HISTORY ON DISPLAYOur building, built in the 1850s, has quite a lot of history! If you stop in when we aren't too busy, you might be lucky enough to get a tour of all the artifacts we have found.... and you might even get to take a peek into our sub basement, where we have found old bottles from Prohibition hidden in the walls. We try to pay homage to the history and spirit of our building in every way we can! 1805
Watertown Settlers donate land to create public square
1812
Building in current location visible on maps: 17 Public Square
1849
Clark Wilson purchases 17 Public Square
1851-1855
Current building is constructed, with two levels underground that are a part of Watertown's underground tunnel network. Next door is the Woodruff Hotel. The Wilsons and the Woodruffs agree for $1 to share the wall & right of way to Anthony Street.
1869
Clark Wilson is lost at sea without a will. Deed to the building is left to his wife and two daughters.
1882
First record of a business at our location: DC Middelton & Co. - a shoe store. See the wall behind our couch for an image of this shop, as well as a piece of the original awning and business trading cards!
1882-1917
Our 3rd floor is a meeting place for notable clubs: IOGT (International Order of Good Templars, founded in Utica in 1851), which encouraged abstaining from alcohol and drugs; and The Odd Fellows, which promoted friendship, love, and truth.
1918-1921
The John Felber Restaurant marks the opening of the first restaurant in this building.
1920
Frank Empsall purchases 65 Public Square from Abi Dewey (Née Clark). She had owned the property for 51 years following the death of her mother and sister. Thanks to New York State's Married Women's Property Act of 1848 she was allowed to regain control of the property without being required to transfer ownership to her husband.
1924-1934
House of Gee, the North Country's first Chinese American restaurant, opens on our 2nd floor.
1935-1959
Greeks move into the Square and purchase our building. Nikolas and Martha Pappas run The Tavern. The old Garland pizza oven was converted to natural gas and used in the kitchen.
1940
A kitchen fire destroys the back of the restaurant. Along with kitchen renovations, the Pappas family moved the original bathrooms from the basement to the main level.
1960-1963
A brief foreshadow: The Empire restaurant opens.
1965-1989
Richard Fiaschetti opens Enrico's, a classic Italian trattoria. The fiberglass art in the back as well as the Garland stove and flattop are from this era.
1989-2005
Todd LaVere opens an iconic American sports bar: Kegler's. Dart leagues and billiard tables were staples of this decade.
2005-Present
The current owner, Vonnette Monteith, buys 65 Public Square while she is stationed at Fort Drum. She leases to a variety of eateries... from a Mexican restaurant to a Carribean café.
2015
Vonnette retires as a Lieutenent Colonial out of Fort Knox and settles her family in Louisville, Kentucky.
2020
Vonnette graduates from Sullivan Culinary and Hospitality management school.
2021
Vonnette brings a longtime friend of her eldest daughters to Watertown from Manhattan. Sarah and Vonnette completely renovate, design the food and drink menus, and open the doors in September, under the name Empire Square.
Our kitchen benefits from Vonnette's culinary training, family recipes, and local ingredients. Everything is fresh and made to order - if you want a modification, just ask. We can almost always accommodate! Vegans, vegetarians, and those with allergies to gluten and more can be sure to find something delicious on our menu! Our prohibition era bar is revived by Sarah's expertise in cocktail history, unique ingredients, and bartending techniques. Writer of Empire's "Cocktail Bible", Sarah will make just about anything you can dream of.
Watertown Settlers donate land to create public square
1812
Building in current location visible on maps: 17 Public Square
1849
Clark Wilson purchases 17 Public Square
1851-1855
Current building is constructed, with two levels underground that are a part of Watertown's underground tunnel network. Next door is the Woodruff Hotel. The Wilsons and the Woodruffs agree for $1 to share the wall & right of way to Anthony Street.
1869
Clark Wilson is lost at sea without a will. Deed to the building is left to his wife and two daughters.
1882
First record of a business at our location: DC Middelton & Co. - a shoe store. See the wall behind our couch for an image of this shop, as well as a piece of the original awning and business trading cards!
1882-1917
Our 3rd floor is a meeting place for notable clubs: IOGT (International Order of Good Templars, founded in Utica in 1851), which encouraged abstaining from alcohol and drugs; and The Odd Fellows, which promoted friendship, love, and truth.
1918-1921
The John Felber Restaurant marks the opening of the first restaurant in this building.
1920
Frank Empsall purchases 65 Public Square from Abi Dewey (Née Clark). She had owned the property for 51 years following the death of her mother and sister. Thanks to New York State's Married Women's Property Act of 1848 she was allowed to regain control of the property without being required to transfer ownership to her husband.
1924-1934
House of Gee, the North Country's first Chinese American restaurant, opens on our 2nd floor.
1935-1959
Greeks move into the Square and purchase our building. Nikolas and Martha Pappas run The Tavern. The old Garland pizza oven was converted to natural gas and used in the kitchen.
1940
A kitchen fire destroys the back of the restaurant. Along with kitchen renovations, the Pappas family moved the original bathrooms from the basement to the main level.
1960-1963
A brief foreshadow: The Empire restaurant opens.
1965-1989
Richard Fiaschetti opens Enrico's, a classic Italian trattoria. The fiberglass art in the back as well as the Garland stove and flattop are from this era.
1989-2005
Todd LaVere opens an iconic American sports bar: Kegler's. Dart leagues and billiard tables were staples of this decade.
2005-Present
The current owner, Vonnette Monteith, buys 65 Public Square while she is stationed at Fort Drum. She leases to a variety of eateries... from a Mexican restaurant to a Carribean café.
2015
Vonnette retires as a Lieutenent Colonial out of Fort Knox and settles her family in Louisville, Kentucky.
2020
Vonnette graduates from Sullivan Culinary and Hospitality management school.
2021
Vonnette brings a longtime friend of her eldest daughters to Watertown from Manhattan. Sarah and Vonnette completely renovate, design the food and drink menus, and open the doors in September, under the name Empire Square.
Our kitchen benefits from Vonnette's culinary training, family recipes, and local ingredients. Everything is fresh and made to order - if you want a modification, just ask. We can almost always accommodate! Vegans, vegetarians, and those with allergies to gluten and more can be sure to find something delicious on our menu! Our prohibition era bar is revived by Sarah's expertise in cocktail history, unique ingredients, and bartending techniques. Writer of Empire's "Cocktail Bible", Sarah will make just about anything you can dream of.
HISTORY AND HAUNTSMay 2004 - 65 Public Square purchased by Vonnette Monteith from Todd LaVere
The first sighting of Charlie was by Gerald who, while working in the sub-basement, stated he met Charlie. He came to me one day and informed me my building was haunted. He said it was fine, the gentleman sits in the corner and just watches what I do. I call him Charlie.
After that everything odd that happened was blamed on Charlie. It became common for things to fall off shelves in the kitchen. Lights to be on after everyone turned them off. Lights not wanting to turn on.
I did not start annotating things the first 20 years that I owned the building because I was not there and only heard bits and pieces of stories. After I moved back in 2020 so many things started happening I reached back out to individuals who spent more time in the building for their stories.
