To celebrate National Paranormal Day, on Saturday I decided to head out and investigate a place Angel Chuck Billy, our paranormal expert, always wanted to visit, but never got the chance, Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Now I know what you’re thinking, “you’ve been to that park before. We’ve seen pictures of you at Portland Head Light.” And you’re absolutely correct, we have been there before. However, we’ve never been to the other side of the park to visit the ruins of Goddard Mansion. I was just a puppy the first time we visited the park, and Chuck Billy thought it was too scary for me, with its stories of ghostly apparitions and unexplained occurrences. But I’m not a puppy anymore, and I wanted to make Chuck Billy proud by leading my own investigation!
When we headed out, it was a sunny and warm spring day. But it didn’t take long for me to realize the seriousness of my investigation. Does being flanked by two unmarked tractor trailers, and a trailer directly in front seem strange to you? Dad thought for sure that at any moment, the back of the trailer would open, swallowing us inside, with no witnesses.
Thankfully, that did not happen. What did happen next is after exiting the highway, we found ourselves following a vehicle with a Vermont vanity license plate that said, “Mulder.” Clearly this was a sign, that Chuck Billy’s suspicions were correct! Although I never imagined Fox Mulder, from the X-Files, living in Vermont. Regardless, just like Agent Scully did on the show, we followed his lead right to the park! However, instead of turning into the gates, his car kept driving straight.
Should we have kept on driving? Undaunted, we continued on our mission. But I couldn’t help but notice there was a 15º drop in temperature at the park, which was heavily shrouded in fog. Isn’t that a sign of the paranormal? Maybe Chuck Billy was right? Maybe I’m not brave enough to investigate this site!
Nonsense! I was just letting my imagination get the better of me! I bravely approached the ruins of the former Italianate mansion built between 1851 and 1859 for John Goddard, who made his fortune in the timber trade and also served as a Civil War Colonel. As I approached, the fog began to lift. It was as if the house was welcoming me!
After approaching the front, but realizing there was no door to knock on, I patiently waited to see if the family was home. But alas, the house was acquired by the US Army in 1900, to be used as military housing for noncommissioned officers and their families at Fort Williams. So of course the Goddards weren’t home!
I decided to head around back to get a better look, that’s when I saw two mysterious figures. Maybe they were home after all? Nonsense! I can’t let my imagination run wild. No one is allowed inside the house! By the time the town of Cape Elizabeth took ownership in 1964, the mansion was already in serious disrepair.
By the 1980s, the remaining debris inside the mansion was removed and the property fenced off. Yet it has been attracting visitors ever since. But can you blame us? Look at how beautiful the shell of this building is! I can just imagine what it looked like in its heyday, with formal gardens overlooking the ocean!
How silly of me to be afraid of this once glorious mansion that was part of Maine’s history! Although I do admit, there is something slightly unnerving about that one swing on the end slowing moving in the still fog.
