Slightly Odd Fitchburg

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now on to the odd story! DID YOU KNOW that six pirates were all hanged, on the same day in Boston, back in 1717? The whole thing revolves around the Whydah. That was the pirate ship captained by a feller named Black Bellamy. He and his crew of around 110 were transporting a stolen cargo of 20,000 LBS of gold which is, you know, a lot. Anyway, legend has it that Black B. had it bad for a woman named Maria Hallett of Cape Cod. He was supposedly stopping by to get his doubloons polished when a fierce storm rose up and sank the ship, along with its gold and crew. Black Bellamy, along with over 100 of his pirates were swept into the ocean and drowned. How do we know that? Well because the bodies washed up on the shores of Cap

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now on to the odd story! DID YOU KNOW that the witching parts of the Salem Witch Trials actually took place in Danvers? Yeah, this is kind of like Salem's dirty little secret. Back in the 16 hundos, you had Salem Town and Salem Village. The town part was, well, filled with townspeople and seaports. The village part was where all the farms and such were. It was Salem Village where the girls claimed to be bewitched and where the accused mostly lived and were arrested. Salem Town is where the trials actually took place. About 60 or 70 years after those trials, Salem Village decided that it didn't want to pay taxes that were meant to support the filthy cosmopolitans and fishermen of Salem Town and became its own thin

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! Fitch Bits: The Worcester Palladium DID YOU KNOW that the Worcester Palladium is haunted AF? Yeah, it's super haunted! It was built in 1928 and was the subject of a Ghost Hunters episode. It's said that you can hear disembodied voices in certain areas of the venue. There are also reports of a glowing orb floating around. It's about the size of a soccer ball and multiple people have seen it! It's very common for a theater space to be haunted but few of them have any actual reasons to be. Not the Palladium, though! It's rumored that several dead bodies were once found in a dressing room and that pretty much guarantees some angry ghosts! Anyway, this DYK is going to be a little light on

Okay, so this post has been a long time coming. I was originally supposed to post it back in October as part of the Atlas of the Odd series. The whole concept was to give you haunted places that you could actually visit during the Halloween season, but, needless to say, that didn’t happen. I ended up coming down with COVID and that knocked me out for a month and a half. Then I came out on the other side of that just in time for the holiday season. Then I was just lazy. Anyway, here we are again in a new year and it’s finally time to visit Route 44 in Rehoboth! This is a story that you legally have to talk about if you write about ghosts and stuff. It’s pretty much been done to death, but hopefully I can give you some new information about it, or at least make it entertaining. Let’s just say that I want this post to get a big thumb up, and not just from a hitchhiking ghost! Get it? Wow, we’re off to a terrible start. Okay, let’s go! The Redheaded Hitchhiker and other Route 44 Attract

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Not the actual photo. It just looks like an ice hole.   Fitch Bits: New Hampshire's Famous Ice Hole! DID YOU KNOW that Wakefield, New Hampshire is home to a famous hole?   Okay, so it was back on January 10, 1977, when a farmer, name o' William McCarthy, looked out over his pond. Most of the body of water seemed normal for a New Hampshire winter. It was frozen so solid that, according to Willie himself, you could drive a tank over it. That was, of course, except for the perfectly circular three-foot hole in the middle of it all!   This was a private pond on a private farm, so there was just no explanation for it. It couldn't even be explained away by blaming it on an ice fisher because those felle

Check out my really fun guest spot on The Paranormal Putas' Podcast where I talk about Pukwudgies and the S.K. Pierce Mansion!

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story!   Fitch Bits: Boston's First Recorded UFO DID YOU KNOW that the first recorded (by the Western world) UFO sighting in the Americas happened in what would become Boston?   It happened all the way back in 1639 when, on March 1st, John Winthrop (yes, of the Winthrop Winthrops) wrote: "earlier in the year James Everell, 'a sober, discreet man,' and two others had been rowing a boat in the Muddy River, which flowed through swampland and emptied into a tidal basin in the Charles River, when they saw a great light in the night sky. When it stood still, it flamed up, and was about three yards square,” the governor reported, “when it ran, it was contracted into the figure of a swine.”   That's not

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! Fitch Bits: The Angry Old Ghost of The Old Powder House DID YOU KNOW that The Old Powder House in Somerville, MA. is haunted by a very angry ghost? The building was constructed as a windmill around 1703 for the Mallet family farm. It was subsequently sold to Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1747, and turned into a powder magazine. That's where it got its name and it actually featured somewhat heavily in the Revolution. It was seized by the British because it held gunpowder and munitions for the colonies. One thing led to another and there was a battle fought over it. That's later than our story, though. Back when it was still a windmill, it was the scene of a grisly murder! At least that's the fo

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the damned story! Fitch Bits: Dudleytown - New England's Village of the Damned! DID YOU KNOW that Dudleytown, Connecticut might just be the real Village of the Damned? Despite its name, Dudleytown was never an actual town. It was just a part of Cornwall, Connecticut that was settled in the early 1740s by Thomas Griffis, followed by Gideon Dudley and, by 1753, Barzillai Dudley and Abiel Dudley; Martin Dudley joined them a few years later. More families came afterward and it turned into its own settlement. It's also in a valley known as Dark Forest Entry, so... you know. Things were never going to work out for it. Anyway, the legend goes that the founders of Dudleytown were descended from Edmund Dudley, an English nob

