Ellicottville Ghost Walks
Ellicottville Ghost Walks
Spooky tours return for a third season with Town Historian
Photos / Ellicottville Historical Society
For the third spooky season in a row, Town Historian Ellen Frank is giving her custom ghost tours. Remaining dates for the 2024 season include October 18th and October 25th, with the possibility of November 1st added.
Now over one year into her appointed role as Town Historian, Ms. Frank, an Ellicottville native, previously served as the Vice President of the Ellicottville Historical Society before accepting her current post on October 1, 2023. Her multifaceted role allows her to facilitate historical walking tours and, in the season, spooky ghost tours.
“It’s the third year I’ve been doing it,” said Ms. Frank by way of a phone interview which was held on her one-year-anniversary. “Two things are new this year: we are going into the United Church of Ellicottville and the Ellicottville Historical Museum.”
Last year, Ms. Frank had the opportunity to do a ghost investigation in both buildings. “I’m going in and talking about what happened on that investigation - especially in the church,” she said. “The church is very interesting because a lot of local people came through and I knew who they were; for me, that was really cool!” She later noted that “there was a lot of activity in the church!”
When asked if Ellicottville is haunted, in general, Ms. Frank said that it has its spirits.
This year’s first ghost walk was held on September 27th, and two, possibly three, more remain. Upcoming dates include October 18th and 25th, with the possibility of the addition of November 1st, weather dependent. For obvious reasons, Ms. Frank says that she purposefully skips the Friday of the Fall Festival, adding that the town does not recommend it.
“I’ve been trying to debate whether I want to do November 1st because it’s close enough to Halloween - but I’ve gotten a lot of responses [on the other tours] already,” noting that she has 10 guests for the 18th and four for the 25th already.
Groups gather in front of the gazebo to start the tour, which takes them into the church, followed by a leisure stroll through town to the Jefferson Street Cemetery. “I tell stories in between walking; in the cemetery, [there are] nine different graves that I talk about,” said Ms. Frank. She later pointed out that the cemetery can be a little tricky. “Even though I have a path that I know, it always seems like some stick has jumped onto the path, or a hole has developed, or something - it’s a walk-at-your-own-risk kind of walk,” adding, “I tell people that, so we don’t have any type of problem, and knock on wood, we never had!”
The 1.5-2-hour walking tour concludes at the Ellicottville Historical Museum. “What I did this year was tell how our investigation last year went into the museum and what happened, and then they can see the museum if they want,” said Ms. Frank. Later in the conversation, she alluded to what happened during last year’s investigation.
“In the Museum, we have a display on Dr. Leyens, and whenever one of the investigators would said Dr. Leyens’s name - and we had, it looks like an old music box, it’s called a Victorian music box, and it is kind of creepy - it goes {screeching} ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, like that - it would always go off, which was kind of weird, because we kept moving it, and still, whenever Dr. Leyens’ name came up, it would go off.”
She added that “when I started this, I thought, I have never heard of any real [ghost] stories, and I’ve lived here all my life, but what I do is a lot of research in the old newspapers on murders and killings and stuff like that; that’s what I use.” Ms. Frank says that she often is asked if her tours are scary. “Not really,” she said. “People might think it’s a little gross at times, but not scary.”
To reserve a ticket for Ms. Frank’s upcoming ghost walks, interested parties can call her directly at 716-699-2276 or 716-474-8528. She can also be reached by email at EllicottvilleTownHistorian@gmail.com. Tickets are $15 each and cash or check are the only payment methods accepted at this time. Group sizes vary depending on ticket sales. The tours are family-friendly, and pets can be accommodated with advanced notice. Ms. Frank recommends attendees bring flashlights or use the flashlights on their cell phones as the walk can be unpredictable at times, especially in the cemetery.
Tours begin promptly at 7:30pm and guests are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early to facilitate check-in.
Both historical and ghost private tours are also available for parties of five or greater. Those interested can reach out to Ms. Frank directly for additional information.
Ms. Frank concluded that another investigation will be held next month. Details will be posted on the Historical Society’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EVLHSM.