Visitors Relay Paranormal Activity at SK Pierce Victorian Mansion
By Sandy Oser | Observer Contributor
According to the SK Pierce Haunted Mansion website, around the end of the 1880s, Sylvester Pierce, a businessman whose furniture company brought them to Gardner, decided to build a mansion. The mansion itself, 7000 square feet, was considered extravagant. Now, it’s considered one of the most haunted places in Massachusetts.
Currently open to public tours, the website explained that visitors have witnessed “voices,” “moving furniture,” “slamming doors,” and much more. However, the rest you may just have to witness yourself, just like Gardner resident Joanne Melvin and her daughter Olivia Warner.
Living in Gardner for the past ten years, Melvin has heard a lot about the mansion. She explained her daughter had read every article she could find about it, as well as watched YouTube videos. So, they decided to take the tour for her birthday.
They were in awe when they saw how beautiful and simple it was. They had an amazing first impression as they walked into the foyer. Melvin said, “I was very confused at the layout of the house, as the servants’ living quarters were directly across from the master bedroom and billiards room; certainly, strange for that time period.”
The story behind the mansion, according to their website, is that Pierce’s wife, Susan, sadly died due to a bacterial illness shortly after them moving in. Pierce later re-married; however, once Pierce died several years later, “the mansion underwent difficult times, as the family fortune dwindled.”
Pierce’s son, Edward, took control of the mansion and eventually turned it into a boarding home. During that time, the mansion became quite the place, becoming known for “gambling,” “drinking,” “prostitution,” and “murder.”
There were suspicions that someone was strangled in one of the bedrooms and that, at some point, a boarder was burned to death. After these incidents, many people have reported, “it is rich with paranormal activity.”
Melvin mentioned that she had seen spirits her entire life, so she was ready to see and feel paranormal activity. When walking up the tower, four people in their group simultaneously got very dizzy and felt weird.
When Melvin and her daughter were in one of the rooms, there was a ball located under one of the chairs. Warner’s spirit talker said, “movement,” and the ball rolled out from underneath the chair into the middle of the room.
When the group walked up the blue servant stairs, Melvin said, “everything turned red and what looked to be a lady in a dress walked right towards me.” Melvin and Warner were thrilled with their experience and said they would highly recommend it. They suggested that visitors take a lot of photos.
The cost is $25 per person; however, Melvin thought this was quite reasonable, considering the tour lasts about an hour and a half. She especially enjoyed it when guests were allowed to explore the mansion on their own after the tour.
To schedule your own tour, visit: http://skhauntedvictorianmansion.com/index.html
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