Buffalo Central Terminal

Buffalo Central Terminal opened in 1929 as a grand Art Deco train station that never hit capacity, then spent decades abandoned while homeless people froze to death inside during Buffalo winters. Ghost hunters have documented a spirit named Rose in the baggage claim area (where WWII soldiers' remains were collected), a boy named Zachary in the upstairs offices, and the presence of a former owner who tried to save the building.

During a ghost hunt in the baggage claim area, investigators asked "Where are you, Rose?" A woman's voice answered from somewhere in the dark: "The corner." When they asked if they could come closer, she said "NO!" Rose, whoever she is, apparently despises men. She won't respond to male investigators at all.

Buffalo Central Terminal opened on June 22, 1929, designed by architects Fellheimer and Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. The 17-story Art Deco tower cost $14 million and was built to handle 200 trains and 10,000 passengers daily. It opened just months before the stock market crash. The station never came close to those numbers, not even during the bustle of World War II. The last passenger train pulled out in October 1979, and the terminal sat abandoned through the 1980s and into the 1990s.

The building's ghost stories come from two very specific, very grim chapters. During World War II, Buffalo Central Terminal was one of the largest rail switching systems in the country, and it became a collection point for dead soldiers. Families received notice that their loved one had been killed overseas, then had to go to the terminal's baggage claim to pick up the body. The remains arrived like cargo. Staff who work in the building now report hearing voices and seeing figures in the baggage claim area, which feels less surprising when you know what used to happen there.

After the station closed, the massive building became an unofficial shelter during Buffalo's brutal winters. Homeless people found their way into the sprawling complex of rooms, hallways, and basements. Some of them froze to death inside the building. Buffalo police found their bodies when temperatures warmed enough to investigate. Nobody knows exactly how many people died inside the terminal during those years, but it was more than a few.

Rose is the most documented spirit. Ghost hunting groups have recorded EVP responses from her in the baggage claim area. There's also Zachary, described as a young boy who inhabits the upstairs offices. Investigators have tried to reach him using toys and stuffed animals placed in the rooms. A young girl is sometimes reported alongside him. Anthony Fedele, who owned the terminal from 1979 to 1986 and tried to revive it, is another suspected presence. Some investigators believe his attachment to the building brought him back after death.

The specific hot spots are the basement (where homeless people sheltered), the baggage claim area (Rose's territory), the upstairs offices (Zachary and the girl), the old liquor store section, and Fedele's former apartment within the building. SyFy Channel's Ghost Hunters featured the terminal, and the organization Beyond Ghosts runs regular four-hour investigation tours from 9 PM to 1 AM with EVP recorders, laser grids, and motion sensors.

What makes Buffalo Central Terminal worth visiting is the building, haunted or not. The Art Deco detail work survived decades of abandonment. The main concourse is enormous. The tower rises seventeen stories over the east side of Buffalo. A restoration effort is underway, and the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation hosts events throughout the year, including the ghost hunts.

The terminal was designed for 10,000 people a day. It barely got that many in its best year. The building has always felt emptier than it should, and the people who investigate it after midnight say it doesn't feel empty at all.