Todd LaVere, the original owner of Kegeler's sports bar, told me one time his security camera outside the building kept going off like someone was coming up towards the garage. Back then the Woodruff professional building was not there so he could sneak around the building. He was fairly sure one of his friends was messing with him because he was alone in the building and it was late. After at least the third time it went off he decided to scare whoever was trying to scare him. He walked around the building and hid so whoever walked up would not see him. He heard the alarm go off again, looked at the space and there was no one there. It never happened before or after that. He decided at that time everything that needed to be done in the building could wait until morning so he went home and went to bed.
Renee the bookkeeper for my business back when I first bought the building, had her officer in the basement (not subbasement) she said while working she often felt someone watching her. "No one malevolent, more like a Grandfather figure watching her”. This grandfather's presence was reiterated more than 20 years later.
My kids would play, color and watch TV in the basement. The kids' nanny Jennifer told me this story. One time my son Scotty was coloring a picture. Scotty was not much of a coloring kid. He also did not make pictures for anyone. I do not think I own a single picture Scotty colored for me. However, on this day Scotty drew a picture for the man in the restaurant. Jennifer took the picture upstairs to our cooks (the only men in the restaurant). Scotty drew another picture with the same request, “take this picture to the man in the restaurant.” And again Jennifer took it upstairs. This went on a couple more times. Finally Scotty got upset and told Jennifer to quit taking his pictures to the cooks. Jennifer asked what man do you want me to take it to? All four year old Scotty pointed to the ground and said to the man who lives down there. My kids had never been to the sub basement. Not many people went down there. It was dark, cold, and not organized. I had not put electricity down there at that point or fixed the rickety stairs. No one was allowed down there. We kept everything in the basement. I did not upgrade the sub basement until 10 years after we moved away from Watertown. In lieu of taking Scotty's pictures to the sub basement she hung them on the wall and told Scotty, Charlie would come upstairs to see the pictures. It wasn’t until 20 years later that I was informed Charlie does come up to the basement but will not go any higher. Scotty’s pictures and then his sisters lined the wall. Jennifer told me once they started hanging Charlie's pictures on the wall, the baby Madie, occasionally would talk to Charlie's pictures…or was she talking to Charlie who was up there visiting his pictures? Our first paranormal investigator to visit told us Charlie likes children. His affection for children would return with every visit to the building.
2021 and forward- The building was occupied by many different people and businesses from when we left in 2006 and when we came back in 2021. I did not keep track of happenings while I was gone. However, once back many things began happening. This journal is now the stories we remember.
Once my crew from Kentucky came in we started work. I told the new crew, like I told others who occupied the space, there was a spirit, his name was Charlie, and he was nice but unexplained things would happen.
The below happened before we were open and were starting to work on the building.
A couple times our alarm went off. It was a motion sensor alarm. We would be called and the cops would show and we would have to walk them around. They would look everywhere and comment they didn’t understand why the motion detector would set off the alarm.
At one point I was walking in the sub-basement and I found a large piece of old glass - the top of a bottle. I immediately put it up on a table in the basement and went to scold Sarah for dropping a bottle, breaking it, and leaving it on the ground. When I told her about it she asked where I found it? I explained the path from the stairway to Charlie's bench. She told me that she hadn't dropped anything but Charlie had started leaving gifts on the path there. She said to put it on the table across from Charlie's bench. That is where she puts all of Charlie's gifts. The next time I was in the subbasement I moved the glass to Charlie's table and noticed two colored pencils on the table. I recognized them as pencils the kids used to color Charlie's pictures. How they would've gotten from the basement to the subbasement I do not know. My children never went all the way down to the subbasement. I asked Sarah where she found them and she said the path. I then told Sarah the story about Scotty and his pictures and we decided Charlie wanted more pictures. Sarah proceeded to draw him several pictures and they are hanging in the sub-basement.
Prior to opening, Sarah and I were routinely in the bar alone. One night I had to come back because I had left my phone. Sarah and I had been working on the main level so none of the lights in the basement had been turned on. I came in, turned around and the lights to the basement were on. There was an immediate chill in the air. I quickly turned them off and headed back out the door. After that I tried not to be in the restaurant at night alone.
While going in and out we would use both the front door and the back door. However if you used the back door, it had to be locked from the inside and the building exited from the front door. One morning I arrived and found the back garage door unlocked. There were only a few of us working at that time and nobody had gone out the back door. We went downstairs and let Charlie know that he needed to ensure the door stayed locked. We left a key with him and it never happened again.
While we were getting ready to open, someone walked down the street and handed a drawing to Sarah. He stated we needed the picture in our place. The photo was the face of Charlie Chaplin. We were never sure why he thought we needed it. I like to think he recognized we had a Charlie on the property and gifted it to us. Maybe it was a coincidence but I don’t routinely believe in coincidences. We have it on the wall in the basement.
Sarah-
I didn’t particularly believe it when Vonnette told me the building was haunted. I was working alone in the building prior to opening and I was bringing boxes of things down the kitchen/garage side stairs to the subbasement for storage. On one trip down, I said, facetiously, “alright Charlie, I have gifts for you”. I rounded the corner and I saw the bench in the corner where Vonnette said he sits, there was something I had never seen before. By this point, I had spent hours in the subbasement and was pretty familiar with everything that was there. Sitting on the bench with enough space next to it for me to sit was a small bottle of champagne. I stopped dead in my tracks and said, okay “Charlie… can I sit?”, I set down the box and sat down on the bench. I picked up the bottle and was reading the front label… it was dirty, dusty, and never opened… I was baffled, wondering how old it was. I finally turned around the bottle and on the other side was a sticker label that said “I spent the millennium at Kegelers Lounge” which happens to be my birth year, and the bar that was in our building right before Vonnette bought the building! I was so shocked, I thanked Charlie for my gift and ever since then have believed in the spirits in the restaurant.
Even prior to opening I started bringing Charlie coffee in the mornings and red wine at night when I was here working on the building. One night, late, I was here with a friend hoping to finish painting the front sign so it could get hung up as soon as possible. We were spending time in the subbasement waiting for things to dry, I was piddling around, and took a break to draw a picture for Charlie. His glass of wine was on his bench, I had mine, and we had already toasted. I was sitting across from his bench and my friend was on a booth away from the bench. I wondered aloud, "I don't even know if Charlie likes red wine.” and shortly later, his glass shattered. We both were so surprised. I said, maybe he’s a bourbon drinker. My friend said, I think he likes whiskey on ice. I said, well I guess we will never know. Later the same night, I was over in the coal chute area of the basement and I saw a glint of glass. I expected it to be just a broken part of a bottle, as I had found many pieces of prohibition era (and some more recent) glass over the months of working in the subbasement. I said, “Charlie, what’s that, can I have it?” and reached my hand in and with no resistance whatsoever I pulled out a full, unopened bottle of Seven Crown American whiskey, with a label from the 1960s. Ever since, I have been bringing him Seven Crown on ice.
