Canfield Casino Museum
My mother lives within walking distance of the famously hunted Canfield Casino museum in Saratoga Springs, NY. After hearing the museum was five minutes away by foot we walked over to check it out. Thankfully they were open a few days after Christmas during my holiday visit.
The museum was staffed by a volunteer who was quite nice to us. The first couple floors had some interesting artifacts and outfits from the 1800’s and early 1900’s. The casino area itself was small but fairly cool — I’d never seen a roulette wheel in person — and it had a neat projected display on a mannequin that explained it’s history.
When I got up to the third floor, the floor reputed to be haunted, my phone’s camera went on the fritz. The camera started going off by itself and every photo I attempted on my own crashed the device. The phone camera then unexpectedly took a picture after the entrance near the stairs, crashed, and my attempted photos of the red room killed it again each time. After turning my phone on and off at least 5 times and adjusting the settings I was finally able to continue taking pictures.
There wasn’t much mention of paranormal activity at the museum itself. Some cards were put up on the wall noting that in 2010 the location was featured on Ghost Hunters but not any specifics. When my mother and I returned home we watched the episode on YouTube.
I also uploaded my photos of the trip to my Flickr account. Sadly most of my photos of the 3rd floor are missing, including many I took after the crashing spree seemed to have finished. There’s a beautiful religious room with catholic displays that didn’t take at all, as well as my initial red room photos and a neat wall sized bureau display on the left side of the 3rd floor entrance.
If you’re in town and near the museum it’s worth a look. It didn’t feel especially spooky but the casino is neat and the period clothing and room displays are definitely worth seeing.