Is New Baltimore Haunted? Famous Family's Property Has Eerie Past

A light flickers, something moves without being touched, a noise that can't be identified, and that heavy feeling that someone—or something—is in the room with you.

Scary movies, creepy TV shows and ghost stories are everywhere. But is it possible that places in New Baltimore are actually haunted? With as much history as the area has, there have been more than enough tales being told. Some may wonder if they're true.

New Baltimore-Chesterfield Patch explores the possibilities in the second of a two-part series.

The House On The Hill

In a time before the city was New Baltimore and known as Ashley, the Hatheway family was once of the richest and most prominent in town. Gilbert Hatheway was a state senator and owned a large farm located now where 24 Mile meets Washington.

"It was absolutely beautiful," says Richard Elliott, a local historian and amateur paranormal investigator.

It was the tallest point in town. The Hatheways had a vested interest in the steamboats that came in and out of port downtown. The family could easily see them from the cupola at the top of the house, back before so many trees and buildings sprang up between there and the water.

It's also the reason why St. Mary's Cemeterey is located there. Higher ground meant less of a chance of the coffins washing away in the rain. The section of 24 Mile Road between Washington and the curve by Oakwood Cemetery used to be called Cemetery road. Oakwood used to be Hatheway's property, and private burial plot.

That's where Mabel Hatheway is buried.

Mystery of Infamous Hatheway House

"The daughter passed away," says Elliott, and several other accounts. "But she died of mysterious causes, inside the house. The story is that they found her at the bottom of the stairs. A lot of people thought she was pushed by her cousin James."

Many renditions of the story have Mabel as a disturbed person and possibly mentally ill. Other cite James as being arthritic and ornery, and very easily aggravated. According to the grave marker in Oakwood, Mabel only lived to be 20 years old.

The house itself was later turned into a boarding house and mental health facility.

"It was used as a hospital back in the day, around World War I. There are records of one woman dying in there of old age in the house." says Elliott.

Abandoned for quite some time, the Hatheway House was a hotspot for rumors and stories about death, insanity, torture and more. The large empty lot on the south side of 24 Mile Road between Washington and Base streets is where the house used to stand. Because of its state of disrepair and frequent vandalism, the building was torn down in 2005.

Beautiful, Broken and ... Haunted?

Elliott, however, was able to venture into the house once before it was demolished. Neighbors had complained about strange noises from the site, with or without people inside it.

"It had that old, broke down smell," says Elliott. "Beautiful inside, but it was dangerous to go upstairs. You could see where people's feet had gone through the steps. There was vandalism. People wrote their names on the wall and broke out the windows, they had to be boarded up. But people didn't come there to vandalize, they came to see if it was haunted."

Which, Elliott says, is exactly what he was looking for.

"We went into the cellar, and we didn't see anything that night," says Elliott, but it was upstairs that they would find something. Rumors said that one of the Hatheways still lurked in the cupola on top of the building, to watch their ships come in.

"When we got there, it looked like there was a candle, or some sort of light upstairs. But were were the only ones there, and no one could have gotten up those stairs," said Elliott. "It was creepy as (expletive.)"

Other Ghost Stories

Aside from the and the Hatheway House, Scott Morgan of the South East Michigan Paranormal Society says there could be plenty of other haunted places around Chesterfield and New Baltimore.

"People don't want their businesses known as haunted because of the stigma attached to it. They think it will drive away business," says Morgan, "but really, it will do the opposite."

Native Americans used to thrive in Chesterfield, and local tribes used what is now Brandenburg Park as fishing grounds and had burial sites near Cotton and Sugarbush road. Many people will say they've felt uneasy tension in their chests and have seen or felt an ancient presence.

"You don't mess with their burial grounds," says Morgan. "I know I wouldn't want to."

Other tales include a ghostly apparition of a girl that walks north along County Line, looking down on the ground as she walks. Get close enough, the stories say, and she turns her head at you—her completely faceless head.

Bloom Academy, a preschool in the Anchor Bay district, is located on Church Road in Fair Haven is said to have its fair share of activity. Teachers have reported baskets falling off the shelves, lights turning on after someone has locked up the building for the night, and a custodian who had to go into the crawl space alone at night, heard a noise and left the space to investigate. When he flashed his light back into the crawlspace, he caught a brief glimpse of someone else in the space where he was.

Another report says that police were called when the alarm system went off in the middle of the night only to find that someone wasn't trying to break in, but the bottom corner of the door has been dented outward, as if someone or something was trying to get out.

"They feel like they have unfinished business," says Elliott, about spirits that haunt. "Whether it's to watch over people or to torment them is to be debated. There may be spirits that wish to do us harm."