After opening - 2021
Our first week open we had a local whose name is Charlie. He can see/and or feel our spirits. The first time he came in he sat alone in the back. He called over one of our waiters and told them she needed to let me know there was a man down below. He alluded to the fact the man was not among the living. Jaden told him yes we were aware. He then looked at Jaden and said do you know he has a black face? We did not know that and for the 20 years I was acquainted with Charlie I always took him to be an older white man. After he told Jaden that he told her she must also tell me about the women in the kitchen. There was a woman in the kitchen who was very strict and wanted everything just so. He then elaborated and told her the woman also was there to keep the man in the basement downstairs and safe. This customer came a few more times but then let Sarah know he could no longer come. He was very agitated, and Sarah had to walk him out the back of the restaurant. He said there were too many spirits blocking the front door.
Vonnette
After the experience with that man, I decided it was time to go talk to one of the local mediums, Wilson, about our building. I made an appointment and drove to his house. When I drove up he was standing looking out the door. He said, "you brought a lot with you. I thought he was referring to my daughter. I said yes but she’s staying in the car. He elaborated and said, No, I was referring to all your spirits. They started arriving here about 10 minutes ago. They all wanted a chance to talk. He asked what work I had been doing on the place. When I told him what we had been working on he stated that moving all the items from the sub-basement and basement up and then other things back down had gotten them all excited and interested in what was going on. He said there were more spirits in my establishment than paying customers. I was not really keen on hearing this. He then gave more information on our kitchen spirit and Charlie. He stated he felt Charlie was a shoe shiner and not affiliated with any of the restaurants. He also further elaborated that Charlie was black. I had not told Wilson anything about Charlie. He could not elaborate on our kitchen entity except to say I did have a spirit in the kitchen who was very strict with the kitchen staff. She would do things to get our attention if something was not done to her liking. That explained the throwing of dishes. He said if anything like that happened to look at what was going on because there was probably something not quite right. He also said if we were stuck we could ask her and she would help with ideas. He let us know that if we had any questions on anything to ask and they would show us. We have used this many times to find lost items or to try and get things to work. I asked Wilson about names for all these spirits. He said his thought was once spirits pass they don’t care much about their earthly names. We could use whatever we wanted but if we were interested to ask them and they would let us know.
When I got back I started asking the spirits I knew were around about their names. Thus how I discovered our Kitchen spirit is Hazel. That seems to be what she told me. One night shortly after talking to Wilson I was walking past the bar and I saw a figure next to Sarah. I told Sarah there was someone back there and I thought his name was Raymond. Within the next couple of days we had a contractor looking at our approximately 100-year old bar coolers which weren’t working well. He said he would be back the next day and work on them. The next day he didn’t show. When I called him he said he would never return to our place. He said our place was haunted and he wanted nothing to do with it. I asked him to tell me what happened. He told me the night before when he walked out of our bar a man had followed him out. The man was wearing coveralls. Older white man. The man approached him and introduced himself. Told the contractor his name was Frederick, Frederick Lillie. The contractor said OK. Then Freddy repeated himself. Frederick Lillie, I’m the drayman here. I am not Charlie. The contractor said Ok. Freddy said one more time Frederick Lillie, not Charlie. Then turned around, walked off and disappeared. Apparently he is very proud of his profession which is why when I saw him I heard Raymond. What I think he was telling me was he was the drayman and I heard Raymond. A drayman was used in the old days to deliver items, often barrels of beer, on a flatbed wagon. We have called him Raymond ever since. Once we were properly introduced he too began to leave gifts. He is also the most active of all the spirits. It could be that we are in the bar more than anywhere else but will come and communicate when asked.
Sarah- tell about the next day and thereafter all the gifts he started leaving you.
Those days I was still working on drink recipes here some nights when we were closed. I started pouring beer for Freddy when I was here working and one night, I had only put ice in one of the two bar bins. I was testing recipes and making drinks when I noticed a bottle cap in the other ice bin. It was a black and gold Ommegang cap, which I had never seen before - and I had never opened a beer from that brand before. It felt especially personal because I had just gotten a tattoo of the profile of a lion, and that is their logo. I thanked Freddy and moved on.
After the man said he wouldn't return to fix the coolers, I went another week or so before deciding that I needed to just order beer despite not having anywhere cold to put it. When I was entering through the basement, the beer had been delivered! I was so excited, I said to Freddy- “I don’t know where we’re gonna put this…” but when I came upstairs, there was a new man fixing the coolers and that day, they began to work. I think Frederick knew the beer needed to be cold! I also felt something strange behind the bar that day, and I ran my hand along the inside track of the drawer that I keep all of my tools and cigarettes and things. I found a penny and a tiny clover charm. Why I would have thought to look in that odd spot I cannot explain, other than that he wanted me to find those gifts.
Oct 2021 Layne was trying out a new pancake special. It did not turn out but instead of throwing it away she left it on the line to show me. The plate slid across the table and onto the floor. I came in after hearing the crash. Layne told me what happened. I told Hazel that we did not like to throw food away even if it was made wrong so please don’t throw it on the floor. That was the last time a plate moved off our line like that.
Nov 2021 I was called into the kitchen and told that the bananas flew off the hook and landed on the floor. The bananas were too brown to sell but we used those to make banana pancake batter. I told Hazel why we kept old bananas. Again that never happened. It seems when something happens there is a reason, something is not right. We either fix it or let her know why we do it that way and all is well.
Nov 2021 We had just gotten our liquor license and were very excited to stock our new wine and liquor. In the middle of putting our wine on the bar the entire second level glass bar shelf came crashing down and all the wine bottles hit the floor. Only one of the bottles broke and it was the one that was the sweetest and had the most ridiculous label - Strawberry Kiss. Sarah told Freddy he couldn’t break our wine just because he didn’t like wine. It never happened again.
Feb 2022 We have two chandeliers by the bar that Sarah and I brought from places outside New York. Those two seem to be the most affected by the spirits and always when Sarah and I are talking about the restaurant. We noticed early on that if we were discussing things when we talked about a decision the lights would flicker. Now when it happens we immediately stop and think through what we were saying and the flicker affects our decision.
Apr 2022- Sarah was in the sub-basement talking to Charlie. The lights went out putting the entire subbasement into the pitch black. Sarah said out loud, Charlie, don’t scare me like that! The lights immediately came back on. He never scared me like that again!
Apr-Jun 2022 Multiple times our basement bathroom locked our cooks in. It got to the point the staff quit locking the door for fear of being locked in, and no one ever goes into the bathroom without their phone in case they need to call for help!
July 2022 We had a new bartender making drinks. I heard a crash. I came to the bar and the front row of liquor bottles were laying flat down. I knew this was a Freddy maneuver. I asked the bartender what drink she was making. She told me she was making an Old Fashioned, our signature drink. I asked what bourbon she was using. Sure enough, she was using the wrong bourbon. I was able to fix it before it was served. Then I righted all the bottles and we went on with the shift.
Aug 2022 Our main cooks who came up from Kentucky went back to Kentucky and we hired a couple others who weren’t briefed on the fact our basement bathroom door would lock people in. We told everyone about our spirits but not much else. Aaron, our high school dishwasher, went downstairs to the bathroom. When he tried to get out he was locked in. He started screaming. Eventually Paul heard the screaming from the basement but wouldn't go down because he thought it was the ghosts. Eventually he realized Aaron had been gone for a while and it was probably him. He went down and got him out.
