Beatty Street Drill Hall

Beatty Street Drill Hall

The Beatty Street Drill Hall is a Canadian Forces armoury, located at 620 Beatty Street in Vancouver, British Columbia.

It is the home of The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC), an armoured reconnaissance reserve, the oldest military unit in Vancouver, and the most senior militia in the province.

This beautiful and historic building was opened on 30^th of September 1901, by the Duke of Cornwall (later King George V). With two large castle-like turrets, complete with battlements, two tanks and a 64-pounder gun, alongside the large white structure, Beatty Street Drill Hall has long been a Vancouver landmark and is listed as a class-A heritage building.

The walls are built three and a half feet thick, and the building rests on huge granite blocks. Limestone from Gabriola Island was used for the parapet. The Drill Hall includes a parade square, offices, and store rooms. It formerly contained a firing range and bowling alley as well. The Regimental Museum of the BC Regiment (DCO) is housed in the building, with displays dating back to 1883, including uniforms, weapons, medals, Nazi regalia, and a large collection of photographs documenting the regiment's (and the Drill Hall's) history. The museum was established in 1982 and is open to the public Thursday afternoons.

So as most can see from reading the above, this building is not only historic, but also very beautiful. But one thing you would not have read, is that the Drill Hall is reported to be haunted.

Some of the reports are of voices being heard when no one else is around, footsteps being heard through- out the Drill Hall—and one of the more startling events is the apparition, which some of the regiment have been heard to have seen. With the age of the Beatty St. Drill Hall and the history of the many wars, conflicts and actions, men and woman have not only been involved, but they died for it. It is a wonder that there aren’t more reports form this great historic Canadian building.

The Phantom Woman of Hwy 1

The Phantom Woman of Hwy 1

Most ghost stories that have been passed down or whispered about, seem to happen and end with a degree of fright, but mostly wonder. Most that is, however, causes a person to believe that there is terrifying things that choose to show them selves every once in a while.

The story of John and Janice Bradley is one of these stories. It happened somewhere between Spence’s Bridge and Cache Creek along Hwy 1 in BC. This instance happened quite late at night along Hwy 1, and was something nightmares are made of.

Running into a figure walking along a road is not uncommon. But to run into someone in the middle of the night along a lonely stretch of road when no one else around is another. It is said that what the couple stopped to help a woman. But on closer inspection, they described this being as inhuman with a slit for a mouth and eyes of complete black that held no life within them.

So I must say that if you ever find yourself driving along Hwy 1 late at night and you are in the same area, be careful. If you see a lone woman walking were no one should be, think carefully before you decide to stop and offer help. You may find a terror that you may never forget.

Thanks to Robert C. Belyk for this information. Please check out the full story of this tale in his book, Ghosts II. More True Stories from British Columbia.

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Trethewey House

Trethewey House

This beautiful heritage home built in the 1920’s is located in the Mill Lake area of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. The home is very well known not only for its craftsmanship: sophisticated wooden detailing and its wonderfully detailed interior. It's also for the family, which built this structure and lived within it.

Mr. Joseph Ogle Trethewey, the proprietor of the Abbotsford Lumber Company & Mill, which was a major employer in the area and instrumental in the early development of the Abbotsford area built the home in 1920. Mr. Trethewey only lived in the home until his death in 1928.

The home was announced as a heritage site in 1983 and through the hard work of countless people, it was restored to it's original grandeur. The home is still used today to show the public the history of Abbotsford and the surrounding area.

Now while the home is beautiful to look at and walk through, it does have a bit of a spooky side to it as well. The staff and some visitors will tell those who ask that they are sure the home is quite haunted.

It has been told that a woman died in one of the guest bedrooms a long time ago, and is believed to still be hanging around. It is said that there have been pictures taken that shows what appears to be an apparition, lights turning on in the upper level of the house when no one is there and doors opening all by them self.

People who have toured the home, have been heard to say at times that they have felt as though someone else was in a room with them, when they know there wasn't anyone else around. The staff has said they believe it is a ghost, but for them it seems to be a friendly one.

