Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAn 1882 Victorian funeral home turned psychic school — the embalming room and body bag room draw overnight ghost hunters to Dunkirk
43 W 4th Street, Dunkirk, NY 14048
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ghost hunt $50/person; self-guided tour $20/person; overnight sleepover $90/person (4-person minimum, 25 maximum)
Access
Wheelchair OK
Victorian multi-story building; basement and attic spaces involved in investigations
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1882 · Victorian funeral home architecture · 55+ years of funeral operations · NY Haunted History Trail member
Francis and Grace Rhodes built the Victorian house at 43 W 4th Street in Dunkirk, New York in 1882. The family operated a funeral parlor there for more than five decades, making the house one of the longer-running funeral businesses in the city before it closed and sat vacant for roughly 16 years.
Dunkirk, in Chautauqua County on the southern shore of Lake Erie, was a mid-sized industrial and commercial center through much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Rhodes property was situated in the residential grid just south of the downtown commercial district.
Psychic medium Ivy Rivera acquired and reopened the building as the Ivy League Psychic Academy, which operates both as a training center for psychic and mediumship development and as a venue for paranormal tourism. The building is listed on the Haunted History Trail of New York State. Staff turnover at the property has been high, attributed by management to the intensity of reported paranormal activity. The building is handicap accessible despite its age.
Sources
The paranormal claims at the Rhodes House center on the building's long history as a funeral home. Investigators and guests report activity from several distinct presences: the original owners Francis and Grace Rhodes, their son who died at the property, and an unspecified number of spirits associated with bodies prepared for burial over the funeral home's 55-year operation.
The most-reported active areas are the basement embalming room, the room used for body bags, the original family living quarters, and the attic. The venue uses cat toys and rubber balls as interaction props — objects that staff say move or roll in response to questions during investigations. Activity is described as occurring day and night and is visible enough that staff retention has been chronically difficult.
The Haunted History Trail of New York State includes the building as an active paranormal site. Ghost children are among the reported presences, along with former owners and past homeowners whose connection to the property is documented only through the building's funeral home records rather than independent historical sources.
Notable Entities
Public or private investigation with access to all four floors including the original embalming room, body bag room, attic, and family quarters. The building operated as a funeral home for over 55 years, and investigators are told spirits communicate using cat toys and balls placed strategically around the rooms.
Overnight stay for groups of 4–25 people. Participants sleep in the historic funeral home and conduct investigations through the night. Minimum 4 people required.
Walk the building at your own pace, including the embalming room and original family quarters, for a flat $20 per person. No guided commentary included.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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