Oct 2022 The first time our property manager Beth noticed her son interacting with Freddy when he was just a little over a year old. He would sit in his high chair and wave at the area where Freddy normally stands. He would wave and talk to the man. He did this until he was about 3 years old. Elijah also saw the lady at the Paddock mansion. Waving to the window and asking if he could go inside and play with her. He was a very sensitive child.
Jan 2023- Our lights are very affected. People make comments about old buildings and old lighting. Not this one. In 2015 at the tune of 125k I rewired the entire building. All the wiring is new. One morning our cook Lineen went downstairs to get something out of the basement. The lights would not turn on. She said Charlie please turn the lights on. I need to find something. She repeated a couple of times. Finally she was like Come on, Charlie, turn on the lights. At that moment she saw a shadow go across the basement and down to the subbasement. Then the lights went on. She thanked Charlie and got what she needed.
May 2023 While Sarah and I were interviewing a new cook she looked over my head and said there is a man over your desk. This was a new entity to us. We asked her some more questions. She said she wasn’t sure about him but he was definitely over my desk. At that moment my dog ran past the desk and stopped in her tracks. She faced the desk, in the direction of where Heidi saw the man, and started barking. Heidi was like, see I told you there was someone there.
July 2023 - I was waiting tables and a woman at a table called me over with the question, “so how is the restaurant?” I answered, I’m broke but I don’t think that's what you really want to know. By this time I was used to people recognizing the spirits in the bar. She said she sensed a lot of entities around and did I know any of the back stories. I told her about several and asked if she wanted a tour. We made our way to the back of the restaurant and she said what is the story about the man over your desk? I told her I had just heard about him but I didn’t really know much about him. She told me she felt he was in charge of the money for the restaurant. He had a leadership position. She went into the kitchen and said Oh, the woman here, she is with the man over the desk. They are related somehow. Then she went to the basement. She said there were so many children running around there. They are the ones who prank you. (Thus explains the locked bathroom doors)
Sept 2024 We had another business operate in our building for a while. She had an older friend who was at the restaurant almost daily. At least three times he had to take the basement bathroom door off because it had locked from the inside, with no one there.
Feb 2024- We were asked if Watertown Paranormal could look through our building. We agreed and they set up. They started in the sub-basement. They set up lights and spirit boxes. I went down to check a little while later and they really hadn’t gotten anything. When I came down I talked to Charlie. At that point the lights started going off. Later in the investigation it was shown that Charlie was not comfortable with white men. I asked Charlie if he was a freedom seeker. He flashed the lights yes. I asked him if he made it to Canada and he flashed No. We asked about Sarah and he didn't say anything but when we asked if he liked her he flashed yes. The spirit box picked up the voice of a woman and a young girl. Later they moved up to the bar. They set up the spirit box at the bar. The men had their daughter at the bar. The wife and I were sitting back at the tables. The first thing the box said was get away from my bar. I grabbed the young girl and brought her back to me. Then the box said take off your hat. The man then took off his baseball hat. They asked if the speaker was Freddy. He said Yes. They asked what his favorite drink was. He told them Bourbon. To this day Sarah pours him a drink every night. They asked him about Sarah. He said he loved her. Immediately a female voice said I hate her. We have the census book here. His wife's name is Estelle. That is who we think it was.
Feb 2024- While the paranormal team was downstairs we had a regular who was at the bar. He was very upset we didn’t let him go downstairs. I told him he didn’t need to go downstairs. I said Freddy was upstairs. He had a ghost app on his phone. I told him to follow me to the end of the bar where Freddy normally stands. He opened his app and there was nothing. I told him to keep it open. Then I said Freddy come say hello. At that moment a red dot started beeping off towards the door. We watched and it walked to right behind where we were standing. I said, well there you go John, he is right here.
Apl 2024- I had a leaking pipe in the sub basement. It was in a back partially hidden room. Weaver went in and fixed it. Saturday I had a college friend come visit. I took him and his family to the sub basement and told him the stories about Charlie. At the time I knew Charlie was not there. I told my friends I was sorry but I didn’t think Charlie was there. However when I walked towards the stairs and the back room I felt a very evil presence. I quickly took everyone upstairs. Later that weekend I had a black girlfriend friend from Kentucky come visit. She was interested in the underground railroad and Charlie. I went to take her downstairs. She stood at the top of the stairs by the back room and said, No way, I’m not going down there. I told her she had to see Charlie's area. We went to the other side and I took her down the other stairs. I immediately felt something was wrong. I took her down to Charlie's bench and we sat down. I told her Charlie stories but knew something was wrong. Within two minutes, Yvonne said, Vonnette we have to get out of here, something doesn't want me down here. We immediately left. We came upstairs and told Sarah. She told me I know something is not right down there. My friend said there was something evil about Watertown, she needed to go and left a couple days before she was going to go. Sunday, a couple days after the experience in the basement, our initial paranormal team randomly came in for brunch. I asked them to come down and check out the sub basement because something wasn't right. The husband went down initially with myself, the wife, and their daughter. When we walked down, the wife, who had interacted with Charlie several times, looked at me and said Charlie's not here. I said I know, I don’t think so either. We took several more steps towards the end where Charlie normally sits and a very evil feeling came over both of us. I looked at her and she said, wow that's really bad. We waited and her husband got the spirit box up. He asked, "Charlie, are you there?" A female voice came on and said he’s not here. Then a man’s voice came on and said, Get out! We left. The husband asked me what had changed. I told him the work we had done. I decided to contact the contractor. He said nothing weird happened while he was there but he found all sorts of cool bottles and stuff. He told me he pulled everything out, and put it on a bench by Charlie. I knew that was the problem. Sarah and I moved the bench close to the back room but we had already shut the wall back up so didn’t put the bench into the room. Sarah continues to give the spirit who we now call Jack or Jonathon a shot of whiskey. He has gotten better but sometimes he is still very angry. Charlie has come back but that corner of the basement still feels pretty unsteady at times.
June 2024- We had a group of people with a different ghost app. It was the kind that showed the energy of people. One of the patrons asked me about Freddy. I said point your phone at your table. It showed all the people sitting there. I told her to follow me. I took her to the end of the bar and said point it right there, the end of the bar is where Freddy often stands. Sure enough at the end of the bar it showed the outline of a person even though no one was there.
Oct 2024- One of our regulars was very excited as she had put a ghost app on her phone. If you point it shows the outline of people's energy. She showed me how everyone at the table had this outline. I told her to follow me and took her to where Freddy normally stands. I said point it in that direction. Sure enough an outline of a person was behind the bar where Freddy normally stands.
Nov 2025- There’s an old antique Avon bubble bath jar that says “Freddy the Frog” that I (Sarah) found in a shop and bought to put behind the bar for Freddy. I put it on the right side (when facing the mirrors) on top of the lights where the other decor and champagne bottle from Charlie are. One night, I was playing Jenga on that corner of the counter with some regulars and my barback at the time. Neither of us were leaning against the backbar or even near it. Out of nowhere, the Freddy the Frog jar came crashing down, and shattered one of the carafes that sits under where it was! I realized Freddy must have felt left out because I hadn’t poured him a drink yet that day, and he figured out his own way to participate in Jenga. I gave him a beer, we toasted with the whole bar, and I put his bubble bath somewhere he couldn’t do more damage with it.
