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Big Moose Lake is a haunted lake in upstate New York.
Background[]
Big Moose Lake, located in the Adirondack Mountains, is a relatively large body of water. Three miles long and one mile wide, it covers a total of 1265 acres, and reaches 70 feet at its deepest point. It is the source of the Moose Rivers, all of which flow into the Great Lakes. Big Moose Lake takes its name from the nearby settlement of Big Moose, which was founded by hunters. Today, the lake is a well-known, if remote, tourist spot; each year, many visitors head to Big Moose Lake for sailing, rowing, and other water sports.
Murder on the Lake[]
- The Grace Brown story
Grace Brown was the daughter of a successful farmer and a factory worker from the town of Ostelic, but living in Cortland, over 50 miles away from Big Moose Lake. She worked in the Gillette Skirt Factory, where the owner's nephew, Chester Gillette, soon took notice of her. A well-known womanizer, he began pursuing a relationship with the beautiful Grace.
In 1906, two years after beginning the relationship, Grace discovered that she was pregnant. She tried to convince Gillette to marry her, but when heated, saying he needed time to think, Brown moved back to Ostelic to live with her parents. However, when she learned that Gillette was using his time to see other women, she moved back.
Once more, Brown attempted to convince Gillette to marry her and expressed worry about her family, saying that she would not like to burden her mother with the fact that she was pregnant before marriage. Finally, Gillette said he would marry her during a holiday trip to the Adirondacks.
Brown and Gillette took a trip to Big Moose Lake, where they rented a rowboat and struck out onto the water. Once there, however. Chester struck Grace with a tennis racket, causing her to fall into the lake and drown. Brown's body was found washed up on the shore the next day, and Gillette was later arrested after being identified by a witness. He was executed two years later.
Grace Brown's murder was the inspiration for many books, such as the brilliant "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Drieser. Her death also inspired the movie "A Place in the Sun" (based on the aforementioned novel), as well as an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Haunting[]
Since her death, Grace Brown's ghost has been mentally seen in and around Big Moose Lake. This figure is often witnessed drowning, but some have also reported seeing her wandering around the lakeshore, or visiting the small cottages and settlements nearby. For whatever reason, Grace seems to try to extinguish all the lights in the houses.