Spring Break
The Daily OrangeBuried tales
Stories about 'haunted' residence halls uncovered
By Amity Paye and Dara McBride
Posted: 10/29/09, 4:58 AM EST Section: Feature
Butterfield: Greek Secrets
By Dara McBride
Contributing Writer
At the Butterfield House, Syracuse University's only all-female dorm, there is something scary living among the 36 freshmen girls in the house.
"I think Butterfield is really haunted," freshman biology major Khalilah Hyde said. The Butterfield resident said weird dreams, sleepwalking and creaky doors are all common.
"It's an old house, so you could just chalk it up to that," Hyde said, although she herself refuses to believe it.
Butterfield House, located at 709 Comstock Ave., is the former house of the female fraternity Alpha Gamma Delta. The residence was the fourth AGD house on campus and was completed in 1928, according to a fall 2005 article in Alpha Gamma Delta Quarterly. AGD's crest still appears on the front of the house and on the fireplace in the main lounge. A wood staircase, oriental rugs and a stone foyer set the house apart.
The house has been rented to SU since 2005, after AGD's charter was removed due to a lack of membership in 2001, as reported by The Daily Orange on Oct. 3, 2007. Butterfield has been leased to SU until July 2011, according to the Housing Office.
Lindsey Lichtenstein, junior communication sciences and disorders major, lived in Butterfield during the 2007-2008 school year.
"It's a creepy building, there's definitely something there," Lichtenstein said. She said doors would randomly open and close when she lived in Butterfield.
Lichtenstein remembered the resident advisors arranging for a ghost interpreter to come look in the basement of Butterfield around Halloween. Lichtenstein said the interpreter brought a machine that would beep when it encountered a high frequency area, which indicated paranormal activity. The machine beeped when it passed over stains on the house's basement floor.
The basement is always kept locked and is a source of much speculation for Butterfield residents.
The basement, where AGD's study lounge was located, is described as "set aside by itself" where "no noise from above may penetrate," in a news release held by SU archives on the construction of the house. The chapter room is located in the basement and was used for AGD meetings and rituals. It is currently a storage area for old AGD belongings.
By Dara McBride
Contributing Writer
At the Butterfield House, Syracuse University's only all-female dorm, there is something scary living among the 36 freshmen girls in the house.
"I think Butterfield is really haunted," freshman biology major Khalilah Hyde said. The Butterfield resident said weird dreams, sleepwalking and creaky doors are all common.
"It's an old house, so you could just chalk it up to that," Hyde said, although she herself refuses to believe it.
Butterfield House, located at 709 Comstock Ave., is the former house of the female fraternity Alpha Gamma Delta. The residence was the fourth AGD house on campus and was completed in 1928, according to a fall 2005 article in Alpha Gamma Delta Quarterly. AGD's crest still appears on the front of the house and on the fireplace in the main lounge. A wood staircase, oriental rugs and a stone foyer set the house apart.
The house has been rented to SU since 2005, after AGD's charter was removed due to a lack of membership in 2001, as reported by The Daily Orange on Oct. 3, 2007. Butterfield has been leased to SU until July 2011, according to the Housing Office.
Lindsey Lichtenstein, junior communication sciences and disorders major, lived in Butterfield during the 2007-2008 school year.
"It's a creepy building, there's definitely something there," Lichtenstein said. She said doors would randomly open and close when she lived in Butterfield.
Lichtenstein remembered the resident advisors arranging for a ghost interpreter to come look in the basement of Butterfield around Halloween. Lichtenstein said the interpreter brought a machine that would beep when it encountered a high frequency area, which indicated paranormal activity. The machine beeped when it passed over stains on the house's basement floor.
The basement is always kept locked and is a source of much speculation for Butterfield residents.
The basement, where AGD's study lounge was located, is described as "set aside by itself" where "no noise from above may penetrate," in a news release held by SU archives on the construction of the house. The chapter room is located in the basement and was used for AGD meetings and rituals. It is currently a storage area for old AGD belongings.
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