Oct 2025- The end of History and Haunts, the local tour Vonnette and Dr. White lead every October, finishes at Empire Square. Vonnette told all the walkers to follow her in and down the stairs. The next day Dr. White ran into one of the gentlemen who was on the walk. He remembered the man did not follow the crowd into the building. He inquired as to why. The gentlemen said when he was heading for the door a large man stood in the door frame and told him he could not go in. He would not move so the gentleman left the tour and decided to ask Dr. White about him. Dr. White was there the whole night and said there was not a man that fit the description and no one who ever stood in front of the door. He watched the gentlemen come to the door and walk away. He saw no one blocking the door.
April 2026- Sarah - We had a set of ceramic babies, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. They were all broken except see no evil. When that was the only statue left, I was looking for a space to put it behind the bar, and I tried one spot and wasn't sure about how Freddy felt about it. I sat with Vonnette and said I didn't know if that was where I should put the statue. Immediately after, one of the hanging glasses shattered with no one behind the bar. I moved the statue and he seemed happy.
June 2026
Walking on Charlie's path I found a beaded snowflake ornament. I took it back and put it with the Christmas decorations. The next week I found another beaded snowflake ornament in his path. Later that month I finished moving decorations from the basement to the subbasement and organized the holidays. It was then I realized the tree the ornaments were on had not even been brought down. I guess Charlie was telling me it was time to organize our holiday decorations.
July 2026
Our new cook was preparing an onion. He cut it in half then turned around and had to do work on the line preparing orders. When he returned to finish cutting the onion it was there but was no longer in half. This is a classic Hazel doing. She would not like Garrett leaving the project half done.
August 2026 My Goddaughter, Natalie was in the bar/restaurant with her friends. She has been in the bar since she was a child. She knows all the spirits and they all know her. Her friends wanted to meet the spirits. I told them Freddy is the most available. I told them to stand at the end of the bar and tell them they wanted to meet Freddy. Within minutes the mobile above their head started spinning and they all said they felt a tingle.
Sept 2026
Two mediums visited and the following are a recount of their observations
They stated that Frederick doesn’t like when men sit at the bar with their hats on… and he doesn’t like many women, except those who can hold their liquor! One of the women was hesitant to go in the kitchen - she was a cook herself, and she said Hazel is very particular about how things are done in her kitchen. They went to the subbasement and said there was an unsettling energy in the back corner (by the J.B. Wise parking lot). They also said Charlie’s area had a very pleasant feeling, grandfatherly. They told us there were a lot of children down there playing, and that Charlie watched over them.
Sept 2026
While Meghain was mopping the door to the kitchen shut, the door stop was moved out of the way and the door swung shut. No one else was in the kitchen.
Oct 2026
During the 2nd Ghost tour of the season I was walking to the sub-basement and telling the group that the aisle down the center is where Charlie leaves his gifts. As I was saying this I saw a red object in the path. I picked it up and realized it was the lost eye to our Halloween spider that I had given up for gone. I thanked Charlie and took it upstairs to match it with his decoration.
The first sighting of Charlie was by Gerald who, while working in the sub-basement, stated he met Charlie. He came to me one day and informed me my building was haunted. He said it was fine, the gentleman sits in the corner and just watches what I do. I call him Charlie.
After that everything odd that happened was blamed on Charlie. It became common for things to fall off shelves in the kitchen. Lights to be on after everyone turned them off. Lights not wanting to turn on.
I did not start annotating things the first 20 years that I owned the building because I was not there and only heard bits and pieces of stories. After I moved back in 2020 so many things started happening I reached back out to individuals who spent more time in the building for their stories.
Todd LaVere, the original owner of Kegeler's sports bar, told me one time his security camera outside the building kept going off like someone was coming up towards the garage. Back then the Woodruff professional building was not there so he could sneak around the building. He was fairly sure one of his friends was messing with him because he was alone in the building and it was late. After at least the third time it went off he decided to scare whoever was trying to scare him. He walked around the building and hid so whoever walked up would not see him. He heard the alarm go off again, looked at the space and there was no one there. It never happened before or after that. He decided at that time everything that needed to be done in the building could wait until morning so he went home and went to bed.
Renee the bookkeeper for my business back when I first bought the building, had her officer in the basement (not subbasement) she said while working she often felt someone watching her. "No one malevolent, more like a Grandfather figure watching her”. This grandfather's presence was reiterated more than 20 years later.
My kids would play, color and watch TV in the basement. The kids' nanny Jennifer told me this story. One time my son Scotty was coloring a picture. Scotty was not much of a coloring kid. He also did not make pictures for anyone. I do not think I own a single picture Scotty colored for me. However, on this day Scotty drew a picture for the man in the restaurant. Jennifer took the picture upstairs to our cooks (the only men in the restaurant). Scotty drew another picture with the same request, “take this picture to the man in the restaurant.” And again Jennifer took it upstairs. This went on a couple more times. Finally Scotty got upset and told Jennifer to quit taking his pictures to the cooks. Jennifer asked what man do you want me to take it to? All four year old Scotty pointed to the ground and said to the man who lives down there. My kids had never been to the sub basement. Not many people went down there. It was dark, cold, and not organized. I had not put electricity down there at that point or fixed the rickety stairs. No one was allowed down there. We kept everything in the basement. I did not upgrade the sub basement until 10 years after we moved away from Watertown. In lieu of taking Scotty's pictures to the sub basement she hung them on the wall and told Scotty, Charlie would come upstairs to see the pictures. It wasn’t until 20 years later that I was informed Charlie does come up to the basement but will not go any higher. Scotty’s pictures and then his sisters lined the wall. Jennifer told me once they started hanging Charlie's pictures on the wall, the baby Madie, occasionally would talk to Charlie's pictures…or was she talking to Charlie who was up there visiting his pictures? Our first paranormal investigator to visit told us Charlie likes children. His affection for children would return with every visit to the building.
2021 and forward- The building was occupied by many different people and businesses from when we left in 2006 and when we came back in 2021. I did not keep track of happenings while I was gone. However, once back many things began happening. This journal is now the stories we remember.
Once my crew from Kentucky came in we started work. I told the new crew, like I told others who occupied the space, there was a spirit, his name was Charlie, and he was nice but unexplained things would happen.
The below happened before we were open and were starting to work on the building.
A couple times our alarm went off. It was a motion sensor alarm. We would be called and the cops would show and we would have to walk them around. They would look everywhere and comment they didn’t understand why the motion detector would set off the alarm.
