Haunted Canada VisitList
Historic places are often admired for the history they hold, preserving stories of hardships and celebration for generations to learn. What if it was not just the artefacts and architecture keeping the history alive, but spirits of past occupants. I hope these five sites across Canada will spark your curiosity and make you wonder if there are any haunted historic places near you.
Why leave haunted houses to October 31st? Explore these rumoured to be haunted historic places and more all year round.
Places
Caribou Hotel
Carcross, Yukon
This 121-year-old hotel has hosted tourists, big game hunters, visiting dignitaries, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the builders of the Alaska Highway, as well as local residents. Of all the people who have walked through the doors of the hotel, there is one that has not quite left. The hotel has had a constant occupant since the early 1900’s, Bessie Gideon, part owner of the Caribou Hotel. The ghost of Mrs. Gideon is said to be very hospitable and is known to look after guests by knocking on doors and adding bubbles to baths. She has also been spotted peering out of the third-floor window with her parrot, Polly.
The Caribou Hotel is also one of Canada’s most famous haunted hotels and was featured with a Haunted Canada Postage Stamp!
Dalnavert Museum
Winnipeg, Manitoba
This Queen Anne Revival mansion was once home to former Manitoba premier, Police Magistrate and lawyer Sir Hugh John Macdonald and his family. Similar to other people in the Victorian era, the Macdonald family was fascinated by the paranormal. Ouija boards and methods of communicating with spirits were a popular post dinner parlour game. Surprisingly, Winnipeg was known as a hub of paranormal activity at the time the Macdonald’s were at Dalnavert. To this day Dalnavert hosts spiritualist and paranormal investigations the weeks leading up to Halloween and around Christmas. Are there ghosts in the mansion still trying the connect with the living? There have been reports throughout the years of mysterious footsteps on the floors above and the smell of flowers when there are none in the building.
Image from https://www.todocanada.ca/city/winnipeg/event/dalnavert-museum-ghost-investigation/.
Private: Watson’s Mill
Ottawa, Ontario
Built in the 1860, Watson’s Mill is a working flour mill and museum which celebrates Manotick and its history. Besides the ingenuity and history, the mill preserves, it also holds a tragic story. Ann Crosby Currier was the young bride to Joseph Currier, part owner of Watson’s Mill. The couple were touring the mill when Ann’s skirt caught in a revolving drive shaft, causing a fatal accident. Since then, it has been rumoured that her ghost haunts the mill. Her ghost is claimed to stare out of windows and be seen coming down the attic stairs. There are also rumours of hearing footsteps and being touched when alone on the stairs.
Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre
Toronto, Ontario
The famous theatre now known as the Elgin and Winter Theatre Centre, opened nearly 110 years ago. Thanks to conservation efforts over the last forty years, stepping inside the theatre is like stepping into a different era. While experiencing the breathtaking grand staircase and hand-painted walls, one might also have a spooky encounter with a ghost. The theatres most famous ghost is the “Lavender Lady”, and she is so famous she was featured in Canada Posts’ haunted Canada stamp collection. The “Lavender Lady” is a bit a mystery, rumoured to be a rival actress or a wife of a Vaudeville girls’ admirer. You will know if you experience the “Lavender Lady” as she has three characteristics: being spotted on the grand staircase or the original historic elevators, causing a temperature drop or cold breeze, and leaving behind the smell of lavender. The theatre holds other spooky spirits like Sam, the trombone player, a voice in the dark, and the rehearsal interlopers. Learn more about the Elgin and Winter Theatre Centre’s ghosts through virtual tours available on their website. Click here.
Image from https://postagestampguide.com/canada/series/1672/haunted-canada.
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
Halifax, Nova Scotia
When visiting this hilltop fortress look out for the “Grey Lady”, the apparition of a grieving women dressed in 19th-century clothing, leaving behind the smell of roses, has been experienced by many. It is rumoured that the “Grey Lady” roams the second floor of the Citadel’s Cavalier Building at night, mourning the soldier she loved, who according to legend, killed himself the night before their wedding because he was already married to a different woman. Just like the Caribou Hotel and Winter Garden Theatre, the Halifax Citadel and the “Grey Lady” were featured in Canada Posts’ haunted Canada stamp collection.
The Halifax Citadel hosts ghost tours starting mid-July through to the end of October. Click here for more info!
Image from https://postagestampguide.com/canada/series/1672/haunted-canada.
Road Map
Carcross, Yukon to Halifax, Nova Scotia
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