The 1907 Italian Renaissance Revival Roberson Mansion
30 Front Street, Binghamton, NY 13905
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Standard museum admission; check Roberson Museum and Science Center for current rates and special seasonal events including paranormal tours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Museum and historic mansion
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1907 · Italian Renaissance Revival architecture · C. Edward Vosbury design · Pottier & Stymus interiors · Haunted History Trail of New York State
Alonzo Roberson Jr. was born in Binghamton on November 16, 1861, and built a fortune as a regional lumber magnate. In 1904 the Robersons engaged Binghamton architect C. Edward Vosbury to design a new home on Front Street, choosing the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Construction was completed in 1907.
The house included an elevator, central heat, combination gas and electric lighting, a dumbwaiter, an intercom, and a private bath for each bedroom. New York firm Pottier & Stymus designed the interiors, including silk damask wall treatments in the reception and library-living rooms.
Roberson Memorial, Inc. was established by Alonzo Roberson's will in 1934. After his widow Margaret's death, the Roberson Memorial Center opened to the public in 1954, and the institution has since expanded into the Roberson Museum and Science Center, which combines art, regional history, and science programming. The mansion is part of the Haunted History Trail of New York State.
Sources
Local Binghamton tradition holds that Alonzo Roberson Jr. continues to walk the halls and use the elevator of his former Front Street mansion. Staff and visitors have reported the elevator operating on its own and unexplained footsteps on the residential floors, particularly in the third-floor servants' areas and the main upstairs corridor.
The mansion is included on the Haunted History Trail of New York State, which presents Roberson's continued residence as the building's headline paranormal claim and runs occasional seasonal investigation events through the museum.
Notable Entities
Tour the 1907 Roberson Mansion and the adjoining Science Center on Binghamton's Front Street. The mansion is part of the Haunted History Trail of New York State and includes art, history, and science galleries.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Cincinnati, OH
The Cincinnati Art Museum was founded in 1881 and opened to the public in its current Eden Park building on May 17, 1886. It is one of the oldest art museums in the United States and houses an encyclopedic collection spanning 6,000 years of art history. Reuben Springer led the founding fundraising; the building has been expanded repeatedly into the 21st century.
Buffalo, NY
USS The Sullivans (DD-537) was a Fletcher-class destroyer commissioned in 1943 and named after the five Sullivan brothers who died together when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk in November 1942. The destroyer served the U.S. Navy through World War II and the Korean War before being decommissioned in 1965. The vessel has served as a museum ship at Buffalo Naval Park since 1977.
Syracuse, NY
The Erie Canal Museum occupies the 1850 Syracuse Weighlock Building, the last surviving structure of its kind in the United States. The building served as a working weighlock — essentially a giant scale for canal boats determining toll fees — from 1850 until weighing was discontinued in 1883. The museum was founded as a private non-profit in 1962, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.