THE STORY
Reported Haunting
An old covered well in the basement of this Elmira home is associated with reports of a little girl laughing, shadowy or humanlike figures, and an unsettling presence that has made some people refuse to enter the basement. (Submission by Sara Jackson)
A private residence on East Second Street in Elmira contains an old well in its basement that was reportedly covered over but never removed. According to the submitter, people in the house have heard the unexplained laughter of a young girl coming from the basement and some have reported seeing figures nearby. Others describe the basement as so unsettling that they refuse to enter it. Property records indicate that the present house was built around 1900 and has a stone foundation and dirt-floor basement, making the presence of an older well plausible, although the age and original purpose of the well have not been independently documented. The submission associated the well with Elmira's Civil War prisoner-of-war camp, commonly remembered as "Hellmira," but historical maps and records place that camp on the western side of the city near West Water Street, Winsor Avenue and Foster's Pond rather than at this East Second Street address. The haunting reports are therefore preserved as firsthand/local accounts without attributing them to the prison camp. This is a private residence and should not be visited without the occupants' permission.