At one point I was walking in the sub-basement and I found a large piece of old glass - the top of a bottle. I immediately put it up on a table in the basement and went to scold Sarah for dropping a bottle, breaking it, and leaving it on the ground. When I told her about it she asked where I found it? I explained the path from the stairway to Charlie's bench. She told me that she hadn't dropped anything but Charlie had started leaving gifts on the path there. She said to put it on the table across from Charlie's bench. That is where she puts all of Charlie's gifts. The next time I was in the subbasement I moved the glass to Charlie's table and noticed two colored pencils on the table. I recognized them as pencils the kids used to color Charlie's pictures. How they would've gotten from the basement to the subbasement I do not know. My children never went all the way down to the subbasement. I asked Sarah where she found them and she said the path. I then told Sarah the story about Scotty and his pictures and we decided Charlie wanted more pictures. Sarah proceeded to draw him several pictures and they are hanging in the sub-basement.
Prior to opening, Sarah and I were routinely in the bar alone. One night I had to come back because I had left my phone. Sarah and I had been working on the main level so none of the lights in the basement had been turned on. I came in, turned around and the lights to the basement were on. There was an immediate chill in the air. I quickly turned them off and headed back out the door. After that I tried not to be in the restaurant at night alone.
While going in and out we would use both the front door and the back door. However if you used the back door, it had to be locked from the inside and the building exited from the front door. One morning I arrived and found the back garage door unlocked. There were only a few of us working at that time and nobody had gone out the back door. We went downstairs and let Charlie know that he needed to ensure the door stayed locked. We left a key with him and it never happened again.
While we were getting ready to open, someone walked down the street and handed a drawing to Sarah. He stated we needed the picture in our place. The photo was the face of Charlie Chaplin. We were never sure why he thought we needed it. I like to think he recognized we had a Charlie on the property and gifted it to us. Maybe it was a coincidence but I don’t routinely believe in coincidences. We have it on the wall in the basement.
Sarah-
I didn’t particularly believe it when Vonnette told me the building was haunted. I was working alone in the building prior to opening and I was bringing boxes of things down the kitchen/garage side stairs to the subbasement for storage. On one trip down, I said, facetiously, “alright Charlie, I have gifts for you”. I rounded the corner and I saw the bench in the corner where Vonnette said he sits, there was something I had never seen before. By this point, I had spent hours in the subbasement and was pretty familiar with everything that was there. Sitting on the bench with enough space next to it for me to sit was a small bottle of champagne. I stopped dead in my tracks and said, okay “Charlie… can I sit?”, I set down the box and sat down on the bench. I picked up the bottle and was reading the front label… it was dirty, dusty, and never opened… I was baffled, wondering how old it was. I finally turned around the bottle and on the other side was a sticker label that said “I spent the millennium at Kegelers Lounge” which happens to be my birth year, and the bar that was in our building right before Vonnette bought the building! I was so shocked, I thanked Charlie for my gift and ever since then have believed in the spirits in the restaurant.
Even prior to opening I started bringing Charlie coffee in the mornings and red wine at night when I was here working on the building. One night, late, I was here with a friend hoping to finish painting the front sign so it could get hung up as soon as possible. We were spending time in the subbasement waiting for things to dry, I was piddling around, and took a break to draw a picture for Charlie. His glass of wine was on his bench, I had mine, and we had already toasted. I was sitting across from his bench and my friend was on a booth away from the bench. I wondered aloud, "I don't even know if Charlie likes red wine.” and shortly later, his glass shattered. We both were so surprised. I said, maybe he’s a bourbon drinker. My friend said, I think he likes whiskey on ice. I said, well I guess we will never know. Later the same night, I was over in the coal chute area of the basement and I saw a glint of glass. I expected it to be just a broken part of a bottle, as I had found many pieces of prohibition era (and some more recent) glass over the months of working in the subbasement. I said, “Charlie, what’s that, can I have it?” and reached my hand in and with no resistance whatsoever I pulled out a full, unopened bottle of Seven Crown American whiskey, with a label from the 1960s. Ever since, I have been bringing him Seven Crown on ice.
After opening - 2021
Our first week open we had a local whose name is Charlie. He can see/and or feel our spirits. The first time he came in he sat alone in the back. He called over one of our waiters and told them she needed to let me know there was a man down below. He alluded to the fact the man was not among the living. Jaden told him yes we were aware. He then looked at Jaden and said do you know he has a black face? We did not know that and for the 20 years I was acquainted with Charlie I always took him to be an older white man. After he told Jaden that he told her she must also tell me about the women in the kitchen. There was a woman in the kitchen who was very strict and wanted everything just so. He then elaborated and told her the woman also was there to keep the man in the basement downstairs and safe. This customer came a few more times but then let Sarah know he could no longer come. He was very agitated, and Sarah had to walk him out the back of the restaurant. He said there were too many spirits blocking the front door.
Vonnette
After the experience with that man, I decided it was time to go talk to one of the local mediums, Wilson, about our building. I made an appointment and drove to his house. When I drove up he was standing looking out the door. He said, "you brought a lot with you. I thought he was referring to my daughter. I said yes but she’s staying in the car. He elaborated and said, No, I was referring to all your spirits. They started arriving here about 10 minutes ago. They all wanted a chance to talk. He asked what work I had been doing on the place. When I told him what we had been working on he stated that moving all the items from the sub-basement and basement up and then other things back down had gotten them all excited and interested in what was going on. He said there were more spirits in my establishment than paying customers. I was not really keen on hearing this. He then gave more information on our kitchen spirit and Charlie. He stated he felt Charlie was a shoe shiner and not affiliated with any of the restaurants. He also further elaborated that Charlie was black. I had not told Wilson anything about Charlie. He could not elaborate on our kitchen entity except to say I did have a spirit in the kitchen who was very strict with the kitchen staff. She would do things to get our attention if something was not done to her liking. That explained the throwing of dishes. He said if anything like that happened to look at what was going on because there was probably something not quite right. He also said if we were stuck we could ask her and she would help with ideas. He let us know that if we had any questions on anything to ask and they would show us. We have used this many times to find lost items or to try and get things to work. I asked Wilson about names for all these spirits. He said his thought was once spirits pass they don’t care much about their earthly names. We could use whatever we wanted but if we were interested to ask them and they would let us know.
When I got back I started asking the spirits I knew were around about their names. Thus how I discovered our Kitchen spirit is Hazel. That seems to be what she told me. One night shortly after talking to Wilson I was walking past the bar and I saw a figure next to Sarah. I told Sarah there was someone back there and I thought his name was Raymond. Within the next couple of days we had a contractor looking at our approximately 100-year old bar coolers which weren’t working well. He said he would be back the next day and work on them. The next day he didn’t show. When I called him he said he would never return to our place. He said our place was haunted and he wanted nothing to do with it. I asked him to tell me what happened. He told me the night before when he walked out of our bar a man had followed him out. The man was wearing coveralls. Older white man. The man approached him and introduced himself. Told the contractor his name was Frederick, Frederick Lillie. The contractor said OK. Then Freddy repeated himself. Frederick Lillie, I’m the drayman here. I am not Charlie. The contractor said Ok. Freddy said one more time Frederick Lillie, not Charlie. Then turned around, walked off and disappeared. Apparently he is very proud of his profession which is why when I saw him I heard Raymond. What I think he was telling me was he was the drayman and I heard Raymond. A drayman was used in the old days to deliver items, often barrels of beer, on a flatbed wagon. We have called him Raymond ever since. Once we were properly introduced he too began to leave gifts. He is also the most active of all the spirits. It could be that we are in the bar more than anywhere else but will come and communicate when asked.
