The location where Ted Bundy was born

This is the location where serial killer Ted Bundy was born.

It is situated at 346 Shelburne Road in Burlington, Vermont.

Bundy was born here on November 24th, 1946.

At the time, it was the address of an old Victorian-style mansion that belonged to the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers. These days, the mansion no longer exists, as it was demolished in February 1970 to make way for an office building.

Ted had the surname Cowell during the first few years of his life. It wasn't until 1951 that his mother, Louise Cowell, met his stepfather, Johnny Bundy.

The identity of Bundy's biological father is still unknown.

Although a man named Lloyd Marshall was reportedly listed on his birth certificate, Louise later claimed that his real father was a young Philadelphia-based sailor called Jack Worthington.

Worthington abandoned Louise soon after she became pregnant. In her own words, "He flew the coop."

This left her in a very difficult situation, as being an unmarried mother during the 1940s carried a huge social stigma.

To hide the family shame, many women were sent to the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Vermont so that they could give birth in secrecy.

Once the baby was born, the mother would sign the adoption papers and then return home by herself.

This process allowed the woman and her family to continue living their lives as normal.

To spare her family the indignity, Louise lived at the Elizabeth Lund Home for roughly two months until she gave birth. It is believed that she left the home shortly after Bundy was born.

After putting Bundy up for adoption, Louise returned to her parents' house in Philadelphia.

However, a few months later, her father, Samuel Cowell, learned that his grandson was still waiting to be adopted. Consequently, he decided to take the toddler back to Philadelphia.

To avoid the "shame" of having an illegitimate child in the family, he opted to raise the boy as his own. In the 1950 US Census, Bundy is listed as Samuel's son, not grandson.

During the first couple of years of Bundy's life, his mother made multiple attempts to contact his biological father and ask him for financial assistance. However, he had no interest in seeing his own son and refused to help.

When Bundy was 21 years old, he took a trip to the east coast, during which he visited Burlington and got an extract of his birth certificate. It was only at that point that he learned for certain that he was an illegitimate child—a fact that he did not take well.

Those who knew him said he was extremely bitter about his illegitimacy and the circumstances surrounding his birth. He also reportedly resented his mother for keeping it a secret from him.

While he was living in Pennsylvania in 1969, he attempted to track down his father, working on a "tip-off".

However, he was unable to find him.

To this day, the identity of Bundy's biological father remains unknown.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

The Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers

This is a colorized photograph of the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers, which was situated at 346 Shelburne Road in Burlington, Vermont.

Theodore Robert Cowell was born here on November 24th, 1946.

Originally, the mansion was called the Home for Friendless Women. However, it was renamed in 1927 after a woman named Elizabeth Lund donated a large sum of money to the organization.

It was demolished in 1970

Image source: The Burlington Free Press

The Victorian-style mansion was demolished in February 1970 to make way for an office building. By that stage, the home had already moved to a new property on Glen Road.

Birth certificate

This is an excerpt from Ted Bundy's amended birth certificate. As you can see, the place of birth is listed as Burlington.

Note that this birth certificate was issued after his mother married Johnny Bundy in 1951. The original document will remain sealed until 2045.

346 Shelburne Road

This is a Google Street View image of 346 Shelburne Road, which is now an office building.

On the right, we've added a childhood photograph of Bundy and his mother.

Aerial image

The aerial image shows how close the "new" Elizabeth Lund Home is to the original location. These days, it is situated at 76 Glen Road.