Toronto (Canada)

One of the wonderful things about big cities is that writers can find so many different aspects to write about them. Toronto is Canada's largest city, with a thoroughly diverse population and over 200 years of history. Articles can be found on everything from the geological manipulation of its shorefront to early 20th century commercial architecture to ethnic gay cuisine. My interest is in its history and ghost folklore. This great city is rich in both of these areas. After spending almost a week in Toronto, I'd like to introduce other inquiring minds to what I learned from my search for haunted Toronto.

As a quick aside before I start, for those who have spent little or no time in Canada, here are a couple tips I was initiated on when I was there:

1. Canadians use washrooms, not restrooms. I confused the heck out of some of the natives when I used the latter term and was afraid they had none available for public use. (People on this side of the Atlantic also find saying "toilet" as gauche, even though it is direct, to the point, and saves confusion.)

2. Give poutine a try. I was told it originally came about as a poor man's hot meal. It is basically chips sprinkled with cheese curd, then topped with brown gravy.

One of my favorite things to do when I travel is go on ghost walking tours. Walking tours give visitors such unique and comprehensive details of the cities they exploit that I like them even when they focus on a completely different subject, but why not go for my favorite topic? Whenever I plan a trip out to another locale, I try my best to find out whether anyone there offers one. These tour companies frequently find that even the locals enjoy them and most of the punters who participate in ghost walks during October are residents of the city. I hit the jackpot in Toronto. It had two companies, and I reserved spots in a tour with each one.

A TASTE OF THE WORLD

This tour company does both walking and biking tours. Their tours revolve around three aspects of Toronto: food, literary, and ghosts. A couple of friends and I took the "Ghosts, Greasepaint & Gallows" walking tour. Our $15.00* per adult fee included a snack and bottle of water. We met at St. Lawrence Market. Just before we began our tour guide, Shirley Lum, introduced us to butter tarts, Canada's quintessential cuisine. She explained anything else Canadians created was derived from other cultures, but the filling in these tarts are pure Canadian. A true butter tart is supposed to have a creamy consistency; if it's chewy, then it's not authentic. Never having heard of them before, I opted for one them as my choice of pastry. This filling had a pudding texture with a rich butter flavor that is absolutely dreamy.

The tour started at St. Lawrence Market and for over two hours we walked through the streets of Toronto until we stopped for the last story at Old City Hall, which was right next to Eaton Centre. For one story, Shirley used to take her punters into an old hospital, which is still used for that purpose. Because of the recent SARS scare, though, we stood on a corner across the street.

The Elgin & Wintergarden Theatre had a fascinating story as it was a live theater built during the early 20th century. It became intriguing because it was a duplex theatre at a time when such thinking must have been rare. The upper story housed the Wintergarden with an auditorium that seated 992. When the financial climate dwindled after WWI, the management sealed it up. The combined theatres were designated a national historical site in 1982 and the Wintergarden was opened up again when restorations started in 1987. It was a theatre historian's treasure trove. The new owners found flats, props, costumes, and even actors' notes pinned to the wall as if those working there would return the next day. Among its paranormal stories, one former staffer reported that it is believed that a female punter was stabbed in the Wintergarden washroom and dragged herself to the elevator in hope of finding help. She died before someone found her. Since then, the elevator has been known to stop at the fifth floor without any direction from a rider or someone waiting at the stop.

Other ghost walks offered by A Taste of the World include "Haunted Yorkville" and "Haunted Kensington, Chinatown & Grange." For more info, see their website at http://www.torontowalksbikes.com. The Elgin & Wintergarden Theatre is also a stop on the "The Haunted Streets of Downtown Toronto" tour.

MUDDY YORK WALKING TOURS

Since this was the second walk I took and put together by another company, there was some overlap in the stories told from the first one. Muddy York conducts two tours, "The Ghosts of the University of Toronto" and "The Haunted Streets of Downtown Toronto." I chose the latter. The rate was $10 per adult and it started at the Royal Ontario Museum (a.k.a The ROM) and ended at the MacKenzie House. Fortunately for me, but not my tour guide, Richard, the other group that reserved places that Labor Day evening was a no show. I had my guide's undivided attention. In between stops we chatted about other ghost stories and tours I had taken.

I suppose the story that most stood out was the one of the ROM, where a former curator had loved his job and frequently worked late into the night working with the exhibits. So late he ended up sleeping there. Today when employees work late, they hear the long-delayed broadcast of a radio the curator listened to and occasionally come face-to-face with him as he walks around in a state of undress.

For more info on Muddy York tours, see their website http://www.ontarioghosts.org/walkingtour​s

FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK

An absolutely lovely posh historical hotel that can be found on Front Street. It originally opened in 1929. The apparition of a gray-haired man in a smoking jacket has been seen walking around the eighth floor. A former bellman is said to have hung himself from the upper stories of the staircase and has been sighted in the Silver Room.

FORT YORK

This was the birthplace of Toronto. As conflicts with the States escalated, the British decided to build an outpost on this spot in 1793. Other settlers soon followed and erected Toronto's first buildings around it. The Old Fort would suffer a lot of destruction, with eight of its 18 structures surviving today. It was the site of three battles during the War of 1812, making good fodder for harvesting ghosts.

Among the stories told of the Old Fort is that of staffer who was closing up for the night. As he was leaving, he noticed a light coming from the officers' barracks and mess and went to go turn it off. As he approached the building, he saw in the windows what appeared to be a dinner party. By the time he reached the door, the light and the silhouettes were gone.

