Durand Lake, near Rochester in New York State, is the home of an infamous white-dressed lady who, according to the legend, still searches for her daughter or the people responsible for her disappearance. According to legend, visitors might be able to catch a glimpse of the White Lady roaming about in the evenings. Numerous sightings are reported every year, most often on foggy nights and during the full moon. Researchers have not been able to verify any details of the legend, nor have they found any documents identifying the woman whose ghost is supposed to haunt the park.
There are many versions of the legend. All of them agree that in the early nineteenth century, the area around Durand Lake was home to a woman whose name was perhaps Eelissa. After fleeing from her abusive husband, she lived there with her beautiful daughter. However, some versions claim that Eelissa and her daughter were abandoned by Eelissa’s two sons. In any case, Eelissa highly distrusted men and because her child was courted by many young suitors, she warned her of their unsavory intentions. Although the child respected her mother’s wish to stay away from men, she very much longed for a partner.
One evening, the daughter took a walk near the lake, but she never returned. In one version of the legend, the grieving mother was convinced that her daughter had run off with a young man, while other versions convey that Eelissa believed a local farmer had raped and murdered her child. Still other versions depict her as the victim of kidnapping or suicide. For years the devastated mother, wearing a white dress and accompanied by her two dogs, would search for the child every evening until she finally died heartbroken. In another version, Eelissa drowned herself in Durand Lake or Lake Ontario. Her house, which is located between Durand Lake, Lake Ontario, and Eastman Lake, eventually decayed, with only its foundation remaining. Ironically, teenagers began to use the place for romantic encounters. However, these couples were scared away by the sight of a ghostly image and two white dogs emerging from Durand or Eastman Lake. Locals believe that Eelissa had reappeared to continue the search for her daughter or to harm those who took her child.
The sight of the White Lady has elicited many different stories about her appearance. While some people saw her in the company of two German shepherds, others depict the dogs as doberman pinschers. Locals describe her as a woman who is especially aggressive toward men, in particular to those who do not respect women. Some reports claim that the lady chases men into the lake or shakes their vehicle until they leave, while others witnessed her as a youthful ghost hidden in mist. Other tales portray her as a treacherous woman who appears in the shape of a young lady and then turns into a furious ghost who attempts to kill teenage boys who are on dates in the park.
Durand Eastman Park was founded in 1908, when Dr. Henry Strong Durand, a surgeon and poet, and his acquaintance, George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, donated their properties to the city of Rochester for permanent use as a public park. After witnessing the crowded Ontario Beach on the other side of the Genesee River in Charlotte, both of them saw the need for public spaces and recreational areas. The cobblestone wall, which many claim to be the White Lady’s house, is originally the remains of the Durand Eastman Refectory (i.e., dining hall) called Three Lakes Pavilion. It was built around 1916 to 1918 to provide a relaxing communal dining atmosphere away from the busy beaches with thousands of daily visitors. During the Great Depression it was shut down and forgotten. Over time, these ruins have been imagined as the home of the White Lady and have become known as the White Lady’s Castle.
Durand Eastman Park is not the only place haunted by a white lady in local lore. In fact, many white ladies exist in legends across the United States, including in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California. They are also found in other countries such as Brazil, Great Britain, and the Philippines. They wear a long dress and are mainly reported in rural areas. Suffering from injustice done by men, white ladies are either seeking revenge on random men or come as harbingers of death to a cursed family.
White ladies have also entered the world of video games and television. For example, in the 2012 video game Guild Wars 2, players meet a weeping white lady in the graveyard from where they have to escort her home. On TV, a white lady appeared as the Woman in White in the 2005 U.S. TV series Supernatural, while the 1976–1978 British children’s TV series The Ghosts of Motley Hall featured a white lady as one of five ghosts. The White Lady of Durand Lake herself and the legend behind her are the source of a 1998 horror-mystery movie called The Lady in White, which was written and directed by Rochester native Frank LaLoggia and partially filmed in the Rochester area. It begins on Halloween in 1962 and is set in the fictional town of Willowpoint Falls. It portrays Anne Montgomery, a mother who commits suicide after discovering that her daughter Melissa was murdered. In the course of the movie, both of them reappear as ghosts.
Since opening its gates, Durand Eastman Park has become a favorite destination for hikers, swimmers, golfers, and cross-country skiers. But the sightings of the White Lady have also attracted numerous curious locals and ghost hunters who spend their evening hours close to the lady’s castle, hoping to witness her rise from the lake and to share the story of their paranormal encounter.
Daniela Ribitsch
See also La Llorona or Weeping Woman; Legend Tripping; Scary Stories; Women in Folklore
Further Reading
Austin, Joanne. 2006. Weird Hauntings: True Tales of Ghostly Places. New York: Sterling.
Gethard, Chris. 2005. Weird New York: Your Travel Guide to New York’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. New York: Sterling.
Revai, Cheri. 2009. The Big Book of New York Ghost Stories. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
Schlosser, S. E. 2005. Spooky New York. Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press.