Inside The 1890 House Museum: Exploring Cortland's Gilded Age Mansion Before the Investigation
“People leave impressions on the places they inhabit — and the more I understand about who those people were, the better equipped I am to evaluate what we find once the lights go out. The 1890 House has a lot of history inside its walls, and this house isn't done telling its story.”
— Jason Hawes
Before you can investigate a location, you have to understand it. That's something I've believed since the very beginning of TAPS, and it's exactly why we spent time touring The 1890 House Museum in Cortland, New York before a single piece of equipment came out of the cases. Built during the Gilded Age and home to industrialist Chester F. Wickwire and his family, this stone mansion stopped me in my tracks the moment I laid eyes on it.
I've walked into a lot of historic buildings over the years. After decades of investigating, you'd think the sense of awe would fade a little. It hasn't. The 1890 House reminded me exactly why I got into this work in the first place — not because of the possibility of finding something paranormal, but because of the sheer weight of history you feel the moment you step through the door. The stone exterior, the tower, the craftsmanship built into every inch of this place — this was a home that was meant to make a statement. Chester Wickwire was a man of considerable means and influence, and this mansion was the physical expression of everything he built. Understanding that context matters more than most people realize.
We always do this. Before the investigation, we take the time to walk the location in the light. We talk to the historians, the caretakers, the people who know these buildings best. Not because we're looking for ghost stories to chase — quite the opposite, actually. The more I understand about who lived in a place, what happened there, what the daily rhythms of life looked like inside those walls, the better equipped I am to evaluate what we find later. Unexplained sounds have explanations. Old buildings settle, pipes knock, drafts move through rooms in patterns that can feel unsettling if you don't understand the architecture. I want to know this building before I start asking questions of it in the dark.
The 1890 House is remarkable for how well preserved it is. Walking through the rooms, you get a genuine sense of what Gilded Age domestic life looked like for a wealthy industrial family in upstate New York. The detailed woodwork, the elaborate room layouts, the architectural details that most builders today wouldn't even attempt — all of it is still here. The Wickwire family story is woven into every corner of this place, and that's exactly the kind of layered history that tends to produce the most interesting investigations. People leave impressions on the places they inhabit. Whether those impressions are paranormal is always the question I'm trying to answer, but you can't begin to ask that question without first knowing who those people were.
This episode is the tour. The history. The foundation. My team and I covered the key rooms, learned about the Wickwire family's story, and started building our mental map of the location — where the architectural oddities are, where the history is most concentrated, where the staff and visitors have reported experiences they can't explain. I always say that the investigation really begins the moment you start learning about a place. By the time we turned the lights off, we weren't walking in blind. We knew this house. And knowing this house made everything that happened next that much more significant. Stay tuned, because the investigation is coming — and The 1890 House had a few things to say for itself.
The 1890 House is one of the most genuinely impressive historic locations I've had the opportunity to explore, and the history alone makes this visit worthwhile regardless of what the investigation turns up. Understanding the Wickwire family and the world they built inside these stone walls gave my team the foundation we needed to go in with our eyes open. The investigation is next — and I have a feeling this house isn't done telling its story.