Morbid Moments #6 - The WM Phelps General Store in Palmyra, NY
When I go to shoot 'Haunted Places' for a job, not for fun- my itinerary is jampacked. By the end of the night, I am exhausted. Sometimes I am out until 2am trying to get night photos of buildings and will have to wind down, try to get to sleep and be out the next morning super early. Palmyra was a place that I could have photographed all night long.
Ok, so we have this General Store that is supposed to be haunted. I meet up with Bonnie, a very nice lady. I think, this can't be long. Give me an hour or so and I'll be back in the Bed & Breakfast to get some much needed sleep (I believe this was the last night, and the last day is usually a few stops and then a long trip home). Well, I walk into this store:
The thing about this store is that it closed mid-century, and stayed exactly the same (minus the perishables, I would assume). I was in amazement, it was like right out of the old B&W tv shows - 'Leave it to Beaver' or 'Dennis The Menace'. This was probably the first time I called my wife and told her to get back over here and check this place out.
CELERY FLAVORED JELL-O
We went up to the 2nd and 3rd floors to where Phelps' daughter, Sibyl, lived until her passing in 1976. Again, mostly untouched as if someone got up and moved.
I have tons more photos of every room. Also, there were 4 more museums right next to this building. I made it through 2 of them, It was around 3am when I was finally done, Bonnie, was ready to keep on going.
We need to talk about this whole doing it as a job thing sometime. We’re the products on the shelves original to the store, or more like a collection over the years since closing?
Everything is supposed to be original to the store- like it was just closed and left as it was, though the daughter still lived above it. I believe most of it is original, but I'm not sure their 1940 date matches up.