HOCKEY HALL OF FAME

I like hockey, but my interest is very casual. After hearing the story about Dorothy, on the other hand, I had to pay a visit. Before this building was remodeled to become the pilgrimage of hockey, it had been a branch of the Bank of Montreal for around 130 years. During this time, an attractive female employee had an affair with a married man, who eventually dumped her. Despondent over the rejection, it is said she absconded the bank's pistol, went upstairs to the women's room, shot and killed herself. Another version said she hanged herself. Yet another said a woman was killed in a vault during a bank robbery. No matter what variation a person hears, women were so uncomfortable using the second floor women's room during the building's tenure as a bank another washroom was built in the basement.

Admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame had risen to $9 per adult since the reviews I read were written. At the time its gift shop was being remodeled, so a couple of eight foot tables had been set up with merchandise on them. I'll have to admit this place was colorful. It's too bad I had little interest in looking at all of those jerseys. It kind of reminded me of all those relics the British keep in their museums, where they'd do something like exhibit the boots the Duke of Wellington was wearing during the battle of Waterloo with all of that Belgian mud still caked on them. It had a movie documentary theatre and lots of interactive games for visitors to play. If I learned anything about hockey, it was how popular Foster Hewitt was for his sports commentary. He stood out to me for obvious reasons. I had hoped to pay homage to my home team, but the black and teal were the only colors that escaped recognition in that place. Sooner or later the Sharks will have an exceptional season that will demand attention at that place. In the meantime, I just take pride in how well the Giants are doing this year. (I'm more of a baseball person anyway.)

The hardest part was finding my way upstairs, where the Stanley Cup was displayed. Since I was there, I figured I'd better touch it and have my picture taken with it. That room was absolutely gorgeous. The ceiling had a stained glass dome that was beautiful. The ornately carved wood paneling could easily match that at the Royal York. When I took what good luck I could from the Stanley Cup (and I've often wondered what kind of luck that was supposed to be), the guard told me one of the juiciest ghost stories I ran across in Toronto.

One of the staff had come in early one morning, by himself, to prepare for a special function that was being held that day. As he was sorting the catering, he heard a really loud crash, like a large display had fallen. He quickly walked through the halls of the building, but nothing was disturbed. Shrugging it off, he went back to work, then heard the same noise again.

When I asked about being able to go into the upstairs restroom, he shook his head saying it was only for management. However, he did say a woman was up there touching up her hair one day, when she noticed a white mist forming in the room. A woman's face soon appeared in it.

Annoyed that I was unable to see what I really wanted to see, I walked around the building regardless. The number of visitors was light that day, so I snapped a roll or so of photos. When they were developed, one I took in the old bank vault not only showed a wispy cloud, but also the image of a man's face. It looks like Dorothy has company there.

ST. LAWRENCE MARKET

In some respects, St. Lawrence Market reminded me a lot of the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, except the vendors were much less crowded and it seemed to have comfortable breathing space. (Of course, the foot traffic that Tuesday afternoon was much less then the Reading Terminal.) It is a large warehouse-type building that encloses a fair of food and related vendors. The front of the building houses office space and one of the units exhibits art. After the "Ghosts, Greasepaint & Gallows" tour, I had to return for more butter tarts so I could take home a couple dozen. Although there is more than one baked goods vendor there, I preferred those from the Carousel Bakery. The crust had very cookie-like texture that made those hold up better compared to the flaked version.

One of the counter men tried to tell me that Toronto has the best food in the world, because it was the most culturally diverse place in the world. Since I come from the Bay Area, with San Francisco's great reputation for being a cuisine city and a wide variety of ethnicities, them's were fighting words. I'd like to see Toronto come up with a good Fisherman's Wharf style sourdough. Despite the indiscretion, I bought the butter tarts and tried one of their Canadian bacon sandwiches, "winners of the Coca-Cola Classic Awards for the 'Best Back-Bacon on a Bun.'" I have to admit, true Canadian bacon is different.

When St. Lawrence Market first opened, the current office portion was Toronto's original city hall. The basement contained the town's jail, but its design poorly planned for wet weather. If it rained hard, the building flooded. Prisoners drowned because their gaolers would forget to release them. Today, people using the bathrooms there have heard the noises of others who aren't there. This was the first stop of the "Ghosts, Greasepaint & Gallows" tour.

ST. JAMES CATHEDRAL

This is the site of the first church in Toronto and caters to those of the Episcopal faith. Even those who have little interest in the religious matters should be impressed with all of the beautiful stained glass installed in its walls. It is magnificent. It is open during the day and a parishioner was meditating in the pews when I arrived. I was a little amused to see that the benches were boxed off like seats in a baseball stadium.

With all of the ghosts it has, this church is definitely worth a look to those interested in haunted buildings. Among some of the stories is one of the parishioner meditating in the pews. When a janitor approached her to let her know they were closing, she disappeared. The most popular one is that of the one in the basement crypt. The janitor has felt an unseen person brush past him on more than one occasion. This was one of the stops on the "Ghosts, Greasepaint & Gallows" tour.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Toronto has many, many more haunted sites than the ones I listed here. The ones I highlighted are open to the public in various venues and I saw up close. Contact their management for visiting details. For anyone looking for haunted buildings, Toronto is has many more fascinating stories. See the book HAUNTED TORONTO, by John Robert Colombo, or see the website for the Toronto Ghosts & Hauntings Research Society at http://www.torontoghosts.org.

With those two thoughts in mind, haunted sites really look like any other building. If anyone else has more stories of these places, I'd love to hear them.

________________
*All prices provided here are for Canadian dollars, which exchanged at ~75¢ at the time I visited.

This review was originally posted on Epinions.com October 6, 2003.