HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
1787 Van Rensselaer House and Site of a Notorious Murder
523 1/2 South Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12202
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Guided tours typically run $10-15 per adult; check website for current rates and seasonal hours.
Access
Limited Access
Historic Georgian house with multiple floors and original staircases
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1787 · Georgian Architecture · Van Rensselaer Family · National Register of Historic Places · Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
Philip Van Rensselaer, a member of the family whose patroonship had dominated the upper Hudson Valley since the 1630s, built Cherry Hill in 1787 on the southern outskirts of Albany. The Georgian-style frame house remained occupied by his direct descendants for five generations, an unbroken family residency that ended when the last occupant, Emily Rankin, bequeathed the property and its contents to New York State.
The house's most-discussed historical moment occurred in May 1827. John Whipple, a prosperous Albany businessman who had married Elsie Lansing of the extended Van Rensselaer family, was shot to death in the home. Elsie had become romantically involved with Jesse Strang, a drifter living and working as a servant on the property. Strang and Elsie were charged with conspiring to murder Whipple; Elsie was acquitted, but Strang was convicted and hanged on August 24, 1827. His execution was the last public hanging in Albany.
Cherry Hill opened as a historic house museum in 1964, retaining an unusually intact collection of family papers, furniture, ceramics, and textiles. The Historic Cherry Hill Association operates the property as an interpretive site emphasizing the daily life of five generations of one family across more than 175 years.
Sources
Cherry Hill's principal paranormal lore concerns the 1827 murder of John Whipple by his wife's lover Jesse Strang. Regional accounts describe an unhostile presence on the bottom floor of the home identified by local tradition as Whipple, with visitors and staff reporting a sense of being watched, occasional unexplained sounds, and a faint impression of anger or unrest near the rooms associated with the killing.
The Historic Cherry Hill Association presents the house as a museum rather than as a paranormal destination. Ghost lore here is treated as part of regional folklore documented in Albany ghost compendia rather than as a marketed experience. The most extensive contemporary accounts come from the All Over Albany cultural archive and from regional ghost tour operators referencing the Whipple case as one of Albany's documented nineteenth-century crimes.
Notable Entities
An hour-long guided tour of the 1787 Georgian-style home occupied by five generations of the Van Rensselaer family, including the rooms connected to the 1827 murder of John Whipple and the artifacts left by the family's last resident, Emily Rankin.
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