Halloween has come and gone, however the spooky thrill of the vacation hasn’t but worn off at Raynham Corridor, the place the home museum will proceed to carry ghost excursions by its halls one evening monthly.
Whereas Raynham Corridor is finest referred to as the birthplace of American patriot and Revolutionary Conflict-era spy Robert Townsend, it has unofficial notoriety as one of the vital haunted properties on Lengthy Island. Quite a few ghost-focused web sites and surveys assert that the ghosts of quite a few residents of the house are nonetheless there, corresponding to Robert’s sister, Sally, and two British officers, John Graves Simcoe and John Andre, who occupied the property through the Revolution.
Christopher Decide, head of customer providers at Raynham Corridor, defined that the museum supplied ghost excursions for years, however had taken a break to concentrate on the wealthy historical past of Oyster Bay and the Townsend household. The recognition and notoriety of the constructing as a haunted place, nevertheless, continued to attract ghost-chasers and spiritualists, nevertheless, and museum officers reinstated the ghost excursions in October.
“Raynham Corridor is listed in lots of web sites and even some books as one of the vital haunted locations on Lengthy Island, and lots of guests have mentioned they’ve had a supernatural expertise right here,” Decide mentioned. “We don’t know the way it began, but it surely’s a kind of issues that when it’s on the web, you simply can’t eliminate it.”
The excursions are led by the museum’s tour guides in addition to knowledgeable spiritualist healer, Samantha Difronzo, of Hicksville, who has been working within the subject of spiritualism for 4 years.
Difronzo acquired concerned within the excursions by a good friend’s sister, Mary Kenny, a tour information on the corridor who now helps lead the ghost excursions. Difronzo mentioned that when she first visited the museum, she was stunned and excited by how pleasant and welcoming the spirits of the outdated home had been.
“The spirits — particularly the unique homeowners, like Samuel and Sarah Townsend — they wish to join and present that they respect everyone that’s coming and seeing their historical past, and to attach with them,” Difronzo mentioned. “In order we stroll ahead, they’re strolling with us, making an attempt to work together with us and share their perspective.”
Difronzo’s function, she mentioned, is extra than simply “talking to the lifeless.” She is tasked with offering a conduit by which the
spirits of the deceased can specific their needs and tackle no matter nonetheless tethers them to the mortal world. Whereas she doesn’t educate the tour-goers the historical past, she does act virtually as a thermometer of the spirituality of the place, she added, gauging the extent and benevolence of spirituality in the home as a tour goes by.
However that doesn’t imply that the museum’s excursions have misplaced their historic edge or accuracy. In line with Decide, the ghost excursions nonetheless cowl a lot of the historical past of the home, though they’re held solely in Raynham Corridor itself, not the customer heart, which is in a constructing close by.
In line with Mary Kenny, the excursions have been successful to this point, continuously promoting out.
“The primary weekend we did it, earlier than the Halloween parade, it offered out so rapidly that we had so as to add one other week as a result of it was so widespread,” Kenny mentioned. “It’s been very profitable, and we’ve had at the least one lady come after which turn into a member as a result of she needs to have the ability to come again extra usually and expertise the home once more.”
The subsequent tour, which runs roughly an hour and a half, is scheduled for Dec. 23. For tickets, name (516) 922-6808.