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: Boston's Murder of the (19th) Century DID YOU KNOW that Boston was home to the murder of the century? Oh, yeah! As PBS puts it: "The Parkman murder has been called the O. J. Simpson trial of the nineteenth century. It had everything a good murder story needs: a rich, well-known victim; a well-respected suspect; gruesome evidence; and a possible underdog hero." So, basically, it all began in November of 1849 when Dr. George Parkman, a scion of one of Boston's richest families, suddenly vanished. One week later, the janitor of the Harvard Medical College discovered body parts hidden in the laboratory of a mild-mannered professor of chemistry named John Webster. Though his influenti

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! Fitch Bits: Ghostly Inhabitants of the Central Burying Ground! DID YOU KNOW that the Central Burying Ground in the Boston Common is rife with spectral activity? There's no way to miss this cemetery, if you've ever been to the Common, and it might just be the best place to meet a ghost! This spot was "established to alleviate overcrowding at King's Chapel, Copp's Hill and Granary Burying Grounds." It was also considered "least desirable because it was the farthest from the market center of the town." It's filled with British soldiers, revolutionaries who fought at Bunker Hill, and foreigners who died while visiting Boston. It's essentially a paupers' field f

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The Witch of the Common DID YOU KNOW that there's a Witch of the Common? Mary Dyer is her name and getting unjustly executed is her game! This woman was hanged on the Gallows Tree on Boston Common in 1660. If you don't know what the Gallows Tree is, it doesn't exist anymore. It was used to hang many a folk, back in the day, but it fell over 1876. Anyway, Mary was a Quaker in Puritan run Boston and liked to preach her religion on the streets. That ruffled more than a few Puritan feathers and there was nothing they enjoyed more than a good hangin'! There's a lot to this fascinating story, but I'm limited in space with these posts, so I'd like to write a real story about h

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Well, the weather is certainly changing and it makes me miss walking around Boston Common and being assaulted by entitled squirrels looking for a handout. As such: DID YOU KNOW that Boylston Station is haunted? Yeah, so not only is it the very first subway station in the United States, it's also the location of a mass burial site! Workers uncovered between 900 and 1,100 bodies when they dug out the tunnel, and they were all British soldiers! Most people don't realize the entire Common was a British encampment during the war. The only good Redcoat is a dead Redcoat and they all had to get buried somewhere! Early trolley drivers used to report seeing apparitions of men in red coats in the tunnels around

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The Windham Frog Attack DID YOU KNOW that Windham Center, Connecticut was attacked by frogs?   Okay, not really, but that's the myth. It all stems from one summer night in 1754. This was a little before the start of the American Revolution and right at the beginning of the French and Indian War. Tensions were high and the British and French were constantly fighting for control of this area.   So, you have people on edge, hot weather, and the general boredom of being alive in the 18th century when the good residents of Windham Green got jolted awake in the middle of the night and "Rushing out from their beds, they listened with horror and amazement... A din, a roar, an indescribable hubbub

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story!   Fitch Bits: Concealed Shoes DID YOU KNOW that your old New England home might have shoes in its walls?   Although it's not unique to New England, there happen to be more instances of it here than anywhere else in the country. It's even more common in New England's prequel: England, England. That's why the phenomenon is most likely an immigrant from the U.K. and Europe.   They're called concealed shoes and there's no single consensus as to why they were put in the walls. It could go all the way back to ritualistic sacrifice on new foundations to protect and bless new homes and public houses. As sacrifice fell out of fashion, the tradition stuck and people used leather shoes (animal sk

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The Bennington Triangle DID YOU KNOW that Vermont has its own triangle?   It's called the Bennington Triangle and, much like the Bermuda and Bridgewater varieties, it's plagued with disappearances, mysterious lights, untraceable sounds, and unidentified creatures! It's located in the Green Mountains and was avoided by Native populations in the area.   Five people disappeared between 1945 and 1950. No traces of them have ever been found and one man was even seen getting onto a bus but never seen getting off it!   While I have you here, How about getting your very own Ouija Board , made by me! They help support the site and you'll never find a higher quality, handmade board anywhere!

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: Champ DID YOU KNOW that New England has its own lake monster? Champ is his name and being a cryptid is his game! He's said to live in the waters of Lake Champlain in Vermont. There have been more than 300 documented sightings and P.T. Barnum, himself, once offered a $20,000 reward to anyone who could bring him the creature, dead or alive. One of the earliest sightings by western eyes was in 1819 by a ship's captain. He reported that he saw a creature over 180 feet long with "eyes like peeled onions!" The story goes even further back in time, though. The Iroquois and Abenaki tribes both have ancient legends of a lake monster that lurked in the lake and ate people. The Abenaki even

This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The New England Man in Black DID YOU KNOW that New England has its own Men in Black stories? The most famous one happened to a fellier by the name of Dr. Herbert Hopkins in Old Orchard Beach in Maine. He was putting supposed UFO abductees and witnesses under hypnosis and studying their cases. He must have gotten a little to close to some form of truth because a Man in Black showed up at his house on September 11, 1976! He was your typical Man in Black with a black suit, white shirt, and black hat. His skin was pale, his lips were too red, and he lacked any hair; eyebrows and eyelashes included. He knew facts about Hopkins that he had no business knowing, including that he had two coins in his pock