New Westminster Secondary School
Most people never connect a public school with a haunting, but there are rare occasions when events change that. The New Westminster Secondary School happens to be one of the rare cases.
In the history of the school, there have been a few accidents. These have altered the fabric of the school and allowed some very odd events to have taken place.
In the early 1970’s it is said that a boy drown in the basement pool. Since that time, some security-guards have reported seeing the body of a boy floating in the pool, only to leave and come back or look away—only to find the boy gone. Other guards have reported a man’s voice being heard to shout in the archery range. The archery range just happens to be in the basement as well.
Now you may think that would be enough for one school. However, the stories don’t end there. Security cameras have also been known to catch the apparition of a boy in the woodworking shop, who died in the late 1980’s.
If this is not enough, there are always the orbs that are said to be caught in the music room as well.
The one thing I can say after reading about the events at this school, is to never judge a building by it cover.
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62 comments:
Since there has never been a pool at New Westminster Secondary now or ever, it doesn't seem likley that anyone drowned there. Also, it would be interesting to see any newpaper article about a death in the woodworking shop.
Yes, please give the date of the "drowning" so I can go to the public library and look at the newspaper archives. This would have been big news in a small town. (Especially since it happened in a pool that wasn't there.)
Mmk, so my high school's haunted? Cool. The boy's not mean or anything, right?
I went to this school and yes there was a pool on site along time ago and was filled in. there are lots more storys that involve this school and i myself have experenxed random voices and figures that cant be explained. If people want to know more the school and New West Libary have lots of information if you ask.
There is a pool there, or was (it’s been filled in). I've seen it and the whole area was creepy. It's under the Gym and there is access near Massey Theatre.
I think the first two comments are funny, there’s a lot of strange places in that school and I've been in some. You should have explored more and gone where your weren’t supposed to. I'm sure we missed some spots, simply because we didn't know where to look.
The claim about a pool is false. Also, there is no record in the newspaper archives of any drowning.
No record in news archives? I know of so many deaths (all manners) that have never made it to a newspaper/news media.
I have heard about the pool from some historians in the area. I can't confirm or deny its previous existence. But ultimately, this is just a local lore, probably based on some sort of event that happened and possibly changed a bit to make it more "scarier/creepier". We will probably never really know. I plan on talking to more people who lived in the area back in the day, see what they remember.
I lived in New Westminster "back in the day". Between me and my brothers and sisters, we cover the time from when the school was first opened to the late 60's, and I can say for 100 per cent certainty that there has NEVER been a pool in that school, period.
I have been asking my teachers there was a pool under massey.
Right, but it was abducted by a UFO.
Perhaps the hauntings at the high school have to do with the human remains from the cemeteries that occupied the site up to 1920. Don't take my word for it Google the school, or better find engineering reports about the construction of the new middle school and high school, they even plan to build a memorial park for the old cemeteries. As for the pool I have found no record of it. Was it built when the school was, or was it added later?
There never was a pool. There is no pool there now.
I have heard from many sources that there was a pool. Love the people that "know for certain" there was no pool! Do some more research!!
"Hearing from sources", then saying to other people "do your research" is kind of a contradiction, isn't it? It's up to you to prove there ever was a pool, since there certainly isn't one now, is there? The library is not too far from the school, so go on over.
I'm modding this thread.
As I said before, it is a ghost story, and it is that until there is proof EITHER way.
~Nikki
I went to New Westminster Secondary School. I graduated in 2003. There is a Pool and Archery Range in the basement below the Massey Gym. The Pool was filled in shortly after the drowning death but you can see that it was a pool. My friends and I snuck down to the basement a lot. I have seen this with my own eyes and I know this for a fact.
How do you get there where is the entrance?
Does anyone realize the school was built atop a cemetery?
Hi mom
Lying to support a false story is just pathetic.
If you people claim to do investigations you must have found there was no pool at either school in New Westminster. Don't you owe it to the truth if nothing else to just say so?
You should not tell fibs there has never been a pool. And it was a shooting range not a archery range
No pool, no archery range and no shooting range. Never has been. Make up something believable. This is just sad.
Here's a thought. If there was a pool, why is there no swim team in any of the high school annuals? The library has several editions of Kimtah, but there's no swim team.
Finally, some common sense. It just cheapens real research to try to justify falsehoods with more falsehoods.
NewWest secondary is built on native and Chinese burial sites. I remember stories of the tunnels, and pool underground, when I went there 93 - 95. Never took a look though.
