Ghostport
Guided tours of haunted Keyport will take place throughout the summer
BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer

KAREN BOWES Keyport's Tabitha Bradley and daughter Shannon look at one of the grand old homes on Main Street in Keyport Sunday evening, during a trial run of the Keyport Ghost Tour, a new business started by Bradley.

KEYPORT - An abandoned pirate ship is drifting in the borough harbor, its floorboards soaked in blood. There is no cargo, no treasure, not one soul left to explain.

This is how Tabitha Bradley starts her Keyport Ghost Tour. She's dressed in period costume, holding a gas lantern as she walks along American Legion Drive, pointing to the waters that serve as the backdrop to her story.

The year is 1860 and an unfortunate crew of pirates has mysteriously disappeared. Police later find a man in rowboat overflowing with treasure, alone, off the coast of Staten Island.

Starting Saturday night, locals can learn a few of the many legends surrounding Keyport's earliest settlers, including a few about the Native American tribes that camped along the beaches. And of course, what ghost tour would be complete without the obligatory story of an old Indian burial ground plowed over to build houses?

KAREN BOWES Shannon Bradley (l) and her mother, Tabitha, dress the part for a Keyport Ghost Tour, beginning Saturday night and running through November.

"So if you hear chanting or drumming in the night," Bradley says with a grin, "just remember, they were here first."

Over the course of a 45-minute walking tour of downtown Keyport, Bradley weaves a web of tales complimentary to the area's historic surroundings.

Up on West Front Street, the town's main drag, Bradley pauses to point out where a great fire took place in 1877, devastating several blocks. At the time, the town had no fire company and the wood frame buildings burnt quickly. Bradley notes that residents of this area have often claimed to see a skeletal figure walking a charred dog, then disappearing into walls.

Not only does Bradley have an affection for ghost tales, she takes the time to point out bits of local history, like Fred Astaire's many appearances at the old Walling Hall, now McDonagh's Pub.

Another chunk of Keyport's forgotten history is revisited with Bradley's summation of the town's lost speakeasies, operational during the Prohibition years. Located near the corner of First and Broadway, a large brewery operated for some time, according to Bradley. One night, "rum runners" off the bay were fired upon by law officials on shore, blowing up the rum-filled boats.

Ambling down Main Street, Bradley somehow makes a cinderblock post and stump seem interesting, talking about the pair's original purposes. One was to tie up a horse when visiting a friend, and the other for stepping out of a horse and buggy when arriving at a home.

Main Street seems to have the juiciest tales.

The story of a sword-carrying, Revolutionary War naval captain may hit home for residents living on the picturesque street. Lined with large, stately homes originally built by naval captains in the late 1700 to mid-1800s, the street is rife with story after story of strange encounters.

As Bradley tells it, many residents of the street claim to have seen a man dressed in a period costume, carrying a sword, peering into windows of homes. Others have said they've seen a woman dressed in clothes of a different era, and small children in homes along the street.

At least one woman has told Bradley she often sees a male figure in her home, and that he's gotten into bed with her.

But perhaps the grand poobah of all spooky stories is one that doesn't involve ghosts at all. Bradley ends her tour with the story of the "Matawan man-eater," better known these days as the inspirations for the movie "Jaws." Bradley talks about the deadly events of the summer of 1916, a very scary time, she says with good humor, a time before air conditioning.

To find out more about the tour, go to www.keyportghosttours.com. Tours will run each Saturday night until November, with tours on Friday and Saturday nights throughout October. Groups meet at the gazebo on West Front Street, Keyport at 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $8 for children under 10. Tickets can be purchased starting at 7 p.m. the night of the tour, or in advance online and by calling (732) 500-6262. Private group tours are also available upon request. Tours run rain or shine.

"The living and the dead, they're all co-mingling right here," Bradley says of Keyport.