Take a trip sometime and check this home out. Who knows, maybe you might feel something watching you while you look around.

Thanks to the MSA Museum & the Abbotsford times for this information.

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The Chinlac Massacre Site

The Chinlac Massacre Site

This historic site located at the meeting point of the Nechako and Stuart Rivers, is the site of the 1745 Native Chinlac village. This specific village however, is popular not only because it was the home of the Chinlac people, but because it was home to a people that was almost wiped out of existence by the southern Denes, a warring party of Chilcotin natives from further south.

It is told that Chinlac men were out hunting while the woman and children stayed at the village. The Denes came upon the village and then set about massacring everyone who remained. Some say that they even cannibalized some of the bodies.

Over 250 woman and children were killed that day, and even though the Chinlac men did manage to get revenge, it did not change the fact that all their lives were destroyed.

This history of what happened at the village leads to the strange, but understandable sequence of events that occur to people known to go visit this local.

First is that most people who travel here, which can only be reached by boat or plane, will always say that the area has a very cold and creepy felling to it.

Second is that the entire village area seems to no longer support plant growth and anything planted, will only last a short time. It is heard to be said by some native elders that any trees that manage to grow, or are planted will only grow to no more the 15 feet and then die or live a stunted life, before withering and dying quickly.

This may be enough to keep most people away, who are afraid of the unknown. However, if you feel brave enough, go and see if you can spend the night.

Archaeologists have reported feelings of unease and of being frightened, inspiring them to leave. Campers who have canoed to the site, have been so overwhelmed by the area that they have left in the middle of the night to seek more relaxing areas to camp. So I say again, if you feel brave go see if you can spend a night at the Chinlac Massacre site.

Thanks to the Vancouver Sun and the Shadowlands haunted places site for their information on this story.

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Happy Holidays from N.P.I.

N.P.I will be closed from December 11th to January 3rd.

We will be still taking e-mails and calls, but there won't be any investigations during that time.

We at N.P.I. wish you a very safe holiday season and we will see you in the new year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Fleetwood Elementary School, And The Teacher's Ghost

Fleetwood Elementary School

For those of you who thought the New Westminster School was interesting, Fleetwood Elementary School is another for the haunted collection.

It is said that not only are there cold spots and orbs often seen in this more-then sixty-year-old building, but doors open and close as well.

Now orbs and cold spots, some may say “oh, that’s nothing.” But then you hear after that there is a ghost seen in the basement area of the school, and that it could be the ghost of a teacher. You might think twice before wondering about its empty halls and taking the chance of being touched.

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New Westminster Secondary School, And The Boy In The Basement

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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The Irving House, And The Captain

The Irving House

The Irving house is located in New Westminster, BC.

It’s a historic home with a very interesting past. The home was built in 1865, and lived in by Captain Irving and his family for many years. It remained in the Irving family up until about 1950, when it was sold to the city of New Westminster.

If someone takes a tour of this home, one would find a rich history running back to the Alaska and BC gold-rush era; everything from the past lives of Captain Irving and his family, to the architecture, furniture and pieces displayed for viewing.

From what is said, it’s one of the oldest homes in the Lower Mainland area. And it also comes with a secondary history, not as well known or reported; of this house being haunted.

Some of these reports include unexplained noises, the walls in the main dining room seeming to shiver, a voice asking for a name to be said—and that’s just the main room area.

It is said that when people walk up stairs, there are a few trophies on the walls, and if looked upon sometimes seem to be watching you. Some people have been heard to say that they have seen them turn to follow them.

There is also the story told by some, of seeing an indentation in the mattress, located in the master bedroom of what some feel is Capt. Irving himself, whom had passed away in that very bed.

I can say that this is a fantastic home to visit whether you believe in this part of the history or not. Take a look—and watch the trophies.

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Ghost Story: Hetty Fredrickson And Her Haunted Mansion

In December 1965, Hetty and Douglas Fredrickson moved into a fourteen room house on Williams Street in Chilliwack, BC. Months later, they would move back out, after the most strange and unsettling experience of their lives.

