Deep River Public Library

On 20 April 2010, Regine Labossiere reported on the reputed haunting of the public library in Deep River, Connecticut. Her article below was entitled ‘Reports Persist Of Ghosts At Deep River Public Library’ and appeared in the, The Hartford Courant.

’Staff member Pam Ziobron was working by herself late one Saturday. She had shut off all the lights except for the one at the circulation desk, where she was standing, when she had a strong sense that she wasn’t alone.

“It was just a feeling. … It was just so light and airy, like a female coming down the stairs. It was very, very real,” Ziobron said.

Since 2004, ghost hunters and mediums have spent time in the Main Street library to investigate these strange occurrences in what was the home of a prominent Deep River man 100 years ago. Another paranormal investigation agency will try to capture what library employees have been feeling and hearing for years. Full Spectrum Ghost Hunters of Plainville plans to conduct a paranormal investigation May 8.

Of the previous mediums and ghost hunters, some have concurred that they’ve also felt the presence of ghosts. Others have been able to capture more information.

Ghost hunter John Zaffis, nephew of famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, approached the Main Street library in 2004 about conducting an investigation. He felt the presence of two females, one in her teens and one in her 50s, in the library reference area that used to be the residence’s kitchen. The original wood-burning stove that was manufactured in 1877 by Fuller, Warren & Co., in Troy, N.Y., is still there. According to the Valley Courier newspaper, Connecticut Paranormal Research & Investigators of East Haven captured a spirit in photos two years ago.

Susan Oehl, the library’s assistant director, was eating her lunch and was the only person on the upper level when she heard a sound in the next room.

“I heard distinctly a woman clearing her throat,” Oehl recently recalled. When she went to check, no one was there.

The possibility of ghosts has contributed to the lure of the library and of Deep River’s quaint Main Street, said Ann Paietta, the library’s director. The house was built in 1881 by Richard Pratt Spencer, who owned a manufacturing company that dealt with the ivory trade, served as treasurer and president of the Deep River National Bank and was a state senator.

He lived in the house, until his death in 1910, with his second wife and their three children. The house was built with the Deep River in its backyard and now faces the many shops, banks and restaurants that line the main road.’