Lily Dale is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

, connected with the Spiritualist movement, located in the Town of Pomfret on the east side of Cassadaga Lake, next to the Village of Cassadaga. Located in northwestern

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, it is one hour southwest of

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

, halfway to the Pennsylvania border. Lily Dale's year-round population is estimated to be 275. Each year approximately 22,000 visitors come for classes, workshops, public church services and

mediumship Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or ghost, spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or ...

demonstrations, lectures, and private appointments with mediums.Schwartz, Stephan A.
Spirit World
, ''American Heritage'', April/May 2005. In recent years, guest lecturers have included Lisa Williams,

Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers), also known as Dee Wallace Stone (born December 14, 1948), is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Taylor in the 1982 Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster science-fiction film ''E.T. the E ...

, members of '' Ghost Hunters'', Tibetan monks,

James Van Praagh James Van Praagh () is an American writer and television personality who describes himself as a clairvoyant and spiritual medium.

, Dr.

Wayne Dyer Wayne Walter Dyer (May 10, 1940 – August 29, 2015) was an American self-help author and a motivational speaker. Dyer earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and Philosophy, a Master’s degree in Psychology and an Ed.D. in Guidance and Counse ...

, and

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, New Age, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthi ...

. Lily Dale was incorporated in 1879 as Cassadaga Lake Free Association, a camp and meeting place for Spiritualists and

Freethinkers Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or ...

. The name was changed to The City of Light in 1903 and finally to Lily Dale Assembly in 1906. The purpose of Lily Dale was to further the science, philosophy, and religion of

Spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

. Lily Dale was featured in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary ''No One Dies in Lily Dale''. Most of the hamlet was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2022.

Geography and features

Lily Dale is located on the east side of Upper Cassadaga Lake, one of four lakes that comprise the Cassadaga Lakes system, at an elevation of approximately 1325 ft. Its coordinates are 42°21'06" North, 79°19'27" West (42.351725, −79.324211). Its main route of access is

New York State Route 60 New York State Route 60 (NY 60) is a north–south state highway in Chautauqua County, New York, in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 62 in New York, U.S. Route 62 (US ...

, which is located about 0.5 miles east of the hamlet and runs north and south to the cities of

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and Jamestown. Leolyn Woods is a 10-acre tract of old growth forest on the grounds of the community of Lily Dale. Lily Dale Assembly charges a fee for admission during its summer season but it is free and open to the public at other times of year. The woodlot is small but contains some of the most accessible very old, large trees in the region, including eastern white pine standing 135 feet tall. Other species of big trees include northern red oak, eastern hemlock, red maple, sugar maple, cucumber magnolia, and black cherry. Some trees are estimated to range in age from 200 to 400 years.

Spiritualism and the Lily Dale community

Lily Dale became the largest center of the

Spiritualist Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...

movement as other similar organizations went into decline. Other communities such as Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp (

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

) and

Camp Chesterfield Camp Chesterfield was founded in 1891 and is the home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, located in Chesterfield, Indiana. Camp Chesterfield offers Spiritualist Church services, seminary, and mediumship, faith healing, and spiritua ...

(

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

) were founded on similar principles and are still active organizations. The Fox Cottage of the

Fox sisters The Fox sisters were three sisters from Rochester, New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism: Leah (April 8, 1813 – November 1, 1890), Margaretta (also called Maggie), (October 7, 1833 – March 8, 1893) and Catheri ...

fame was moved from Hydesville,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and transported to Lily Dale in 1915 although on September 21, 1955, it was destroyed by fire. Lily Dale hosts the headquarters of the

National Spiritualist Association of Churches The National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) is one of the oldest and largest of the Spiritualist Church, national Spiritualist church organizations in the United States. The NSAC was formed as the National Spiritualist Association ...

(NSAC), founded in 1893: the NSAC's first president, Harrison D. Barrett, was himself a Lily Dale resident. A large population of people associated with Spiritualism reside in Lily Dale year round. Television mediums Lisa Williams and Michelle Whitedove have homes here. File:Lily Dale Entrance.JPG, Entrance to Lily Dale Spiritualist community, New York File:Fox-Cabin-Site-Lily-Dale-.jpg, The former site of the Fox Sisters' cabin is now a small clearing in the woods File:LilyDaleMuseum.jpg, The Lily Dale Museum is located within a renovated schoolhouse building and features exhibits on the history of Spiritualism

The Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly

The Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly holds year round meetings and provides seminars on topics such as

, spiritualist studies and topics within the subject of the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

. Well-known speakers such as

, Dr.

and

John Edward John Edward McGee Jr. (born October 19, 1969) is an American television personality, writer and self-proclaimed psychic medium. After writing his first book on the subject in 1998, Edward became a well-known (and controversial) figure in the ...

have frequently appeared at Lily Dale. This private community is home to The

Marion Skidmore Library The Marion H. Skidmore Library is the largest private library Private libraries are library, libraries that are privately owned and are usually intended for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public librarie ...

, Lily Dale Museum, its own Volunteer Fire Department, and also is the location of the already mentioned headquarters of The National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Lily Dale contains 160 private residences, two hotels, guest houses, Spiritualist and New Age bookstores, two eateries, and a café. Free Summer Program booklets announce events such as mediumship demonstrations, religious services, workshops, thought exchange meetings, and healing services. Visitors can also find camp grounds for either a tent or Recreation Vehicles, picnic grounds, and a lake front beach for swimming and sunbathing. Admission on Sunday mornings is waived to allow for church attendance.

In popular culture

Lily Dale is the backdrop for a series of

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

paranormal novels by ''New York Times'' bestselling author

Wendy Corsi Staub Wendy Corsi Staub (born October 29, 1964) is an American writer of suspense novels and young adult fiction. She has written under her own name as well as Wendy Brody, Wendy Markham, and Wendy Morgan. Career Staub was born in Dunkirk, New York o ...

, who grew up a few miles from Lily Dale, New York. To date, the series includes four titles published by Walker Books for Young Readers: ''Lily Dale: Awakening'', ''Lily Dale: Believing'', ''Lily Dale: Connecting'' and ''Lily Dale: Discovering''. Staub has also written an adult thriller set in Lily Dale entitled ''In the Blink of an Eye'', published by Kensington Books in 2002, and currently writes the Lily Dale Mysteries, an adult spin-off series featuring new characters as well as several from the original. The first three books are "Nine Lives," "Something Buried, Something Blue," and "Dead of Winter," with two additional titles coming soon. Lily Dale was the setting in the fictional TV series ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' in Season 7 episode 7 called "The Mentalists."

References

External links

Lily Dale webpage

Lily Dale Postcards on New York Heritage Digital Collections

{{Coord, 42, 21, 06, N, 79, 19, 27, W, type:city_region:US-NY, display=title Hamlets in Chautauqua County, New York Spiritualist communities in the United States Hamlets in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Chautauqua County, New York