On February 15th, PRI-ME did an investigation at the Florence H. Speare Museum, also known as the main building for the Nashua Historical Society. This museum has the Frank B. Clancy Research Library as well as a plethora of meticulous exhibits that showcase different pieces of Nashua History. This building resides on the property with another historic former residence, the Abbott Spaulding House, which was sold to the Nashua Historical Society in the late 1970’s.

The story behind the land that holds the historical society is just as fascinating as the history of the two buildings. The property used to hold a house which belonged to a man named Mr. Melcher, who donated both his house and the land to the historical society. After his passing, his house along with a few others that had been donated had been put up for sale. Due to inability to sell as well as a need for a safe, permanent location to hold the artifacts that the historical society was able to salvage from two devastating fires, the house was razed and a museum built. Much of this was made possible from the generosity of the late Sceva Speare, a local distinguished businessman, in honor of his wife Florence Hyde Speare. The actual building was erected between 1971-1972 and underwent renovations around 1993.

Some of the employees who work late in the museum have claimed that they have heard unmistakable movement in throughout the building, especially on the second floor.  There have also been reports of the feeling that they were being watched by an unseen voyeur. The phone lines have also been disrupted on quite a few occasions.

When we began our investigation, we set up our stationary cameras as well as recorders throughout the premises in hopes of capturing this movement. There were five of us on this investigation and we split into two teams and started on different levels. Jen and Mandy got some unexplainable activity while they were investigating one of the exhibit rooms.  Originally, it was thought that the disturbances may have been caused by multiple digital cameras taking pictures around the same time, but when an attempt to re-create this was made, it was unsuccessful.

Louie, Deb and Carol also got an unexplainable K2 hit while upstairs. They were walking into the computer room and the meter randomly went off and dissipated just as quickly as it reacted.  When they attempted to trace this energy pocket to a natural source, they were unsuccessful. It was also noticed that one of our stationary camcorders had no battery life after it was recently set up.

After a short break, the teams switched levels and while Jen and Mandy were investigating the computer room on the top floor, they both heard a loud bang. They were unable to locate a source, but upon review of the evidence it was found that the heating system tended to make loud bangs when it initiated as well as shut off. In this room, they also felt an extreme “heaviness” in the air upon entry into this room. It was later confirmed that many people have experienced this same sensation.  Although a radio in the room contained high levels of EMF, this was no explanation for the density that one could feel when they walked into this room. Loud bangs were also heard from the elevator shaft, while the elevator had not been operational throughout our investigation. Mandy and Jen also heard what sounded like a person actively working in the offices while they sat in silence.

At one point towards the end of the investigation, Louie was able to trace back some random EMF activity to a sprinkler system that was located in the basement. This was fairly easy to detect, as the readings were coming in patterns and were predictable.

Upon review of the collected evidence, we were able to extract a few possible EVP’s. One, which was located in the upper level, sounds like someone saying, “Sounds fair,” or “science fair.”  Although we were able to locate a source for some audible bangs, we weren’t able to find a reason for the “working sounds” that Jen and Mandy experienced, nor the loud bangs that emanated from the elevator shaft. Also, it was very peculiar to us that one of our camera’s batteries had almost completely drained, because they had previously been charged.

It is of our opinion that the Florence Speare Museum may contain activity, although it is unclear what type.  We want to that Beth and Janine for their wonderful hospitality and willingness to share their extensive knowledge of the building and its ground’s history! Also, we would like to thank Dean Shalhoup from the Nashua Telegraph for publishing a stellar article about our investigation in the paper and online.
You can find a link to it on our media page! 

Written By : Mandy James of Paranormal Researchers and Investigators of Maine

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