Historic Pelham: Did Google Maps Camera Capture the Ghost of the Elegant Lady of the Old Stone House at 463 First Avenue?

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Halloween is nearly here. Today continues with another ghost story based on a legend that has been told by Pelham residents for more than one hundred years. Today's posting has a modern technological twist. It asks the question: "Did the Google Maps Camera Truck recently capture an image of the ghost known as the Elegant Lady of the Old Stone House?"

Legend has it that the beautiful home known today as the "Old Stone House" located at 463 First Avenue is haunted by the spirit of an elegant lady dressed in an old-fashioned gown. I have written about this legend of the "Elegant Lady of the Old Stone House" on a number of occasions. For examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends (Oct. 2002) (see section entitled "THE ELEGANT LADY OF THE OLD STONE HOUSE").

Wed., Oct. 14, 2009: 1879 News Account Provides Additional Basis for Some Facts Underlying Ghost Story of Old Stone House in Pelhamville.

Mon., Jan. 25, 2010: Another Account of the 1879 Home Invasion Robbery of the Old Stone House in Pelhamville.

Fri., Mar. 17, 2006 1854: Advertisement for the Sale of the Old Stone House at 463 First Avenue in Pelham.

As I have written before, the legend of the lovely Old Stone House is a tale of romance, robbery and riches. A man named Alexander Diack built the home in the early 1850s. On October 15, 1855, a man named James Parrish purchased the home. As the story goes, James Parrish had a business in which he employed a truckman named Adams. Parrish and Adams supposedly began an express business “as a sideline”. The business did well. When James Parrish died, his wife supposedly received dividend payments from the business paid in gold.

"THE DIACK -- PARRISH HOUSE The Old Stone House --

Circa 1852 By John M. Shinn." Oil on Canvas Painting

Hanging in the Town Council Room of Town Hall.

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Masked men reportedly robbed Mrs. Parrish. Indeed, contemporary news accounts confirm that Mrs. Parrish was the target of a harrowing home invasion during which she was bound to her bed and robbed in the middle of the night. She reportedly began to hide the gold she received as dividends somewhere on the property.

According to Lockwood Barr’s popular history of Pelham:

"it is said that a million dollars in gold is hidden in the house, or buried in the gardens. Search has been made of the house, and grounds excavated, but without result. However, underneath a hearthstone in the basement kitchen, a hundred small coins of early date were found by one of the owners – but no pot of gold."

Some say the ghost of Mrs. Parrish can be seen about the house, even in daylight, dressed in elegant clothes of the period, searching for misplaced gold. There is also a story that a well-known actor who was a descendant of Mrs. Parrish, Edward Everett Horton, once visited the home, heard the ghost stories and said that the descriptions of the apparition resembled a daguerreotype he had seen of one of his great grandmothers.

Fast forward to modern times. In August, 2012, the Google Maps Camera Car made its rounds through parts of the Village of Pelham, snapping thousands and thousands of photographs for the online database known as Google Maps accessible via browser. As the Camera Car passed one side of the Old Stone House along Sixth Street, it snapped a photograph in which those who study paranormal activity might be interested. The image seems to show in an upper window of the home an elegantly-dressed figure wearing what appears to be a long-sleeved and long-skirted white gown peering from the window beneath the eaves of the home.

The legend specifically claims that the "the ghost of Mrs. Parrish can be seen about the house, even in daylight, dressed in elegant clothes of the period, searching for misplaced gold." Could it really be that the Google Maps Camera Car captured the precise moment the ghost of Mrs. Parrish peered from the upper window in broad daylight in the midst of her never-ending search for the hidden gold?

You will have to judge for yourself. The undoctored image appears below, with a portion magnified for ease of reference.