5 /5 Nicholas Swann: Durand Eastman Park. Legend and Lore.
Since the nineteenth century, Rochesterians have witnessed the White Lady, Lady of the Lake, or Eelissa gliding through the area that is now Durand Eastman Park, down the park’s adjacent roadway, or over nearby Lake Ontario. While the legend has many variations, there is a core narrative at the heart of the story.
First, the setting. Many believe the White Lady lived in the so-called “Castle by the Lake” or “White Lady’s Castle”—now a pile of stones on the NORTH shore of the lake. We know these ruins, in fact, were never a castle, but rather a refectory (i.e., a dining hall for lake visitors). Regardless of its real history, its present-day crumbling, stony remains evoke the eerie feeling of a forgotten gothic castle, which in turn inspires the pervasive local legend that surrounds it.
Now to the legend itself. A woman and her daughter once lived near what today is Durand Eastman Park, some say in the White Lady’s Castle. One night the White Lady’s daughter went for a stroll on the lakefront and never returned. Ever since, the mother, clad in a white dress, her two wolfish white hounds at her side, has been scouring the lakeside for her daughter. The grief-stricken White Lady either searched until she perished herself or holed up in her castle and died alone of a broken heart. The White Lady’s crumbling castle is all that’s left of her in our mortal realm. But especially on misty nights, locals report seeing the White Lady’s ghost shimmering over the lake or wandering down the roadside.
What happened to her daughter is a matter of some debate. Some say she ran away with a lover; others say she was killed. Some say she was killed by the very same lover she ran away with, while others say she was attacked by a gang of men. The White Lady seems to believe a man was involved, one way or another, as the White Lady is said to be spiteful to men but protective of women, and no fan of the park’s frequent romantic rendezvous.
The legend is still very much active in oral tradition, frequently told in the Rochester area with regularly reported sightings. Supposedly even local police officers have encountered strange, unexplainable experiences around Durand Eastman Park. But unlike some ghostly hunting grounds, this one is free, open to the public, and welcomes and encourages visitors to experience the White Lady for themselves.