Sarah- tell about the next day and thereafter all the gifts he started leaving you.
Those days I was still working on drink recipes here some nights when we were closed. I started pouring beer for Freddy when I was here working and one night, I had only put ice in one of the two bar bins. I was testing recipes and making drinks when I noticed a bottle cap in the other ice bin. It was a black and gold Ommegang cap, which I had never seen before - and I had never opened a beer from that brand before. It felt especially personal because I had just gotten a tattoo of the profile of a lion, and that is their logo. I thanked Freddy and moved on.
After the man said he wouldn't return to fix the coolers, I went another week or so before deciding that I needed to just order beer despite not having anywhere cold to put it. When I was entering through the basement, the beer had been delivered! I was so excited, I said to Freddy- “I don’t know where we’re gonna put this…” but when I came upstairs, there was a new man fixing the coolers and that day, they began to work. I think Frederick knew the beer needed to be cold! I also felt something strange behind the bar that day, and I ran my hand along the inside track of the drawer that I keep all of my tools and cigarettes and things. I found a penny and a tiny clover charm. Why I would have thought to look in that odd spot I cannot explain, other than that he wanted me to find those gifts.
Oct 2021 Layne was trying out a new pancake special. It did not turn out but instead of throwing it away she left it on the line to show me. The plate slid across the table and onto the floor. I came in after hearing the crash. Layne told me what happened. I told Hazel that we did not like to throw food away even if it was made wrong so please don’t throw it on the floor. That was the last time a plate moved off our line like that.
Nov 2021 I was called into the kitchen and told that the bananas flew off the hook and landed on the floor. The bananas were too brown to sell but we used those to make banana pancake batter. I told Hazel why we kept old bananas. Again that never happened. It seems when something happens there is a reason, something is not right. We either fix it or let her know why we do it that way and all is well.
Nov 2021 We had just gotten our liquor license and were very excited to stock our new wine and liquor. In the middle of putting our wine on the bar the entire second level glass bar shelf came crashing down and all the wine bottles hit the floor. Only one of the bottles broke and it was the one that was the sweetest and had the most ridiculous label - Strawberry Kiss. Sarah told Freddy he couldn’t break our wine just because he didn’t like wine. It never happened again.
Feb 2022 We have two chandeliers by the bar that Sarah and I brought from places outside New York. Those two seem to be the most affected by the spirits and always when Sarah and I are talking about the restaurant. We noticed early on that if we were discussing things when we talked about a decision the lights would flicker. Now when it happens we immediately stop and think through what we were saying and the flicker affects our decision.
Apr 2022- Sarah was in the sub-basement talking to Charlie. The lights went out putting the entire subbasement into the pitch black. Sarah said out loud, Charlie, don’t scare me like that! The lights immediately came back on. He never scared me like that again!
Apr-Jun 2022 Multiple times our basement bathroom locked our cooks in. It got to the point the staff quit locking the door for fear of being locked in, and no one ever goes into the bathroom without their phone in case they need to call for help!
July 2022 We had a new bartender making drinks. I heard a crash. I came to the bar and the front row of liquor bottles were laying flat down. I knew this was a Freddy maneuver. I asked the bartender what drink she was making. She told me she was making an Old Fashioned, our signature drink. I asked what bourbon she was using. Sure enough, she was using the wrong bourbon. I was able to fix it before it was served. Then I righted all the bottles and we went on with the shift.
Aug 2022 Our main cooks who came up from Kentucky went back to Kentucky and we hired a couple others who weren’t briefed on the fact our basement bathroom door would lock people in. We told everyone about our spirits but not much else. Aaron, our high school dishwasher, went downstairs to the bathroom. When he tried to get out he was locked in. He started screaming. Eventually Paul heard the screaming from the basement but wouldn't go down because he thought it was the ghosts. Eventually he realized Aaron had been gone for a while and it was probably him. He went down and got him out.
Oct 2022 The first time our property manager Beth noticed her son interacting with Freddy when he was just a little over a year old. He would sit in his high chair and wave at the area where Freddy normally stands. He would wave and talk to the man. He did this until he was about 3 years old. Elijah also saw the lady at the Paddock mansion. Waving to the window and asking if he could go inside and play with her. He was a very sensitive child.
Jan 2023- Our lights are very affected. People make comments about old buildings and old lighting. Not this one. In 2015 at the tune of 125k I rewired the entire building. All the wiring is new. One morning our cook Lineen went downstairs to get something out of the basement. The lights would not turn on. She said Charlie please turn the lights on. I need to find something. She repeated a couple of times. Finally she was like Come on, Charlie, turn on the lights. At that moment she saw a shadow go across the basement and down to the subbasement. Then the lights went on. She thanked Charlie and got what she needed.
May 2023 While Sarah and I were interviewing a new cook she looked over my head and said there is a man over your desk. This was a new entity to us. We asked her some more questions. She said she wasn’t sure about him but he was definitely over my desk. At that moment my dog ran past the desk and stopped in her tracks. She faced the desk, in the direction of where Heidi saw the man, and started barking. Heidi was like, see I told you there was someone there.
July 2023 - I was waiting tables and a woman at a table called me over with the question, “so how is the restaurant?” I answered, I’m broke but I don’t think that's what you really want to know. By this time I was used to people recognizing the spirits in the bar. She said she sensed a lot of entities around and did I know any of the back stories. I told her about several and asked if she wanted a tour. We made our way to the back of the restaurant and she said what is the story about the man over your desk? I told her I had just heard about him but I didn’t really know much about him. She told me she felt he was in charge of the money for the restaurant. He had a leadership position. She went into the kitchen and said Oh, the woman here, she is with the man over the desk. They are related somehow. Then she went to the basement. She said there were so many children running around there. They are the ones who prank you. (Thus explains the locked bathroom doors)
Sept 2024 We had another business operate in our building for a while. She had an older friend who was at the restaurant almost daily. At least three times he had to take the basement bathroom door off because it had locked from the inside, with no one there.
Feb 2024- We were asked if Watertown Paranormal could look through our building. We agreed and they set up. They started in the sub-basement. They set up lights and spirit boxes. I went down to check a little while later and they really hadn’t gotten anything. When I came down I talked to Charlie. At that point the lights started going off. Later in the investigation it was shown that Charlie was not comfortable with white men. I asked Charlie if he was a freedom seeker. He flashed the lights yes. I asked him if he made it to Canada and he flashed No. We asked about Sarah and he didn't say anything but when we asked if he liked her he flashed yes. The spirit box picked up the voice of a woman and a young girl. Later they moved up to the bar. They set up the spirit box at the bar. The men had their daughter at the bar. The wife and I were sitting back at the tables. The first thing the box said was get away from my bar. I grabbed the young girl and brought her back to me. Then the box said take off your hat. The man then took off his baseball hat. They asked if the speaker was Freddy. He said Yes. They asked what his favorite drink was. He told them Bourbon. To this day Sarah pours him a drink every night. They asked him about Sarah. He said he loved her. Immediately a female voice said I hate her. We have the census book here. His wife's name is Estelle. That is who we think it was.
