Now partially private property and partially park land, Camp Security was a POW camp during the Revolution. The prisoners were captured troops of Generals Burgoyne and Cornwallis. The camp was loosely guarded, and it's said if you wanted to escape, all you had to do was walk out. But many of the prisoners actually had families living in the compound in stone huts. Several ran cottage industries while imprisoned. But that doesn't mean life was easy. Although most of the prisoners had no desire to escape - they were treated well here and the British Army life wasn't a bed of roses - many died in camp. Especially rough was the winter of 1782-83 when fever swept the prison. Many died, and they were buried in a valley outside Camp Security. This became the site of its first ghost story, a poem entitled Hessian Thal that tells of the spooks of dead British soldiers arising from the graveyard every Christmas Eve. They return to mock their commander for losing the battle that caused them to become prisoners and to meet their death at Camp Security. The camp closed after the war, and many of the prisoners stayed in America or moved on to Canada or back home. But it's said that several stayed behind. There's a trail that leads through the woods, and many sightings of spook soldiers have been reported from there at night.
