Lily Dale Assembly

The Lily Dale Assembly owns the land and runs the gated hamlet on the shore of Cassadaga Lake. It was incorporated in 1879 as the Cassadaga Lake Free Association, a camp for Spiritualists and freethinkers, and took its present name in 1906. The Declaration of Principles it publishes includes the line "We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism." Mediums work out of their own houses, marked with signs out front. In the lobby of the Maplewood Hotel, a sign reads, "No readings, healings, circles or séances in the hotel."

The test

Only mediums registered with the Assembly may give readings on the grounds. Barry Gasaway, vice president of the Assembly board, described the process to Smithsonian in 2025. Applicants sit an interview with the board and the Lily Dale Mediums League, then spend a year serving at the outdoor message services and the Monday Night Circles, where mediums give short readings to groups of three or four. The board and the League then decide whether to advance a candidate to a second year. Candidates also give private readings, and those are graded too. A medium who passes registers with the Assembly and renews the registration every year.

The Assembly's 2026 directory lists 40 registered mediums, each one "tested and vetted," most with a house address on the grounds.

82 or 85

The New York Times obtained the Assembly's mediumship guide, last revised in 2022. It asked for three letters of recommendation, proof of training, a $150 fee, 25 public demonstrations, and two Monday Night Circles, followed by graded private readings and public demonstrations in front of Assembly members. A candidate's score reflects how often they showed they had engaged with the spirit world.

In April 2023, the Assembly told Barbara Robinson, Linda Struble, and Natalie Scobercea that they had failed. Robinson scored 82.6 percent, Scobercea 83.1, and Struble 84.2. The guide gave the pass mark as 82, and the Assembly told them it was 85. Scobercea had done 63 public demonstrations against the 25 required.

The three sued the Assembly in New York state Supreme Court in Mayville in July 2023. In a court filing, the Assembly admitted that "through a misunderstanding" it had believed the pass mark was 85. It also denied that a passing grade on the demonstrations meant the women had met the requirements to register. No ruling or settlement in the case has been reported. The Assembly's 2026 directory of registered mediums includes a Linda Struble and a Natalie Scobercea.

Inspiration Stump

Inspiration Stump stands at the end of a trail in the Leolyn Woods, the old-growth forest at the top of South Street. It is a large tree stump, named for a pine that once grew there, with rows of wooden pews facing it under the trees. In the summer season, message services are held there at 1pm and 5:30pm. A medium takes the stump, chooses a few people from a crowd that can run from several dozen to more than 100, and gives each a short message said to come from someone who has died. Visiting mediums and student mediums serve alongside the registered ones, and the outdoor services are where candidates do much of their testing.

The Assembly gives two starting dates for the services at the stump, 1898 and the camp's founding in 1879. When the weather turns, a bell rings to call the service into the auditorium. At an auditorium message service described by Smithsonian in 2025, medium Timothy Brainard asked the room, "Who has mom's ring on?" A woman raised her hand.

The Fox sisters

Spiritualism traces itself to a farmhouse in Hydesville, New York, where, in March 1848, the sisters Maggie and Kate Fox worked out a code of raps to talk with a spirit they said occupied the house. On October 21, 1888, Maggie Fox stood on the stage of the New York Academy of Music, took off her shoe, set her right foot on a wooden stool, and produced the raps with her big toe. She recanted the confession a year later.

The Fox family's Hydesville cottage was taken apart, shipped across Lake Ontario to Buffalo, and trucked to Lily Dale, where it was rebuilt as a memorial. Sources give the year of the move as 1915 or 1916. The cottage burned on September 21, 1955. The ground where it stood, behind the Forest Temple, is now a memorial and meditation garden.

Message services at Inspiration Stump run in the summer season, which in 2026 ran from June 19 to August 30; the Assembly says the season usually opens on the 3rd Friday in June. During the season, services are held at the stump daily at 1pm and 5:30pm, with a 4pm message service at the Forest Temple most days and an 8:30am meditation in the Healing Temple. All of them are included in the gate pass.

In 2026, the gate pass cost $20 a day, $50 for 3 days, $120 for a week, $425 for the season, or $10 for an evening from 6pm to midnight, sold at the gate or online. Entry is free for Sunday morning church services until 1pm and for visitors 80 and older with ID. Children also enter free, up to age 12 according to the gate pass terms and up to 17 according to the Assembly's FAQ. There are no refunds, and sleeping in vehicles or on the grounds is not permitted. No gate fee is charged outside the season.

At the stump, the medium chooses who receives a message, and in a crowd of dozens only a few people get one. Private readings are booked directly with registered mediums, who set their own fees, session lengths, and recording policies. The Assembly encourages appointments in summer and off-season alike, and Smithsonian reported in 2025 that summer readings book up well in advance.

Outside the season, readings continue by appointment, and the Assembly runs workshops at the Lyceum and online. Heavy snow quiets the hamlet in winter. The Lily Dale Museum, in an 1890 schoolhouse with items from the Fox family, opens Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 4pm, in summer and by appointment the rest of the year. The Healing Temple asks visitors to switch off phones and to take photos or recordings only with the Assembly's permission. Cars on the grounds keep to 5 miles per hour.