The Greene County Historical Society is in what was once the County Home, poor farm, or almshouse, and regardless of its use at the time, it has been an integral institution to Greene County for well over one hundred and fifty years. This building was home to many people over the years; some lived good peaceful lives here, but many existed in a perpetual state of tragedy.
As a result of the often violent and sad history of the building, it has many memories and hauntings to go along with them. At the GCHS, we are often reminded of a line from Bram Stoker’s Dracula when showing guests the buildings; “This house is old, and has many bad memories.”
We are often asked if we have experienced anything here personally, and the answer to that question is always yes. Just in the weeks and months leading up to October, especially as renovations and repairs have amped up, the haunted happenings have increased significantly.
One morning, upon arriving to work, and entering the main hall a ghostly voice yelled “Hello” from some remote corner of the upstairs and a key played on the piano in the main hall. While cleaning in preparation for Harvest Festival, a visible hand reached out from a closet in the Stewards Kitchen and frightened a volunteer who was running the vacuum.
Some folks who are new to the building are often frightened when they have their first experience, but, as I was often told when I started working here regularly, you get used to it. In fact, the longer we are here, the more it seems that the “residents,” as we call the spirit inhabitants of the museum, are just part of our daily life, friends that we greet when we arrive in the mornings, and that we wish goodbye at the end of the day.
It is important for us here to remember the lives and struggles of the former residents of the County Home, and to remember them as the people they once were, while we hope that our continued improvements to the building are making their time here a little better.
It seems the residents do enjoy the renovations and repairs. Activity always increases with work to the structure: lights will go on and off, doors will close, and more than once we have caught a glimpse of someone peeking around corner or through a doorway, watching as we work.
It is an interesting experience working in a building with such a history and memories. We often remind ourselves that this is their home, and we are just stewards preserving the old county home for the next generation. What will happen when we are gone, we do not know…perhaps we too shall haunt the halls of the former Greene County Home!
