By: Mike Walsh
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: Mike Walsh
Larry Stanford, the Newport ghost hunter
As the summer fades into fall and Newport’s tourists leave this seasonal location until next year, times remain busy for Larry Stanford. This is because the popularity of his “Ghost Tours of Newport, R.I.” is at its’ height. Stanford, originally from Connecticut, works at the Newport Visitors Center by day and orchestrates an eerie lantern-lit walk through Newport’s most haunted locations by night. An avid fan of history, Stanford wanted to find a way to incorporate the historically-rich culture of Newport with the haunting legends that have been passed down from generation to generation.
The tour has two sections; “The Walking Ghost Tour,” which departs nightly and is guided by actors dressed in Victorian-era garments, and “The Carved in Stone Tour,” a walk through Newport’s Common Burying Ground, the largest and oldest cemetery in Newport. In between helping the few remaining tourists at the Newport Visitor’s Center, Stanford answered a few questions regarding his tour, where “Newport’s haunted past comes alive.” What made you decide to start Ghost Tours of Newport? A good friend of mine from college has a tour business in the Key West that he’s been doing for about 10 years. He got the idea while he was honeymooning in Scotland. He took the concept to the Key West. I had been to Key West a few times in the winter, and I thought something like this would work well in Newport. What are some of the specific locations visited on your tour, and what is their significance? The Artillery Museum, on Park Street, that’s the first chartered militia in the United States. King George II chartered them as a local militia, and it’s also a museum for military uniforms. The building was built in 1741. The White Horse Tavern is one of the stops. It’s the oldest operating tavern, built in 1673. The Trinity Church Graveyard is the last stop on the tour. It’s pretty significant, it was the very well-to-do congregation, there were a lot of early wealthy families that worshiped and were buried there. You just mentioned that you’ve spent a lot of time in the Key West. Would you say paranormal activity is viewed differently in areas like the Key West, than they are in different areas of the U.S., like in Newport? Yes, definitely. Some places kind of relish their reputation as being a haunted place. Especially in the South, they seem more open to it. Definitely Key West, because it’s a very open minded place. Places like Newport, they’re not quite as open to it. Like the historical society and the preservation society tend to frown on things like that. It darkens their reputation. Definitely I think different parts of the country embrace it. Obviously Salem (MA), they built a whole industry on it. Newport, whether through fact or legend, has a reputation for having a lot of haunted areas. How much would you say is purely legend, and how much would you say is true? Newport’s a pretty old place. You have a lot of families that have lived here for generations. So obviously what’s true and not true is going to get kind of skewed over the years. I’d say probably 10-20% of it is accurate. Probably the rest of it is exaggerated as time goes on. Do you think the haunted aspects of Newport are unique to this city, or do you think it’s more of a situation like wherever you go, you have people in a society who want to believe in paranormal activity? I think wherever you go there’s always going to be a certain number of people who believe and have had their own personal experiences. Obviously the things that have taken place in Newport are unique, because of the location. Each building has its own history. For example, The White Horse Tavern. The ghost that reportedly haunts there was a murder victim in the 1700s. No matter where you go, there will be people that believe. Why do you think people are so fascinated by the paranormal? I think everyone kind of has a question about things that are unknown to them. I mean, you can’t really say for certain that ghosts don’t exist. I think anything that people don’t understand or, aren’t really sure about they have a little bit of interest in it. A lot of people have their own experience, which adds to the mystery. Do you believe in the paranormal? I think most experiences are probably not hauntings. I’d say 90% reported sightings or hauntings can be explained by something else. People’s imagination, the wind, the house creaked, something. I think there’s a small percentage of events that kind of fall into that “could be” area. We get a lot of people who send us pictures, and a lot of times you’ll see something and you’re just like, “Man, what is that?” Who knows? There is scientific proof that when there’s a sighting the temperature drops. People have magnetometers, and the magnetic activity increases. So I mean, scientifically, it’s been proven that there are some phenomenon. Have you ever watched a show on the Sci-Fi Channel called “Ghost Hunters?” Those guys actually came on the tour in 2002. It was just when they were getting started, and they were trying to kick off the show. They filmed a show at the world-famous Astor’s Beechwood Mansion. How do you feel about paranormal activity being investigated scientifically? It seems like the devices that they use detect something. When they use infrared cameras they pick up objects moving across the screen. You know, the magnetometer, the (magnetic) levels increase. On our tour we actually use a laser thermometer, which is a simple tool used to detect temperature. People say when they have an encounter they feel a drop in temperature, like a cold chill, or they walk into a vacuum of cold air. If you could see anyone in history come back as a ghost, who would it be and why? Interesting question. I guess I’ll keep it at a local level, since (George) Washington actually came here and he was such a significant figure in our history. I’d like to talk to him, about his experiences here in Newport. That would be pretty cool.