Shortly after moving into the house, they started noticing odd things happening. They would hear the sound of heavy breathing, footsteps on the stairs, and an intense smell of perfume in the air. In one unused bedroom there was an old iron bed and a chest of drawers, whose drawers would often be found open when they should have been closed. Once, Hetty saw the misty glowing shape of a human. While these incidents were frightening, what really scared Hetty was a vivid reoccurring nightmare she had started having.

In the dream, she saw a woman lying on a hall floor. She wore a bright red and yellow dress and had a look of pure terror on her face. Her arms were raised to partially cover her head, and she could see dust blowing around the woman.

When everything had first begun to happen, everyone made jokes about ghosts being in the house, but it wasn’t until doors started opening on their own, and the footsteps became louder, that Hetty went to town to ask residents about the history of the house that the real fear set in. The house had been built in 1912 and there were no blueprints or records of it. There had been a fair number of people who had lived in the house, and there was no way to trace a woman who had a red and yellow dress.

There had been a period of ten years, which two men committed suicide in the house. But out of respect, Hetty did not inquire into their stories anymore, not wanting to upset their families. There was another woman who was supposed to have been killed in the house and then cemented in the chimney, but no one was ever able to verify that rumour.

Eventually, Hetty decided she had to do something. Find some way to prove what was going on in her house. Being an artist, she decided to do a painting of the ghost, hoping that the ghost would be motivated to move the painting as it did the other furniture.

She sat in the unused room for a few nights, trying to get the right motivation for the painting. She hoped that the furniture would be moved in her presence, or that she would see something. She eventually painted a large picture of the ghost-like figure, and since she wanted to make it somewhat mysterious, Hetty decided to leave half the face blank.

She placed the painting between the iron bed and the chest of drawers, and then checked often to see if the painting had been moved at all. The painting never moved, and Hetty tired of this experiment.

After a few weeks, Hetty started to show some of her students the painting she had done. One day, she noticed that there was a slight difference in the appearance of the ghost woman. She thought that it was perhaps her imagination getting the better of her, and didn’t say anything to anyone about what she was seeing. As each day went by after that, she couldn’t help but notice the painting still changed.

The half of the face she had left bare started to show features. The half that showed the woman’s face had started to change as well. The look of terror was going away and the face went from looking female to looking more masculine. Now the people who had seen the painting before, had started to notice the changes too.

The next thing she knew, the media was curious and started hanging around her house after hearing about the stories and the changing painting. Thousands of people showed up at her house to try and get a glimpse of the painting, while phone calls and tons of letters made normal-life impossible.

Meanwhile, Hetty was still trying to figure out what was happening. She started snooping around her house. She found a hidden room in the turret (which was supposed to be just for decoration) and was shocked when she saw the same dust she had seen in her reoccurring dream. It turned out the dust was particles from the deteriorated insulation. But other than the dust, the room was empty.

Next, Hetty found a boarded up laundry chute, going from the top floor of the house to the kitchen. Nothing was to be found in the laundry chute. She then started talking about tearing the walls down to search the cemented chimney and her husband Douglas stepped in and forbad her from doing it.

With all the attention her painting and the house was getting, it was becoming impossible to live there anymore. Douglas, who was a logger, used to go off to logging camps and be gone for a few weeks at a time, and Hetty had never minded being able to spend some time by herself, but now she did not want to stay alone in this house.

She eventually went back home to Holland to visit her parents and have a break, then moved to Vancouver Island with Douglas and their children. After leaving the house in Chilliwack empty for awhile, they rented it out, only later to sell it. Eventually, it was finally it burnt to the ground. Whatever secrets that house held—we won’t probably ever know.

Meanwhile, Hetty still had the painting with her. She had many people looking to buy it from her, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She eventually donated the painting to charity, bringing in a lot of money for the orphans she donated it for, the story ending on a positive note.

Hetty, Douglas and their children moved on in their lives and as to where that painting is now—I do not know. As to what resides where their old house was, I do not know that either.

But hopefully if people live on that location, they are no longer disturbed by the unknown.