Another place that could be haunted,as you say about filling in the pool after the death, is the tennis court in Queens Park across from the stadium. My dad worked for the city and said that back in the day, when they were clearing out the bushes, there was an East Indian man found hanging. When the city looked at the tennis court, which was a reservoir at that time, the decision was made to fill in the reservoir rather than dredge it because they did not want to deal with possible bodies there. Goes to figure why the other NewWest reservoir, in Massey Heights, has never been filled in to this day.
The only way I'll believe in any so-called ghost is if I see it myself. I'm sick of stories about someone who thought someone else saw something. A good way to detect BS is to see if the stories always refer to other stories, never direct evidence. (As is the case here.)
This is insane. There is no pool or shooting range. I know because I attend this school and have asked anyone and everyone about this. I've done my research, explored the place, and the only "secret" area is an underground tunnel leading from Massey theatre to about a block away. This tunnel was used when some famous people performed at the theatre and fans surrounded the theatre, so they had to use the tunnel in order to get out without having to deal with the chaos.
Hi everyone, I am the person who made up these ghost stories. Allow me to explain:
I went to NWSS and in grade 8 I was obsessed with hauntings and ghost stories. I used to frequent a website dedicated to haunted places, and you could submit your own stories without them having to go through any sort of approval or fact checking. I am not sure if the website is still around to this day as this was back in 2003. I made up several ghost stories and hauntings around Greater Vancouver and posted them to that website, the posting about NWSS was based on rumours I heard about the school having a defunct swimming pool and archery in the basement (they were just rumours) and this massive wood planing machine in the woodworking shop that used to exist in the Massey wing, but was torn down to begin demolition of the school (before the asbestos incidents broke out).
Fast forward to 2015, some of my former classmates are sharing articles about the most haunted places in BC, and they're saying NWSS is on the list. I'm sitting in my office and I couldn't believe I was reading these stories that I completely made up just for shits and giggles back in the day. I see it on The Chive, Huffington Post, and all other clickbait news sites. I decided whatever I'll leave it, those who do their research will figure out it's all just a bunch of BS. Well today I see people are still talking about it, so I wanna set the record straight and tell you these ghost stories are completely FALSE made up by ME who was just a kid trying to freak everybody out!
Umm Its 2018... And these rumors have been around since the late 80's. There are tons of underground tunnels that were made in 1910 approx time. They went from the docks to up town, to the rail station down in sapperton and also past woodlands. Under the Massey gym Is blocked off and only has 1 entrance now.. There are windows blocked off and barred around the basement of the gym. The Cafetira back wall shares the wall with the Gym Basement which used to have doors to the area. It might not be a pool, It might not be a range but people have been down there and your not supposed to go there and the teachers dont know whats in there either. As for the person making up the story.. Unless you did it 40 years ago and got it viral then.. its not ur story.
It doesn't matter who made it up or when. It's made up, period. I'm just disappointed that people would knowingly lie to support it.
"Orbs". Puhleeze.
Hey it's me, the one who made up the ghost stories, again. The website where I posted ghost tales about this school is shadowlands.net. Like I said that website is extremely unreliable because it allowed 13 year old me to post whatever I wanted without them doing any fact checking before approval. I did not make up the story about the pool or archery range, you are right those were rumours and I just included them in my shadowlands.net post for more juicyness. The one about the orbs and kid getting mauled by a machine in the wood shop though that all came from my imagination 100%.
ayo bruh how tf you find the basement like there an entrance or something? Like where would I go to find that
Look at the "mission statement". There's no explanation, just a forum for nonsense.
It's easy to tell if a place is haunted. It isn't. Grow up.
Guys the school is haunted bro is swear bro I saw Sasquatch into e basement bro please
I think the explanation about the bogus pool story at NWSS makes sense. A search of Newspapers.com website (where I have a subscription) reveals that there was never any news story in any BC paper about a drowning death of a student at NWSS. If it had happened, it would have been news, and would have been in the paper. These sites should really fact-check their stories before they publish them.
I just searched this as my neighbour who went to the school mentioned yesterday that they went into the basement and saw the pool, which I’d never heard about before, but she said she saw it.
Well, she’s wrong.
