On the "It Takes a Village" page of Arthur's Market's website, owner Haley Whalen thanks neighbors for the stories they brought her after she bought the store in December 2018. People told her about stopping in after school as kids and about past owners. One story was about the "friendly ghost dog who lives on Arthur's front stoop."
The ghost dog story fits a neighborhood that sells tickets to its own ghost stories every October. The money from those tickets goes somewhere you can see. The same page says the Schenectady Heritage Foundation "generously funded new storefront windows and doors" during the renovation of 35 North Ferry Street. Ticket sales from the Candlelight Tours go to that foundation's incentive grants. So this fall's after-dark calendar in the Stockade is a set of fundraisers that pay for the storefronts, doorways, and old buildings the walks pass.
Here's how that plays out from now through December, and which dates are already tight.
Ghost stories, preservation money
The Candlelight Tours run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings through October 31. The Schenectady County Historical Society and the Schenectady Heritage Foundation co-sponsor them. The October issue of the Stockade Spy, the Stockade Association's newsletter, says proceeds support Historical Society programs and the Foundation's preservation grants.
There are two routes. The Spy describes Colonial Hauntings and Ghostly Victorian as covering "different stories from different periods of Stockade history." Each one goes through a different part of the neighborhood. If you took one route last year, the other one shows you different streets.
The basics:
- Price: $16 per ticket
- Start times: 6, 6:30, or 7 p.m., depending on the date
- Length: 60 to 90 minutes
- Meeting point: SCHS at 32 Washington Avenue. Park on the street, not in the YWCA lot, and leave time for the walk over.
The storefront that grant money bought
Arthur's is the easiest place to see where that grant money goes. A market has stood at 35 North Ferry Street since 1795. The market's site says it was built so farmers could sell produce to the growing town of Schenectady. The renovation that reopened it relied on volunteer weekends and the Heritage Foundation's money for the storefront windows and doors.
Today Arthur's runs as a neighborhood café and grocery, open every day from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The menu covers specialty coffee, house-made baked goods, soups, salads, sandwiches, take-and-bake meals, and grocery basics. CBS6 Albany featured it in October 2025 as a café that also sells locally made goods, with the same daily hours.
The Stockade Association also holds its social hour at Arthur's, Mondays at 3 p.m. The last two October dates are October 19 and 26.
The grants go beyond the Stockade. The same Spy issue reports that the Heritage Foundation recently gave Electric City Community Grocery a $20,000 grant to help preserve its future home in the historic Wedgeway Building. Every $16 ticket goes into that same pool.
What's left of October
Demand moved faster than the calendar. As of mid-October, the SCHS ticket page already showed several sessions sold out:
- October 16 at 6 p.m. Colonial, plus both routes at 7 p.m.
- October 17 at 6 p.m. Victorian and 7 p.m. Colonial
- October 22 at 7 p.m. Victorian
- October 23 at 7 p.m. Victorian
Early-evening slots held seats longer. At that point, October 22 still had openings at 6 p.m. on both routes and at 7 p.m. on the Colonial route. October 23 still had seats at 6 p.m. Victorian and 6:30 p.m. Colonial. If October 22 is already full, that leaves October 23 and 24 and the last three nights, October 29 through 31. Check the SCHS ticket page for current availability before you plan around a date.
The final tour night is also Halloween. The Stockade Association is bringing back its Halloween in the Stockade candy map for trick-or-treating on Saturday, October 31. If you live in the Stockade and want your house on the map, the Association asked for interest and participation forms by Friday, October 23. The map was still listed as "coming soon," and the page doesn't give event hours yet.
November moves to the farm
After Halloween, the next SCHS evening program leaves the Stockade. The Full Beaver Moon Walk is November 20, 5 to 7 p.m., at Mabee Farm. It includes a candlelit walk, a fire, local stories, and warm drinks. Admission is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers.
It's the gap between the ghost tours and the holiday season. The cost structure is the same, too. These evenings are how the Historical Society pays for its programs.
December comes back to Washington Avenue
The holiday programs return to the SCHS building at 32 Washington Avenue and the streets around it.
| Date | Event | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 5 to 27 | Festival of Trees | 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed Dec. 24 and 25 | $8 |
| Dec. 5 | American Girl Holiday Tea Party | 5:30 to 7 p.m. | $15 |
| Dec. 16 to 19 | Holiday Stockade Stroll | Tours meet at SCHS at 5:30 p.m. | $15 |
The Festival of Trees fills the museum with more than 70 decorated fir trees. The tea party includes tea, baked goods, a colonial craft, and an appearance by Felicity Merriman.
The Holiday Stockade Stroll is the December version of the October tours. It's a walking tour of the neighborhood's holiday lights with seasonal history along the way. Like the Candlelight Tours, it starts from the Historical Society at 32 Washington Avenue.
If you go to the Festival of Trees, the museum is also showing "Threads of Liberty," which the Society's October newsletter says will continue into next year.
Two quieter fixtures, one date still open
Not everything on the Stockade's after-dark calendar sells tickets. St. George's Episcopal Church at 30 North Ferry Street holds Compline by Candlelight on the third Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. The St. Cecilia Choir chants the service, all are invited, and parking is in the church's Green Street lot. In November that's the 17th. In December it's the 15th, the night before the Holiday Stockade Stroll starts.
There's also something new to see at the neighborhood's edge this year. On August 21, a bronze statue of Dr. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Gillette was unveiled on a pedestal at the newly refurbished Stockade Gateway, where Union Street meets Erie Boulevard.
The Stockade Association's tree lighting is an annual December event, but the Association hasn't posted a 2026 date or time yet. In 2024 it was on a Sunday, December 8, at 5:30 p.m. around Lawrence Circle. That's a guide to the usual timing, not this year's schedule.
At Dufek Real Estate Group, we pay attention to how places like 35 North Ferry Street get restored and kept up, because that work is a big part of what makes an older house hold its value. If you own in the Stockade and want to know how your home's condition and history affect its current value, ask us for a Free Home Valuation. We'll walk you through the numbers clearly and get back to you quickly.
