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Reported phenomena — as catalogued
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An 1844 cobblestone farmhouse turned city museum where investigators report apparitions of a woman in the upper windows, a man in the dining room, and a boy who reportedly drowned in the well.
2781 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Grounds are part of a city park and free to walk. Museum tours and rentals are operated by the Cobblestone Farm Association; check the site for current ticketed hours and school programs.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Grass and gravel paths around the farmhouse and barn; the historic house has steps at the entrance.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1844 · Classical Revival cobblestone architecture · Herringbone-pattern stonework · 19th-century Michigan farm life · National Register of Historic Places · Michigan State Historic Site
The land at what is now 2781 Packard Road was first deeded to Charles Maynard, who sold it in 1835 to Heman Ticknor, acting on behalf of his brother Dr. Benajah Ticknor, a U.S. Navy surgeon. The smaller frame house already on the property housed Heman's growing family — seven children at the time — and in 1844 Benajah commissioned the larger cobblestone farmhouse to accommodate both households.
The house is a Classical Revival design executed in cobblestone with a distinctive herringbone pattern, built by mason Stephen Mills. Benajah Ticknor, a self-taught classical scholar, mathematician, and diarist, made Ann Arbor his home between naval assignments from 1844 until his death in 1858. He was active in the social and intellectual life of the young University of Michigan community and was regularly consulted for medical opinions.
After Ticknor's death the property passed through several owners. In 1881 Scottish immigrant William Campbell bought the farm, and his descendants — son Clair and grandchildren William, George, and Mary — held it for 91 years, keeping the house essentially unchanged. Several outbuildings were destroyed by fire in 1924. In 1972, George and Mary Campbell sold the remaining 4.5 acres to the City of Ann Arbor for use as a park and museum.
The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973. It is operated today as a city park under lease to the volunteer Cobblestone Farm Association, which runs tours, school programs, and event rentals. The Ticknor-Campbell House historical marker on site summarizes the dual-family ownership that gives the building its hyphenated name.
Sources
The reported phenomena at Cobblestone Farm cluster around three recurring figures, all described in the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal's August 2025 feature on Ann Arbor's haunted history.
The first is a woman who has been seen looking out from one of the upper-story windows of the cobblestone house. The second is a man described as seated in the dining room. The third — and most discussed locally — is a young boy who, according to the legend, drowned in the property's historic well; he is said to be seen running across the grounds. Surviving public records reviewed for this entry do not independently document which child this is, or confirm the well drowning as a historical event.
In the same article, paranormal investigators working on the property reported intelligent knocking responses during questioning (one knock for yes, two for no), elevated EMF detector readings, and a temperature rise in the barn from roughly 73°F to 87°F during questioning that referenced the 1924 outbuilding fire. They also reported recording whispered names during EVP review, listing 'Winona, Ben, Buck Weiner, and Jay Ticknor' among them. None of these recordings or readings have been published in a peer-reviewed venue and the activity should be treated as folkloric reporting rather than confirmed evidence.
The house's long single-family tenure under the Campbells, the prominence of Dr. Ticknor in local memory, and the documented 1924 fire give the site a deep, knowable history that local storytellers have woven into its modern reputation as one of Ann Arbor's most-discussed haunted locations.
Notable Entities
Tour the restored 1844 cobblestone farmhouse, the adjacent 1828 frame house, and the barn complex. Interpreters discuss the Ticknor and Campbell families and mid-19th-century Washtenaw County farm life. Family-friendly.
Walk the open grounds and view the herringbone-pattern cobblestone facade from the exterior. The barn, outbuildings, and approach to the historic well are visible from public paths.
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