Dead Men Wear TopHats

The house above is located in Vermont, as you can see, it is quite large and has many floors and rooms. That's because in its heyday it was a hotel, a boarding house, a brothel and an apartment. It hasn't been occupied in many years, due mainly to its long and tragic history. You know how some places just seem to cling tightly to the negative energy that inhabits them....well this was one of those places.

When it was a hotel, it was quite the showstopper, and as such, it attracted rich oil barons from the city who wanted a weekend getaway in Vermont. The hotel had a successful run for awhile until the first tragedy struck. Apparently one of the oil tycoons had learned while he was there vacationing, that he just lost his entire fortune on a risky business venture. Unable to face the mounting debt and ruin that awaited him back in the city, the man put on his top hat and coat, and preceded to hang himself from the rafters in an upstairs room. Soon after, the rich quit coming as they found death from financial ruin to be too distasteful for them.

So the hotel was shut down and reopened a year or so later as a boarding house. The lady who ran the boarding house had acquired a bit of a reputation due to the large number of females who seemed to reside in the large house on a permanent basis, and the equally large number of 'gentlemen' callers who frequented the house at all hours of the day and night. Rumor was, the 'Madam' had a shrewd head for business and was a force to be reckoned with if a 'customer' was unable to pay his tab. Well apparently one such swindler came through pretending to be quite wealthy. He stayed several days, enjoying the company of several of the ladies of the house, and basically raked himself up quite a tab. The 'Madam' let the man stay on a 'tab' because he was so nattily dressed and well spoken. He had expensive clothes and shoes, and flashed some money around, so she was confident he'd not only pay his bill, but would be a big tipper to boot. However, the man was nothing but a two-bit con artist who never had any intention of paying a cent.

On his last day, he packed his things and was about to just walk out the front door, when he heard the clicking of a trigger being cocked. The 'Madam' of the house pointed the barrel of a gun at his back and asked him to kindly step back inside, because he must have inadvertently forgotten to pay his tab. The man laughed and pulled his pockets inside out to show that he had not a penny to his name. He then belittled the ladies and the Madam with some verbal abuse before turning around to walk back out the door. He made it to the end of the porch when the bullet when through his head.

Needless to say, the 'Madam' was arrested, the boarding house/brothel was shut down yet again and it remained empty for quite a few years before someone finally bought the property and attempted to use it as some low rent apartments. However, the owner mismanaged his funds and didn't have the money it took to keep the place up. The angry tenants eventually moved out of the structure because it was literally falling in around them. But more than that....many of them could not deal with the many sightings of ghosts and the constant sounds of a gun firing in the night. A maintenance man had gone to the top floor to work on a broken pipe when he saw what he swore was a man in a suit and top hat hanging from the rafters. It scared him so badly, he ran all the way down and out the front door and refused to go back.

The property is now owned by the bank, but there are other houses near it. And the people that live in those surrounding homes all tell of accounts of seeing a dapper gentleman in a top hat walking on the porch. I found this home and its history to be rather fascinating, so I took many photos of it in hopes of capturing some orbs. I found no orbs at all in any of the photographs, until I got to this image....and I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! (Click on the image to see it larger.) ;o)