Black and White Reigns Supreme

Some Historical Meanderings

Lady of the Lake

     The “Lady of the Lake” is a mystery that has haunted Lake Placid for generations. Mabel Smith Douglass, a talented and accomplished professional (she was the first dean of the New Jersey College for Women at Rutgers, now Douglass College), spent her summers in the Adirondacks with her family at their Camp Onondaga property. Late one September day in 1933, before closing up the camp and heading back to New Jersey, Mabel went out onto the lake and never returned. Her disappearance remained an upsetting mystery to her family for nearly 30 years until, late one September day in 1963, Mabel was found.

     Her body, almost perfectly preserved by the very cold water of Lake Placid, was found by two divers near Pulpit Rock on a shelf 105 feet below the surface. She was found with one end of a rope tied around her neck and, on the other end, an anchor.

     The “official” ruling of her death by the coroner was that of an accident, but we now know that there is much more to the story. In one year’s time, her husband died, her son committed suicide, and she fell upon professional problems. Due to this swell of unfortunate circumstances, Mrs. Douglass had a nervous breakdown and was admitted to a mental health facility for about a year, right up until spending her last summer at Camp Onondaga. Armed with this information, it seems much more plausible that Mrs. Douglass took her own life – so, while this may not make for a very good mystery, it does make a good ghost story.

      As for Pulpit Rock, it may be Mrs. Douglas you see, or it may be the spirit of one of the two men who drowned at the base of Pulpit Rock about ten years earlier, or maybe it’s both!

Fallen Soldiers and Their Horses

As a battleground of both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, Fort Ticonderoga is a popular haunt for war-afflicted spirits. Thousands of soldiers were buried on the grounds of the fort, and through many decades both visitors and employees alike have reported hearing footsteps, hoof beats, voices, and seeing shadowy figures. Intrigued? Take part in one of the Fort’s nighttime ghost tours and maybe you’ll come away with a tale of your own!