Italian Renaissance mansion built 1904–1907 for lumber magnate Alonzo Roberson Jr., now a museum where staff report a West Point-attired apparition, children's laughter, and the sound of a Native American woman singing.
30 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Standard museum admission applies; seasonal ghost tours priced separately. Check roberson.org for current rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic mansion and connected museum building; elevator available
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1907 · Italian Renaissance Revival design by C. Edward Vosbury · Pottier & Stymus interiors with original silk damask wall treatments · Converted to public cultural institution 1954 · Listed on the Haunted History Trail of New York State
Alonzo Roberson Jr. was born in Binghamton on November 16, 1861, and built a substantial fortune in the regional lumber trade. In 1904 he hired Binghamton architect C. Edward Vosbury to design a new primary residence at 30 Front Street, selecting the Italian Renaissance Revival style for a building that was to make a clear statement about the family's standing.
Construction took three years and finished in 1907. The house was fitted with amenities unusual for Binghamton at the time: a passenger elevator, central heating, combination gas and electric lighting, a dumbwaiter, an intercom system, and a private bath for each bedroom. The New York interior design firm Pottier & Stymus handled the decorative program, including silk damask wall treatments in the reception hall and library-living room.
Alonzo Roberson died in 1935, having established Roberson Memorial Inc. by will in 1934. After his widow Margaret's death, the Roberson Memorial Center opened to the public in 1954 as a regional cultural institution. Over subsequent decades the institution expanded into the adjacent Science Center and is now known as the Roberson Museum and Science Center, combining art, regional history, and science programming. The mansion is included on the Haunted History Trail of New York State.
Sources
The Roberson Mansion's paranormal accounts come from both staff and visitor reports over several decades, and they describe a more varied cast of presences than is typical for a single historic building.
The most structurally expected report is Alonzo Roberson himself. Staff members describe seeing a man resembling the former owner in the second-floor hallway and seated quietly in the old theater. A figure reportedly peers from the front windows during evening hours. These accounts, documented in Elizabeth Tucker's Haunted Southern Tier and in local reporting, are consistent with the pattern of a former owner maintaining a connection to a property he shaped.
The second figure—a stern man in what appears to be West Point military attire—appears independently of the Roberson family context, and no historical identity has been publicly established for it. A third recurring phenomenon is auditory: the sound of a Native American woman singing softly to a baby, heard in various areas of the mansion. Children's laughter is reported when no children are in the building.
The most recently documented incident occurred in late fall 2019, when a staff member and his family were decorating a second-floor room for an upcoming event. All three heard a man clearly throat-clearing from the first floor; when checked, no one was there. The account was reported in local media coverage.
Notable Entities
Guided ghost tours of the mansion run on select Saturdays in October. Group paranormal investigations through Empirical Paranormal may be scheduled by appointment throughout the year. Self-guided tours of the mansion are available year-round during regular museum hours.
The 1907 Italian Renaissance Revival mansion is open as part of the broader Roberson Museum and Science Center. Visitors can tour the period rooms, exhibits, and the mansion's ornate interior, including the Pottier & Stymus silk damask reception rooms.
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