9. The Merchant House Museum
The Merchant House Museum knows that it is one of the most haunted places in NYC and flaunts it. There is even a “Ghosts” tab on the museum’s website. The Merchant House was the home of a wealthy mercantile family, the Tredwells, from 1835 to 1933. Inside the home, there are over 3,000 pieces of furniture, decorative arts, clothing, photographs, books, and personal items that were owned by the Tredwells. Many people claim that these intimate possessions aren’t the only remnants of the Tredwell family that live on.
Some staff and visitors believe the ghost of Gertrude Tredwell haunts the home. Gertrude was born in an upstairs bedroom in 1840, the youngest of the Tredwells’ eight children. She died in the house at the age of 93. Gertrude was the last member of the family to live in the home. The house has been a museum since the 1930s and there have always been stories of strange and inexplicable happenings, sightings – and even smells – reported by staff, volunteers, visitors, and neighbors. During the lockdown in 2020, paranormal investigator Dan Sturges and neuroscientist Dr. Lee conducted extensive research on the paranormal phenomena in the house using specialized, custom-built equipment. You can learn more about their findings in their Youtube series, In the Spirit of Science.
