5 haunted houses from Toronto to Hamilton
By Jen Taylor on Oct 28, 2015
Last year, we took a look at some of the unexpected residents that haunt several of Toronto’s historically important homes. This year, we’ve expanded our search to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to bring you more spooky stories of lingering residents who weren’t quite ready to move out. Whether you believe in paranormal activity or just like a good ghost story, here’s a list of some of the GTA’s most notorious haunted homes.
Ireland House (Burlington)
Via Burlington’s Ireland House at Oakridge Farm is not only a beautiful historical home but also the site of several strange experiences that many claim are the result of paranormal activity. The Ireland House was originally built between 1835 and 1837 for Joseph Ireland, a recent immigrant from England and one of Burlington’s first settlers.
The home was handed down from generation to generation until it was purchased by the City of Burlington in 1987. The museum has been restored to reflect three generations of Irelands who lived in the home through the 1850s, 1890s, and 1920s, and 90% of the furnishings are originals from the Ireland family.
In addition to its reputation as an excellent replica of life in the 1800s, the Ireland House has become a local legend due to several unexplained events. One museum interpreter claimed to have met a soldier dressed in uniform in the living room near a saber once carried by Joseph Ireland’s brother in the War of 1812.
A volunteer also reportedly encountered a reflection of Eliza Ann Ireland in the parlour mirror. In addition to these events, many volunteers and interpreters have experienced the feeling that they are not alone in the home. The Toronto & Ontario Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society investigated the home and documented a “distinct feeling on the second floor and on the stairs” that was “difficult to ignore.”
Adamson Estate (Port Credit)
"Adamson Estate IDM 9996" by Briantoronto - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons
The Adamson Estate was granted to Agar Adamson, son of an influential Toronto clergyman, as a wedding gift. He married Canadian painter and decorator Mabel Cawthra and designed and built the Belgian-style mansion on Grove Farm in 1919. The property is also home to a large coach house and a pet cemetery, which was recently surrounded by a fence and commemorated with a plaque.
Though the home is now officially part of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority, it seems that a few of the residents and staff have remained in the home. Visitors have reported seeing an apparition of the groundskeeper who apparently committed suicide after being romantically rejected by another servant. Though he hung himself in the coach house, some say he continues to wander the grounds.
Others suggest that Mabel Cawthra is also present in the home. There have been reports of closing doors, disembodied female voices, and a piano that plays when no one is around.
Emma’s Back Porch & The Water Street Cooker (Burlington)
Via Burlington residents flock to the lakeside restaurant Emma’s Back Porch and the Water Street Cooker for a good meal and a view of the lake. However, few know that the lakeside restaurant was formerly known as the Estaminet Standard Hotel and was operated by the infamous Emma Byrens.
Emma and her husband George purchased an old house that looked over Lake Ontario and established the Estaminet Standard Hotel in 1919. Emma’s restaurant grew in size and reputation until her death in 1952. After her passing, the restaurant changed hands several times until 1992 when the house was purchased and the restaurant was re-named Emma’s Back Porch & The Water Street Cooker.
According to Terry Boyle’s Haunted Ontario: 4 Encounters with Ghostly Shadows, Apparitions, and Spirits, Emma never actually left the premises. When renovations began on the home in the 1990s, the workers had to remove part of Emma’s former living quarters. Workers reported hearing screams when the ceiling was removed.
Manager Kelly Lawlor also informed Boyle that people often feel a chill, tapping on the shoulder, or witness Emma walking by the windows in the dining lounge. Most of these incidents occur upstairs in the Water Street Cookery. Here, many staff claim to have reported unexplained incidents and customers sitting on the deck have witnessed Emma looking out toward the lake from the second-storey windows. Emma often appears as she did when she owned the restaurant, with her hair tied in a bun and dressed in black.
Emma isn’t the only one haunting the home. Emma’s six-year-old son Robert slipped on some rocks along the Burlington lakeshore and drowned, and her daughter Sahara died of pneumonia at age four. These children are believed to be responsible for some of the paranormal activity observed at the restaurant today, like a little boy in the basement, particularly around the beer fridge, and footsteps on the main stairs.The Winking Judge (Hamilton)
Via softwarehamilton.comHamilton’s pub, the WInking Judge, was not always a local watering hole. Before opening its doors to patrons, the bar was just another home on the residential Augusta Street. Today the Winking Judge is known amongst Hamiltonians for its great selection of microbrew beer and its paranormal inhabitant, often referred to as ‘The Judge.’ There have been over 50 reported sightings of the ghost of an elderly man by staff and patrons. According to Haunted Hamilton: The Ghosts of Dundurn Castle and Other Steeltown Shivers, the apparition is usually dressed in a dark suit and tophat and typically appears in the men’s washroom on the upper floor. His presence is never described as threatening or frightening, simply startling to those who encounter him. The owner, Maria Italia, has observed wisps of smoke floating up the stairs and often hears footsteps when the bar is empty. Maria also witnessed her two-year-old daughter talking by herself in one of the rooms. When asked who she was talking to, she replied ”to the man.”Gibraltar Point Lighthouse (Centre Island)
![By Andrew Rivett from Toronto, Canada [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://cdn-0.newinhomes.com/64605bd0-531c-46ee-909a-e5509eb8c1a7_i/l/haunted-lighthouse-640x426.jpg)
By Andrew Rivett from Toronto, Canada [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsThough technically not a “home,” the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is one of Toronto’s earliest landmarks and one of the oldest surviving buildings in Toronto. The lighthouse was originally built at the water’s edge but now sits inland and has been the site of some eerie incidents (it’s historical plaque even mentions it’s reputation for paranormal activity).Like any good ghost story, this one starts with a gruesome murder. On January 2, 1815 the lighthouse’s original keeper, John Paul Radelmüller, was murdered by drunken soldiers from Fort York searching for bootlegged beer. After Radelmüller refused to share his stash the soldiers chased him up the stairs, knocked him unconscious, and chopped up the body before burying it. According to Edward Butts’ Murder: Twelve True Stories of Homicide in Canada, two soldiers were charged with his murder but later acquitted. Since the event, several people have claimed to hear moaning and a strange figure wandering the grounds. Many believe this to be the disturbed spirit of Radelmüller.If you’re looking for something spooky to do this Halloween, try stopping by Emma’s for a meal or grab a pint at the Winking Judge and let us know if you run into any apparitions.
