The Ruins of Bara-hack
New England and Hauntings is a tale as old as time (okay...not that long, but a couple of centuries for sure), but it isn’t just Salem that makes this part of America increasingly eerie. Did you know it’s also surprisingly dotted with abandoned villages? Tonight, we’re going to discuss what is left of Bara-hack
Rumor has it that as you weave your way through the few stones left at Bara-hack you can still hear the voices of the people that once called this place home. You may find the name a bit strange, but it is simply Welsh for ‘to break bread.’
Bara-hack was founded by Obadiah Higginbotham and Jonathan Randall in the late 18th century, around the 1780s. They had made their way up from Rhode Island to what is now known as Pomfret, Connecticut. The two decided the area could use some industry - they were going to make spinning wheels.
Slowly, Bara-hack grew into a humble, successful mill town known for its flax wheel production. But, if you believe the myth, even while it was populated there were reports of strange activity. In fact, it is said that the slaves of Randall saw ghosts near the cemetery often. In particular, sightings of an old man and a young child were often reported...but no one in the small town recognized these apparitions.
Some believe that the town was doomed to fail, perhaps even cursed, since it pushed out the native Nipmuc people. At first, the Nipmucs tried to live beside their strange new neighbors, but soon as more settlers from Rhode Island and beyond arrived, land kept on being taken from the Nipmuc people. The Nipmucs attempted to scare the encroaching settlers, and a few elders decided to chant and crazily whoop in the woods during the night. But, when that failed and the Nipmuc were driven further back, it is said they cursed the land.
It was abandoned just 100 years later when economic problems and competition arose. The families of both founders died off or left. Soon, other townspeople began to leave, children grew up and never came back and, after a few years of these patterns, Bara-hack was completely abandoned.
It is known to many as the ‘Village of Voices’ because one of the most common experiences for intrepid explorers interested in the abandoned town...is hearing the hustle and bustle of mill life. It is often, even while alone in the middle of the night, to hear the sounds of children playing, cows moving, and the mill turning.
In 1927, Odell Shepard, a professor at Harvard and Radcliffe College, visited Bara-hack and wrote: “Although there is no human habitation for a long-distance roundabout and no one goes there except the very few who go to listen, yet there is always hum and stir of human life. It is as though sounds were able in this place to get round that incomprehensible corner, to pierce that mysterious soundproof wall that we call Time.”
According to Werewoofs, “Three Rhode Island parapsychology students also visited Bara-Hack sometime in 1971. During their visit, they said that they encountered a sense of depression upon entering the property, they heard the constant barking of dogs and mooing of cows and heard strange human voices. They went back months later with a bigger group and they claimed that one of the new members of their team was frozen in one place and could not be moved physically.”
There have also been sightings of orbs and strange, unknown streaks of light swirling and dancing over the cemetery.
Currently, all that is left are some foundations of homes, a bridge over what was the millpond, and the cemetery. It is currently closed to the public, due to excessive urban exploring. The site is now private property, and trespassing is illegal. However, from time to time, prearranged visits are allowed.
The blog header image is of Bara Hack, Connecticut provided by Alchetron