Is This Small Town Community Center Maine’s Most Haunted Spot?

As one of the first places in North America to be settled by the Europeans, and with a history of Native American inhabitants for thousands of years before that, it should not surprise any of us that many parts of the state of Maine have a story of being haunted.  You would be hard pressed to find a community in the state that does not have at least a few stories of hauntings.

Of course, some places seem to be a lot more haunted than others.

Take the Strand Theater in Skowhegan and the Boothbay Opera House, for example.

Some paranormal researchers believe they have found the most haunted place in the entire state  It is not really a place you'd expect to be haunted.  Is it a mill building where lots of workers died?  Nope!  Is it a hospital?  Nope.  What about one of our state's oldest cemeteries?  Guess again!

According to several ghost hunting groups, including Haunt ME, one of the most haunted places in the state (if not the most haunted place) is the Greater Rumford Community Center.

According to the State of Maine website, the center was built in 1910 and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.  The site goes on to say:

The Greater Rumford Community Center is listed on the National Historic Register.  The building, formerly called The Rumford Mechanics Institute, was built and dedicated in 1911.  It was founded by Hugh J. Chisholm and financed by the Oxford Paper Company.  In 1968 the Oxford Paper Company gave the building and land to the Rumford Mechanics Institute Association.  The facility was created “to furnish the wage earners of Rumford the best quality of physical, mental, social, and moral improvement, at the lowest cost.”

Over 110 years after it was constructed, the building still serves an important service in the community.

The Hauntings

The Haunt ME website has a good breakdown of that group's several visits to the building.  It appears that, in total, they have visited the building six times.

Over the course of their visits, they encountered multiple spirits, including one they called "the bald man" and another they referred to as "the magician".  They also reportedly heard footsteps running in the part of the building that is now used as a gym.

What's even stranger is that during their final visit to the building, they encountered what they believed to be a water spirit that was ticked off about how the area's industries had polluted the Androscoggin River.

The team from Beyond The Dark also did an investigation at the building.  They were able to record some pretty incredible EVPs, and one member of their team was reportedly even scratched by an entity.

Here's what they found...

What do you think?  Do you believe in ghosts?  Have you ever witnessed anything?  Let us know by messaging us inside our app.