Mandy, The Haunted Doll

Mandy, The Haunted Doll

Mandy, who now resides at the Quesnel Museum, is a girl you will never forget meeting.

Just to look at her—all you see is a pretty doll that has been around for about ninety years and looks it. When she was first donated to the museum in 1991, she was dirty, ripped and cracked.

There are people out there who say that Mandy has unusual powers. Her donor claims she would wake at night to hear a baby crying in the basement, but when she would go down to look, only an open window with its curtain blowing in the breeze would be found.

Now that she was residing at the museum, staff and volunteers there started experiencing weird and unexplainable events; lunches would disappear from the refrigerator, only to later be found put away in a drawer; footsteps would be heard when there was no one around; various objects in the museum would go missing, either forever—or to be later discovered in some random spot. Most people working at the museum just thought everyone was being a little absentminded.

When Mandy was first displayed in the museum, she did not have a “home” there yet. In the beginning, she sat facing the public entrance, where people would talk about her and the way she looked so cracked, broken and sinister. But eventually she was moved to another part of the museum.

Mandy was placed by herself in another part of the museum, away from other dolls, because she would apparently harm them. Since then, there have been many stories making their way around about Mandy.

One visitor was videotaping Mandy when their camera’s light started going off and on every 5 seconds. As soon as that visitor went to another exhibit, the light on the video camera stayed on. Some visitors claim that they can see Mandy’s eyes follow them around the room, while others say they have seen her eyes blink.

If you think that there is anything paranormal about Mandy, go visit her at the Quesnel Museum, BC or look her story up online.

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The Most Haunted House At Deer Lake

Fairacres, Burnaby, BC

The Most Haunted House At Deer Lake

Now when people talk about a haunted house in BC, you’re sure to hear of Fairacres—also known as the Ceperley Home and now a-days The Burnaby Art Gallery.

The history of this home is long and filled with both good and bad peices of history. Because of its colorfull past, there has arisen may tales of the hauntings that go on in and outside this historic home.

The home was built between 1909, and from what I can find, completed in 1911 for an estamated $150,000 dollars. It was also bought by the Benedictine Monks in 1939 and was only in 1992 desgnated a heritage home.

The haunting which have been said to exist include, the hearing of strang sounds and voices. But the most popular one is seeing Mrs. Ceperley herself walking around.

Have a visit sometime to the The Burnaby Art Gallery and see if you are lucky or unlucky enough to see or her something strange.

If you wish to learn a lot more, visit Mr. Robert C. Belyk and check out his books on haunted places’s. You will find it very interesting indeed.

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The Haunted Mather’s House

The Haunted Mather’s House

The Mather’s House is only a very short walk from the Anderson Home.

This is once again a heritage home owned by the City of Burnaby and was also a family home built in 1912, bought by the same Benedictine monks along with the Anderson Home.

The one big difference is, this used to be convalescent home for soldiers wounded during World War I. It is also now a heritage home and even now is a creepy home to visit.

Some of the better known events are bygone toys being thrown around and strange lights being seen. Others still have been so frightened that they no longer return.

If this home interests you and you have the nerve, have a visit some time and see if you will want to come back again.

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The Haunted Anderson House of Deer Lake

The Haunted Anderson House of Deer Lake

Robert F. and Bessie Anderson

The Anderson Home is located at 6450 Deer Lake Avenue, in Burnaby B.C.

It’s just one of many historic homes located in and around the Deer Lake area. The house was built in 1912, and the Anderson family lived there until just after World War I.

The home was eventually bought by the Benedictine Monks in 1939 and used as a seminary, until around 1971 when the city of Burnaby purchased the home. In 1992 it was designated it as a heritage site.

Now most people would look at, read about this property and say it’s interesting. But what’s not told often is the creepy side of this home. Some of the events proclaimed to have happened include: hearing the sound of music and the more disturbing footsteps on the stairs.

If you are ever in the area of Deer Lake, take a closer look at the homes—you may see more then you expect. To find more out about this house and much more, visit the site of writer, Robert C. Belyk or read his books. Well worth the time.

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