Haunted Ontario 3. Terry Boyle
another time zone — one that is happening simultaneously with our own. Or, is that too much of a quantum leap to consider?
The Dominion Carriage Works and Cabinet Maker’s Shop
~ Black Creek Pioneer Village ~
If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony goes out,
it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby
An undertaker may need to be careful to differentiate between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead. Working with the dead for a long time may cause confusion about one’s own demise. Such may be the case at Black Creek Pioneer Village.
Catherine tells us the cabinet maker was often the local undertaker who also made the coffins. This might explain the spirit in the long, dark topcoat.
The cabinet maker’s shop at Black Creek was once the showroom of the Dominion Carriage Works, built in 1860 in Sebringville, Ontario. It was relocated to the pioneer village in 1979.
The Dominion Carriage Works is equipped with twin forges, a carpenter’s shop, a trim shop and paint and varnish rooms. The operation of the Carriage Works was a thriving business where wagons, carriages, and sleighs were built and repaired.
The Dominion Carriage Works, 1860
Although Dennis Johnson worked in the blacksmith shop next door, he would on occasion visit the cabinet maker’s shop to create the wooden base needed for his courting candles. It was here that he encountered a spirit in the basement of the building.
Dennis explained, “I would go down to the basement of the building where the woodworking shop was housed. There I would create the bases for the courting candles. While I was down there I would often sense someone watching me. I felt that someone was leaning right over my shoulder. It was like ‘it’ was playing a game. I would relax and then quietly turn around and see a shadow or a movement of someone behind me. You could, on occasion, hear the spirit walking around the space.
“You could also hear ‘it’ walk to another room. I felt like ‘it’ was right in my back pocket. It also hangs out around the stairs. I was very uncomfortable.”
Dennis commented that spirit in the basement had been very active just prior to the incident.
I took the challenge myself and headed down there. I could feel the menacing discomfort. Touring the basement area alone left me with the same uncomfortable feeling that Dennis had talked about. I could not wait to climb back up the stairs to safety.
What Dennis had encountered has become known as “the ghost in the long, dark coat.”
Ray is an older employee of Black Creek Pioneer Village and worked in the cabinet maker’s shop for many years. Catherine described him as a down-to-earth gentleman who is very matter of fact when talking about the spirit who haunts this building.
“Ray described the ghost as a middle-aged man who wears a long, dark topcoat and a brimmed hat. Ray has never been able to see his face. He [the ghost] walks through a closed door at the back of the room and visits for up to four or five minutes before he slowly disappears.
“The spirit also liked to hang around the back of the cabinet maker’s shop to look over Ray’s shoulder while he was busy doing woodworking.”
(Perhaps he was inspecting Ray’s work!)
“Ray told us that when the ghost is not busy visiting the shop, he resides upstairs above the shop. Employees and visitors alike can hear his footsteps from time to time.”
The room upstairs is only used as a storage space.
Cabinet maker’s shop basement where people see the phantom undertaker.
Chris, another employee, encountered the spirit in the long dark coat when he first started working in the cabinet maker’s shop. One day he was asked to take a bucket downstairs and fill it with water. Here’s what happened.
“As he was busy filling the bucket he saw out of the corner of his eye, a man in a long, dark coat walk behind him and then disappear into a small room at the back of the basement.”
Chris thought it was James, another employee, but when he said hello, there was no reply. He thought that was odd. Sometime later in the day, Chris went downstairs again for water. The same man in a long, dark coat walked behind him and disappeared into the back room of the basement.
Chris said hello again, and once more there was no reply. He decided to confront James about that but when he walked into the back room there was no one there. Chris was alone. This had to be Ron’s ghost. Soon after the incident, Chris transferred to a building in the village not known for a resident ghost.
Catherine Crow decided to visit the cabinet maker’s shop with her camera.
“I was drawn to the coffin standing at the back of the room by the door where the ghost often makes his entrance. The first photograph I took was covered in orbs all around the doorway and the coffin itself. The second time I went to take a picture my flashbulb literally exploded with light and the entire photograph was covered with a white hazy mist. The bottom outline of the coffin was the only thing that could be seen in the photograph.”
The cabinet maker’s shop, adult coffin.
Catherine and another employee, named Karrell, decided that the time had come to explore the space upstairs; the space where “the spirit” lives.
This is what happened.
“Karrell and I mounted the only staircase that led to the second floor. We made our way ... to a door that opened up into the room above the shop. As soon as Karrell and I walked into the darkened room, we were overcome with identical sensations of unease and with a feeling of heavy pressure on our chests, and a tingling chill sensation down both arms.
“Karrell would go no further into the room. I slowly made my way down to the back of the room; the strange pressure and tingling sensation became stronger with each step I took. At the back of the room there was an old wooden bench and I felt certain this ghostly man was sitting on it and watching both of us with a certain amount of interest and curiosity.”
The spirit activity continues here. On one ghost tour, as the group approached the cabinet maker’s shop, it appeared as though they were expected.
“As soon as we approached the porch, the front door mysteriously opened wide for us. There was no one behind the door and it was a still night.
“The members of the group were astonished to witness an invitation to enter. In fact, many of the visitors laughed nervously. They weren’t laughing as they left the building!
“As the last visitor stepped through the door it closed mysteriously and firmly, much to everyone’s surprise and shock.”
Be careful touring the Carriage Works ... the undertaker may very well be measuring you up before you leave!
The Elgin and
Winter Garden Theatre
~ Toronto, Ontario ~
Professional actors consider it a bad sign if a rehearsal is perfect. The play will have a very short run after a perfect rehearsal, or will go very badly. Similarly, it is extremely unlucky to speak the tag line, or the last line of the play, during rehearsals.
Marcus Loews felt that the architecture and decoration of his theatres was meant to be just as entertaining as what was being presented on stage. Little did Marcus know that in 1982, the two theatres together would be declared a National Historic site. The last, stacked (one theatre on