Built in 1869 as Troy Hospital and now an arts-and-humanities building at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, West Hall is the focus of RPI's best-known campus ghost story — the legend of 'Nurse Betsy.' The building is a major example of French Second Empire architecture, designed by Marcus F. Cummings of Troy.
120 Eaton Road, Troy, NY 12180
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
West Hall is an active RPI academic building. The exterior is viewable; interior access is limited to students, faculty, and authorized visitors.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban hillside campus; West Hall sits on a steep section of the RPI campus in Troy
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1869 · Oldest building on the RPI campus · Built 1869 as Troy Hospital; French Second Empire design by Marcus F. Cummings · Operated by Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul · Catholic high school 1923; RPI building since 1953
West Hall was constructed in 1869 as Troy Hospital, a Catholic hospital operated by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in Troy, New York. The French Second Empire building, designed by Marcus F. Cummings of Troy, served as a hospital for several decades, with religious sisters among its nursing staff.
In 1923 the building's use changed when it became a Catholic high school. Three decades later, in 1953, the property was acquired by and incorporated into the adjacent Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus. Today West Hall is recognized as the oldest building on the RPI campus and houses the institute's arts and humanities departments, including music and theater facilities.
Its long institutional history — first as a hospital where patients were treated and died, later as a school, and finally as a college building with practice rooms and performance spaces — has made West Hall a fixture of campus tradition and lore. The building's hauntings are sufficiently established in campus culture that they are referenced in coverage by RPI's own student newspaper, The Polytechnic, in WAMC public-radio programming, and on the building's Wikipedia entry.
Sources
The most enduring legend at West Hall is that of 'Nurse Betsy,' described in campus lore as a nurse who cared for patients during the building's years as Troy Hospital in the late 1800s. According to RPI's student newspaper The Polytechnic and WAMC's coverage, Betsy is said to still wander the building and to play the piano — as she reportedly did to calm her patients — with her footsteps, along with thumping sounds, slamming doors, and the cries and screams of her former patients, occasionally reported by students and faculty.
These stories are firmly part of RPI's campus culture: the building's hauntings are documented in The Polytechnic, in WAMC public-radio programming, and on West Hall's Wikipedia page, and RPI itself has run seasonal campus ghost tours that feature the building.
We note that an earlier, widely circulated version of this legend — repeated in some haunted-place compilations — claimed the resident ghost was a nurse who died in a fire that 'gutted the building while trying to save children.' We were unable to find any documentary support for a fatal fire at the building or for a child-rescue death, and the better-sourced campus accounts consistently describe Betsy simply as a former hospital nurse, not a fire victim. We therefore present the 'Nurse Betsy' lore as the corroborated campus tradition and treat the fire-and-children version as an unverified embellishment. Betsy is consistently characterized in campus lore as a benign, even welcomed presence, with signs jokingly reminding people to leave a light on for the ghost.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
View the High Victorian Gothic exterior of West Hall, RPI's oldest building and former Troy Hospital, from the campus grounds in Troy. The interior is an active academic building; respect posted access and class schedules. RPI has occasionally offered seasonal campus ghost tours that feature West Hall.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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