Hammond Castle Museum Investigation

Who: My parents and I
When: Summer 1995
Where: Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester, MA

Hammond Castle Museum is a 70% Medieval Castle set by the sea in Massachusetts. We went here in mid 1994 unaware of the ghostly presence there. We actually visited the castle twice in the same year, returning 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 Cloumbus' crew. Hammond, who was an inventor collected so many 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  resting along the sea on Hesperus Ave (named for where the wreck of the Hesperus occurred). When we decided to ge here, we were unaware of the reported hauntings. We later learned of them after reading a story from the local paper that was posted 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. (photo is posted as is a cropped version of it.) We did however ask an employee about the hauntings and got some very interesting information from him.


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. Here he is playing Dracula's devoted servant Renfield for the Vampire Nights Candle-lit Tour.

• 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."

"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.

Article and photos (except the postcard) Copyright Jennifer N. and family.