Lake Compounce

The oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America, Lake Compounce has been entertaining visitors since the 1800s. Reports of hauntings began after Chief Compounce allegedly drowned himself in the lake the day before the land was turned over to developers.

The curse of Lake Compounce began before the first ride was ever built. On December 2, 1684, Chief John Compound of the Mattatuck-Tunxis tribe, along with his wife and tribal members, signed over a 28-acre lake, a mountain, and surrounding farmland to John Norton and 83 other settlers from Massachusetts. The payment was meager: a small amount of coin, miscellaneous trinkets, and a large brass tea kettle. What happened next depends on who tells the story—but all versions end in tragedy.

Some say Chief Compound, devastated when he realized he had been swindled out of sacred tribal land, paddled into the lake using that very brass kettle as a boat and drowned. Others claim he deliberately tied the copper kettle around his neck and threw himself overboard in despair. A darker version suggests his own tribe murdered him as punishment for surrendering their ancestral ground. Whatever the truth, legend holds that when Chief Compound's blood seeped into the lake's waters, it cursed the land forever.

The property remained quiet for over 160 years until October 6, 1846, when scientist Samuel Botsford held an electrical demonstration that drew thousands of curious spectators. Though the experiment failed spectacularly, property owner Gad Norton saw opportunity. He opened the grounds as a picnic park, and America's oldest continuously operating amusement park was born. Over the decades, Lake Compounce grew to include a carousel (1911), the Green Dragon roller coaster (1914), and the Wildcat wooden coaster (1927). The Starlite Ballroom opened in 1937 and became legendary—on a spring night in 1941, a record 5,000 dancers packed the floor to see Tommy Dorsey's band featuring a young, unknown vocalist named Frank Sinatra.

But the park's dark legacy never truly faded. A grim pattern of deaths emerged: In July 1981, 16-year-old Michele Johnson fell from a roller coaster after standing up during the ride. In August 1999, 16-year-old park employee Matthew Henne was dragged under the Tornado ride and crushed, dying the following day. In July 2000, six-year-old Devon Alexander drowned after his inner tube capsized on the Lake Plunge water slide—lifeguards took 25 agonizing minutes to locate him in the murky waters. In June 2001, 23-year-old groundskeeper Wilfredo Martinez was struck and killed by the Boulder Dash roller coaster while trimming weeds during an unannounced test run. In May 2004, five-year-old Sean Rice was killed when a tree limb fell 50 feet from a dead tree. Three deaths in 22 months—a rate some noted was unmatched by any other American amusement park.

The Starlite Ballroom is the epicenter of paranormal activity. Former employees describe hearing the unmistakable sound of a "honky tonk style piano playing 'Oh Susanna'" emanating from the locked, empty building. Others report period-appropriate conversations drifting through the air—voices discussing 1800s-era travel as if the big band era never ended. Dark, shadowy shapes move through the ballroom at night. The current park owner allegedly refuses to enter the ballroom alone after being touched by unseen forces. One housekeeping employee reported: "Every night that my partner and I went to clean the ballroom, we always felt like someone was looking or was behind us. We would hear footsteps near the dressing rooms, on stage, and around the ballroom floors."

Security guards have their own stories. One overnight guard described being alone in the locked parkside diner when phantom scuffling and walking sounds surrounded him—he quit that same day. Another employee heard someone talking above the clock-in area; when she investigated upstairs, no one was there. A maintenance worker discovered a large puddle of water that appeared within minutes in an empty building where he was the sole occupant. Workers walking past the kiddie land at midnight have watched rides suddenly activate on their own—when they asked security about the testing, the guards had no explanation.

Throughout the grounds, the phenomena continue. Visitors hiking near the old ski lift area report feeling watched. People driving past at night see unexplained orbs floating over the property. One summer 2015 visitor on Boulder Dash reported seeing "something crossing over the track really fast"—a sighting independently confirmed by their companion. There are tales of a young girl in old-fashioned dress appearing near the historic Looff carousel, only to vanish when approached. Lifeguards at the lake have reported invisible presences tugging at them. The smell of fresh popcorn wafts from concession stands that have been closed for hours.

Some dismiss the haunting claims. "I worked at Lake Compounce for two years and have walked through the park alone at night plenty of times," wrote one former employee. "Aside from the silence and darkness being a bit creepy, I've never experienced anything strange." But the stories persist across decades and from sources who never met. Perhaps Chief Compound still wanders his stolen land, or perhaps the tragic deaths of children and young workers left spiritual residue that cannot be scrubbed away. At America's oldest amusement park, the rides may close at sunset, but something continues operating long after the lights go out.