Feb 2024- While the paranormal team was downstairs we had a regular who was at the bar. He was very upset we didn’t let him go downstairs. I told him he didn’t need to go downstairs. I said Freddy was upstairs. He had a ghost app on his phone. I told him to follow me to the end of the bar where Freddy normally stands. He opened his app and there was nothing. I told him to keep it open. Then I said Freddy come say hello. At that moment a red dot started beeping off towards the door. We watched and it walked to right behind where we were standing. I said, well there you go John, he is right here.
Apl 2024- I had a leaking pipe in the sub basement. It was in a back partially hidden room. Weaver went in and fixed it. Saturday I had a college friend come visit. I took him and his family to the sub basement and told him the stories about Charlie. At the time I knew Charlie was not there. I told my friends I was sorry but I didn’t think Charlie was there. However when I walked towards the stairs and the back room I felt a very evil presence. I quickly took everyone upstairs. Later that weekend I had a black girlfriend friend from Kentucky come visit. She was interested in the underground railroad and Charlie. I went to take her downstairs. She stood at the top of the stairs by the back room and said, No way, I’m not going down there. I told her she had to see Charlie's area. We went to the other side and I took her down the other stairs. I immediately felt something was wrong. I took her down to Charlie's bench and we sat down. I told her Charlie stories but knew something was wrong. Within two minutes, Yvonne said, Vonnette we have to get out of here, something doesn't want me down here. We immediately left. We came upstairs and told Sarah. She told me I know something is not right down there. My friend said there was something evil about Watertown, she needed to go and left a couple days before she was going to go. Sunday, a couple days after the experience in the basement, our initial paranormal team randomly came in for brunch. I asked them to come down and check out the sub basement because something wasn't right. The husband went down initially with myself, the wife, and their daughter. When we walked down, the wife, who had interacted with Charlie several times, looked at me and said Charlie's not here. I said I know, I don’t think so either. We took several more steps towards the end where Charlie normally sits and a very evil feeling came over both of us. I looked at her and she said, wow that's really bad. We waited and her husband got the spirit box up. He asked, "Charlie, are you there?" A female voice came on and said he’s not here. Then a man’s voice came on and said, Get out! We left. The husband asked me what had changed. I told him the work we had done. I decided to contact the contractor. He said nothing weird happened while he was there but he found all sorts of cool bottles and stuff. He told me he pulled everything out, and put it on a bench by Charlie. I knew that was the problem. Sarah and I moved the bench close to the back room but we had already shut the wall back up so didn’t put the bench into the room. Sarah continues to give the spirit who we now call Jack or Jonathon a shot of whiskey. He has gotten better but sometimes he is still very angry. Charlie has come back but that corner of the basement still feels pretty unsteady at times.
June 2024- We had a group of people with a different ghost app. It was the kind that showed the energy of people. One of the patrons asked me about Freddy. I said point your phone at your table. It showed all the people sitting there. I told her to follow me. I took her to the end of the bar and said point it right there, the end of the bar is where Freddy often stands. Sure enough at the end of the bar it showed the outline of a person even though no one was there.
Oct 2024- One of our regulars was very excited as she had put a ghost app on her phone. If you point it shows the outline of people's energy. She showed me how everyone at the table had this outline. I told her to follow me and took her to where Freddy normally stands. I said point it in that direction. Sure enough an outline of a person was behind the bar where Freddy normally stands.
Nov 2025- There’s an old antique Avon bubble bath jar that says “Freddy the Frog” that I (Sarah) found in a shop and bought to put behind the bar for Freddy. I put it on the right side (when facing the mirrors) on top of the lights where the other decor and champagne bottle from Charlie are. One night, I was playing Jenga on that corner of the counter with some regulars and my barback at the time. Neither of us were leaning against the backbar or even near it. Out of nowhere, the Freddy the Frog jar came crashing down, and shattered one of the carafes that sits under where it was! I realized Freddy must have felt left out because I hadn’t poured him a drink yet that day, and he figured out his own way to participate in Jenga. I gave him a beer, we toasted with the whole bar, and I put his bubble bath somewhere he couldn’t do more damage with it.
Oct 2025- The end of History and Haunts, the local tour Vonnette and Dr. White lead every October, finishes at Empire Square. Vonnette told all the walkers to follow her in and down the stairs. The next day Dr. White ran into one of the gentlemen who was on the walk. He remembered the man did not follow the crowd into the building. He inquired as to why. The gentlemen said when he was heading for the door a large man stood in the door frame and told him he could not go in. He would not move so the gentleman left the tour and decided to ask Dr. White about him. Dr. White was there the whole night and said there was not a man that fit the description and no one who ever stood in front of the door. He watched the gentlemen come to the door and walk away. He saw no one blocking the door.
April 2026- Sarah - We had a set of ceramic babies, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. They were all broken except see no evil. When that was the only statue left, I was looking for a space to put it behind the bar, and I tried one spot and wasn't sure about how Freddy felt about it. I sat with Vonnette and said I didn't know if that was where I should put the statue. Immediately after, one of the hanging glasses shattered with no one behind the bar. I moved the statue and he seemed happy.
June 2026
Walking on Charlie's path I found a beaded snowflake ornament. I took it back and put it with the Christmas decorations. The next week I found another beaded snowflake ornament in his path. Later that month I finished moving decorations from the basement to the subbasement and organized the holidays. It was then I realized the tree the ornaments were on had not even been brought down. I guess Charlie was telling me it was time to organize our holiday decorations.
July 2026
Our new cook was preparing an onion. He cut it in half then turned around and had to do work on the line preparing orders. When he returned to finish cutting the onion it was there but was no longer in half. This is a classic Hazel doing. She would not like Garrett leaving the project half done.
August 2026 My Goddaughter, Natalie was in the bar/restaurant with her friends. She has been in the bar since she was a child. She knows all the spirits and they all know her. Her friends wanted to meet the spirits. I told them Freddy is the most available. I told them to stand at the end of the bar and tell them they wanted to meet Freddy. Within minutes the mobile above their head started spinning and they all said they felt a tingle.
Sept 2026
Two mediums visited and the following are a recount of their observations
They stated that Frederick doesn’t like when men sit at the bar with their hats on… and he doesn’t like many women, except those who can hold their liquor! One of the women was hesitant to go in the kitchen - she was a cook herself, and she said Hazel is very particular about how things are done in her kitchen. They went to the subbasement and said there was an unsettling energy in the back corner (by the J.B. Wise parking lot). They also said Charlie’s area had a very pleasant feeling, grandfatherly. They told us there were a lot of children down there playing, and that Charlie watched over them.
Sept 2026
While Meghain was mopping the door to the kitchen shut, the door stop was moved out of the way and the door swung shut. No one else was in the kitchen.
Oct 2026
During the 2nd Ghost tour of the season I was walking to the sub-basement and telling the group that the aisle down the center is where Charlie leaves his gifts. As I was saying this I saw a red object in the path. I picked it up and realized it was the lost eye to our Halloween spider that I had given up for gone. I thanked Charlie and took it upstairs to match it with his decoration.