GEORGETOWN – Whether it was a fraud or proof positive that spirits exist and can communicate with people on the earthy plane, no one can deny that the Spirit House in Georgetown is one of the most amazing architectural achievements to be crafted by an untrained hand.

Just north of the Chenango County line, in the Town of Georgetown stands a magnificent house that serves as a reminder of the vast Spiritualist movement that took place in the mid 1800s. The spiritualist movement was stronger in New York than in any other state, with New York claiming twice the number of Spiritualists as any other state in the country. In Georgetown, the movement was especially strong. Much of the spiritualist movement was based on the theory that certain people, mediums, can communicate with spirits.

Timothy Brown was a member of the spiritualist movement. A New Englander from Ryegate, Vermont, Brown moved to Georgetown sometime in the 1850s. One day, Brown announced that he had been called upon to build a house that would serve as a temple of Spiritualism. Although Brown was no architect, he soon purchased a piece of property in the center of town, and set out building the house under the direction of the spirits.

It took Brown 10 years to build the house. He used timber from local forests, and elicited the help of a master carpenter to erect the frame. The carpenter left the site surprised, and told the town’s people it was the best frame he had ever seen. To decorate the front and sides of the house, brown stacked 2 x 4 beams to create what resemble rounded columns on the front of the house. He carved each beam with elaborate scallops, and created a three tier icicle like design around the roof of the house.