I attended NWSS from 2013-18, i heard abour the rumors. I shoulve asked MR woodward the gym teacher but then again hes a crabby asshole. I wonder if river view hospital the mental ward has anything to do with the paranormal at nwss
I don't know about a pool but I've heard about it. I know that there is an archery range and it can be accessed by a trap door in one of the Choir storage rooms in Massey but it is sealed up, it was open during maintenance like a few years ago. There are multiple entrances though and maybe the pool could be accessed from there. ^-^
Nonsense. I went to the first classes ever after being transferred when they closed Duke of Connaught High School, and I can say there was no pool. Why would you make this up?
The boy in the pool story is true.
I was there.
I am that boy.
You can stop this now, ...
Crap. I'm looking for information on the archery range in Massey theatre for an art project. I went up there a few years ago and was hoping to get up there again but you say its sealed? And was it an archery range not a shooting range?
No, we never had an archery or shooting range or a pool. No ice rink, either. No sauna, no steam room. Any other nonsense you’d like me to clarify?
Now the former school is gone, maybe we can put this to rest. One thing I learned from this, though, is that some people think nothing of lying or just making things up to “ support” someone who tries to sell a ghost story. It has made me much more doubtful about this sort of nonsense because this time I know for a fact that it was all made up. I went to that school and there was no archery range, no rifle range (that was ridiculous on it’s face) and no pool. There are a lot of liars, though.
there was actually an archery range in the basement. I saw it with my own eyes. As for the pool, I have heard a mix of everything so I can't comment on that one.
I know one thing for sure, though. That old school is DEFINITELY haunted.
There was also no basement. Nice try.
The school like many buildings in BC has changed several times often swapped with look a likes in disaster(Canfeilds and others do large modular buildings under other names). Part swapped with Burnaby at one time. I was around and saw it and remember.
I was part of emergency response and had varied education. There was a pool and a basement. After the death and some other incidents it was closed. Then sealed then Renovated. At one point a store room.
I saw his body in the pool and knew him. It was even put in a show which I think lead to it being closed and sealed. Others saw a thing in there more than once one time and two people appeared they ran out later again then they left. Happened a few times and we do know what it is but it wasn't public. It got sealed for safety and it was an old machine and a tunnel there. New construction needed observance but not sure what is up with that.
We made a public safety executive decision and once sealed censored talk on it. We told all children and area people to deny it existed. What was happening was dangerous and I saw it in action as did several here.
(Due to post size limit I just post rest in my blog under weird thing that appeared on an old tv show)
Why on earth would you make up a cock and bull story like that? There is no hope at all for genuine investigations if people think that they are helping by lying. This person even tries to explain why there was no media coverage by saying there was a decision to shut it up. That entire report is just hogwash.
I just found out that the plans for the high school are on file at the New Westminster archives. Now someone can go and prove once and for all that there was no pool.
Yes, there was rifle range in the basement, but no pool ever!!
A rifle range in a high school??? Give your head a shake if you can stand the clanging.
People here claiming no to the range clearly don't understand the history of the school site. There is a lot of military and "old school" sport history connected to the school. The range was NEVER open or used by students but it DID exist. I saw the painted lines and numbers on the ground. It was used for STORAGE for a very long time. The site is also connected to some very old city of NW tunnels that were used for various reasons mostly connected to the military history. Try reading up on the history from actual sources and it may make morse sense outside of your little high school grad class. I know NOTHING of a pool but have heard many urban legends of it. Gradded in 03 and I'm a history nerd. Ask me anything.
Frankly., you know nothing of the history, either. There was no military connection to this school whatsoever. Since you seem to have time on your hands, go look at the plans in the archives.
Ah yes another person who knows nothing of New Westminter history. I said Military SPORTS, which were more common back then, like SPORTS SHOOTING, archery etc.I never mentioned military connections to the SCHOOL. The property used to be a military base hence some of the military infrastructure that remained. Seen the plans of the SCHOOL many times. Seen anything else besides the school plans??? Ask me how I know you haven't. PS free time is a good thing.
Hi there,, my grandpa attended Vincent Massey Junior High in the mid 1950s he told us stories of a shooting range that was in the lower area of the gymnasium areas. I never got to go inside the old Massey school but he used to tell us about it. He said there was leftover military stuff in the mercer stadium area that "got moved around" as it was developed in stages due to lack of money. He used to have some old pictures taken around mercer stadium, ill ask my mom if she knows were they are.
The school didn’t open until the 60’s.
That's incorrect, we're talking about the Massey wing of the school. Once again please read up on the history of the site. You're referring to the Pearson portion opening.
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