There's A Halloween Party At This Historic Local Manse & It Sounds Fa-BOO-lous
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It’s popped up on lists of the scariest houses in the country, alongside the likes of the Amityville Horror (Did we really need movies 2 thru 23? I think not.) and Lizzie Borden Houses.
At least two different teams of ghost investigators - including a group from the A&E show Ghost Hunters - have set up shop inside the Mansion on different occasions, looking for evidence of paranormal activity.
Multiple people have stories about encountering something not of this world in the old wine cellar. (We didn’t get to see it on our tour last summer, so maybe there is something to all that? Hmmmmmm)
And a good friend of mine swears there was something off about one of the dolls that used to be on display up on the 2nd floor. It was definitely creepy enough that when she took her students on a tour there a few years ago, they were visibly uneasy in its vicinity.
Sure sounds like a marvelous spot for a spooky Halloween Party.
Governor William Sprague Mansion, located at the corner of Cranston Street and Dyer Avenue in Cranston, RI (Photo courtesy of the Cranston Historical Society Facebook Page)
Yup, The Cranston Historical Society is hosting its annual Charlie The Butler Halloween Party at the Governor William Sprague Mansion on Friday, October 25th.
After saving the property (home to the affluent and influential Sprague Family that produced not one but two RI Governors turned US Senators, not to mention a textile empire by way of their A & W Sprague Manufacturing ) from the wrecking ball in the late 1960’s, the Historical Society has gone on to help restore the property to more closely resemble what it looked like in its hey days, and also offer tours and special events to the puiblic like this one coming up on the 25th.
You might already be familiar with the more well-known ghost stories swirling around the Mansion, the ones rooted in that fact that an innocent man was executed for the 1843 New Year’s Eve murder of big deal industrialist and factory boss Amassa Sprague. The Charlie-centric tales atually have to do with a butler who worked for another wealthy family that occupied the manse after the Spragues. Apparently, Charlie wanted one of his daughters to marry into that family. It didn’t happen and it’s been said that that’s why the distraught spirit of Charlie has haunted the place ever since. (Keep in mind, according to my research online, that narrative stems from a group of college students who stayed overnight in the house during the late 60’s and brought along a ouija board. Just throwing that out there.)
Anywho, if you want some Cranston history (Did you know…the area around that Mansion and the former A&W Manufacturing turned Cranston Print Works used to be called Spragueville?) mixed into your Halloween festivities this year, get yourself some tickets.
Costumes are optional, so you don’t have to go crazy trying to figure out who or what to dress up as (unless you want to…I mean, some people LIVE for all that). Go as your best self and enjoy the refreshments, spook-tacular decorations and stories, a magician/mentalist that I’ve heard is quite impressive, and more fun-tastic stuff.
For complete details, including how to buy tickets, click here.
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