A Legally Haunted House

This house was declared a “legally haunted home” in New York…did I uncover it’s forgotten history?

Sources

Source 1: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Laveta-Pl-Nyack-NY-10960/32384985_zpid/

Source 2: https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Our_Haunted_House_on_the_Hudson_May_1977-1.pdf

Source 3: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-haunted-house-resident-cynthia-kavanagh/id1527838180?i=1000544064908

Source 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyoEDpY_uyM&t=609s

Source 5: https://www.ktransit.com/Kavanagh/Ghost/ghost-update.htm

Source 6: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g061371903/?sp=2&st=image

Source 7: https://www.google.com/maps/place/1+Laveta+Pl,+Nyack,+NY+10960

Source 8: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g061371919/?sp=1&r=0.281,0.298,0.366,0.23,0

Source 9: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/71ea2900-0b03-0134-6e7d-00505686a51c

Source 10: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804nm.g3804nm_g061371896/?sp=1&st=image&r=-0.005,0.218,0.91,0.572,0

Source 11: https://digitalsanbornmaps.proquest.com/assets/content/sanborn_bwkey.pdf

Source 12: https://guides.loc.gov/fire-insurance-maps/sanborn-interpreting

Source 13: https://www.rocklandgis.com/webapps/base_public/

Source 14: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2703/images/32848_B094118-00275_2?usePUB=true&_phsrc=kta9

Source 15: "Rockland, Sullivan, New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-678G-75?view=explore : Dec 29, 2025), image 83 of 316; New York. Secretary of State. Image Group Number: 004296239

Source 16: Year: 1900; Census Place: Orangetown, Rockland, New York; Roll: 1155; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0070
via Ancestry.com

Source 17: Year: 1900; Census Place: Orangetown, Rockland, New York; Roll: 1155; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0072
via Ancestry.com

Source 18: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/71ea2900-0b03-0134-6e7d-00505686a51c?canvasIndex=0

Source 19: "Rockland, New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-GQHW-995R-F?view=explore : Dec 29, 2025), image 28 of 41; National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 108851304

Source 20: "United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RZ5-8GL?view=explore : Dec 29, 2025), image 512 of 1119; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 004952227

Source 21: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159782365/eugene_franklin-perry/photo

Source 22: https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/cgi-bin/senylrc-larc?a=d&d=jbaghabf19320220.1.2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

Source 23: https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/cgi-bin/senylrc-larc?a=d&d=jbaghabf19320224.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

Source 24: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161351085/margaret_gesner-perry/photo

Source 25: https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/cgi-bin/senylrc-larc?a=d&d=ieadbehj19361219.1.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

Source 26: "Rockland, New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9MB-9JX2?view=explore : Dec 29, 2025), image 50 of 740; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 005458739

Source 27: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159838856/dorothy_l-tucker/photo

Source 28: "Rockland, New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-GQHW-995R-F?view=explore : Dec 29, 2025), image 28 of 41; National Archives and Records Administration. Image Group Number: 108851304

Source 29: The Journal News, Fri, Dec 06, 1946, Page 1 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162427967/)

Source 30: The Journal News, Fri, Dec 06, 1946, Page 14 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162427967/)

Source 31: The Journal News, Fri, Nov 14, 1947, Page 20 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162415841/)

Source 32: The Journal News, Fri, Feb 20, 1948, Page 13 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162385272/)

Source 33: The Journal News, Thu, Dec 30, 1948, Page 10 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162513013/)

Source 34: The Journal News, Sat, Jan 9, 1954, Page 5 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162384651/)

Source 35: The Journal News, Tue, Sep 06, 1955, Page 2 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162426039/)

Source 36: The Journal News, Thu, Mar 20, 1958, Page 15 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162537988/)

Source 37: The Journal News, Tue, Jan 13, 1959, Page 11 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/162387649/)

Source 38: The Journal News, Sat, Mar 12, 1960, Page 3 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/163097997/)

Source 39: The Journal News, Sat, Apr 24, 1976, Page 6 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/164710882/)

Source 40: The Journal News, Sun, Aug 26, 1990, Page 67 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/163432479/)

Source 41: https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a40706898/haunted-ackley-house-true-story/

Source 42: The Journal News, Wed, Sep 26, 2012, Page C6 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/117656622/)

Source 43: https://www.thewaldenhouse.org/LHD2010/A%20Short%20History%20of%20Orange%20County.pdf

Source 44: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/20/nyregion/phones-ringing-eerily-for-nyack-spook-home.html

Source 45: https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=rocklandctyjournal19011102.1.1&srpos=4&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Laveta%22------

Source 46: https://evocloud-prod3-public.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/meetings/21/attachments/14968.pdf

Source 47: https://nyacknewsandviews.com/blog/2016/10/nyack-sketch-log-legally-haunted-house/

Source 48: https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2024/10/how-a-house-becomes-legally-haunted-stambovsky-v-ackley-the-ghostbuster-ruling/

Source 49: https://nypost.com/2019/09/19/legally-haunted-new-york-manor-is-for-sale-again/

Source 50: Sir George, The Ghost of Nyack, January 1995, by Bill Merrill and Glenn Johnson

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