In 1839, the town of East Lyme was founded, and since then the town has developed into the bustling attraction it is today. The town’s long history brought with it many historic sites, and with those came ghost stories about their former inhabitants. One such place, the Smith Harris House, is full of both history and horror for those who dare visit it this time of year…
The Smith Harris House was built as a gift for Tomas Avery and Elizabeth Griswold in 1845, but it was later sold to William Smith in 1877 and remained his family house until 1955 when it was sold to the Town of East Lyme. The house is now a museum, but that doesn’t change the spooky stories surrounding the house.
Willard Reed is an ELHS history and Anthropology teacher who has led digs on the Smith-Harris property for many years. He reported that there were several instances of people hearing and recording mysterious sounds.
“Well, not [audible] to the naked ear, but something picked up on a voice recorder was the name Sarah being said,” Mr. Reed said. Though this incident happened before Mr. Reed started leading digs on the property, there are written accounts. The name Sarah comes from the late daughter of Ms. Griswold, the owner of the house from 1877-1955. It is said that Ms. Griswold could not mentally cope after the death of her young daughter, ultimately dying in her mid 20’s because of the unfortunate death.
It is said that Ms. Griswold died of mental illness because of a relic found by an Anthropologiy class, an eye lens that was often used to treat different mental disorders in the 1800’s. In this case the lens was tinted blue, for mental illness.
Though nothing can be proven, many do believe that there is something spooky about the Smith Harris House. The building is located next to the East Lyme Public Library and was also the past location of The Walk of Horror, East Lyme’s yearly Halloween event. There is no hard evidence of the ghost of Ms. Griswold, but the legend of the house lives on among town residents.
