long as nobody is being injured, does it not add zest to life and sauce to the imagination to let these phenomena go unexplained?”

Many other places in Worcester also have rumors of the mysterious and the macabre. Everything from the Higgins Armory, to the Palladium, to the WPI campus are purported to have ghostly residents. While many of these are very thinly sourced, one place with well-document dead is the Worcester Common, which served as an early burial ground. More about the lives and stories of those early Worcester residents who were laid to rest on the Common can be learned by attending our upcoming program Shadows of the Forgotten: The Worcester Common Burial Ground. More information and registration info can be found here: https://mywpl.libnet.info/event/14157379

Sadly, many historic places are underappreciated, or even harmed, as reputations for being “haunted” outweigh learning about and caring for the actual history they contain. This is especially true of Worcester’s many historic graveyards. A perfect example of this phenomenon is the Worcester County Quaker Cemetery, sometimes referred to as the “Spider Gates Cemetery.” It’s a beautiful, peaceful place, located in Leicester. Sadly however, the cemetery had to remove the historic sunburst gates, as hooligans vandalized the property, due to the urban legends surrounding the graveyard.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the story of a Worcester institution which had a haunted reputation and a rich history, you may have attended the library program Worcester History Deep-Dive: Worcester State Hospital. If not, WPL has a number of resources on the storied former State Hospital and its history for you to persue. In any case, may we all use this October as a time to not only appreciate the spooky things in life, but the historic things as well!