Haunted Alberta Real Estate
| October 31, 2013
Here are some of the most haunted places in our province.
Calgary – Old Grace Hospital
The maternity ward of the old Grace Hospital was rumoured to be haunted by the spirit of Maudine Riley, whose family is believed to own the land the hospital was built on. Riley lost her baby, and died herself while giving birth. The old maternity ward is now a health resource centre, and surgery patients at the facility still claim to see Riley appear in different rooms and hallways holding her baby.
Banff Springs Hotel – Room 873
As the story goes, decades ago a family was murdered in room 873 of the Banff Springs Hotel. When the investigation was over the room was redone and visitors to the hotel continued to use the room. Guests would wake up to hollow screams, flickering lights and bloody handprints on the mirrors. The doorway to the room was eventually sealed over and to this day staff at the hotel will not talk about the room with guests.
Edmonton – McKay Avenue School
Once a school – and home to Alberta’s first two legislative sessions – this downtown building is now a museum, houses archives and is rumoured to be haunted. Objects move around mysteriously and lights often turn on and off on their own. Employee Ron Hlady claims to have used his Ouija board to communicate with a spirit who says he’s a worker that fell of the roof during construction and died.
Lethbridge – Bowman Arts Centre
The Bowman Arts Centre used to be Bowman School. As the tale goes, a young Chinese girl was mistaken for a boy while wearing traditional clothing in the women’s washroom. She was beaten as punishment. Sounds of a young girl crying are often heard in the women’s washroom to this day.
Calgary – The Deane House
The Deane House was built in 1906 as the official residence for the Superintendent of the Royal North West Mounted Police, Richard Burton Deane. There are rumours of several unusual deaths taking place at the residence, including a young woman jumping to her death from the second storey and a man being gunned down on the porch. Staff at the house say they sometimes see a man smoking a pipe in Deane’s study, hear ringing from an antique phone that’s not plugged in and can smell tobacco, even though the house is non-smoking. Legend also has it the attic is home to a bloodstain that reappears, changing shape and size, no matter how many times it’s been washed.
Taber Hospital – Taber
Paranormal activity at the Taber hospital became noticeable once the facility closed down. Mysterious lights were seen and strange noises heard coming from the nurse’s residence next door, despite their being no one in the abandoned building. People began to call the suspected ghost “Maynard” and many believe Maynard made the move when they opened the new Taber hospital, and now haunts a different building.
Stirling Haunted Mansion – Stirling
After moving into the Stirling House in 2000, a family was so creeped out by the strange occurrences they decided not to fight the spirits, but instead join them and turned the historic home into a haunted house. According to the family, there are at least three ghosts living in the house – an older lady and gentleman as well as a mischievous teenage girl.
The Walterdale Theater, Edmonton: A Fire Hall
The Walterdale Theater was originally built as a fire hall in the 1920s. In the 1960s it got converted into a theater. There is a ghost that inhabits this theater that those who work here have affectionately named “Walt.” He helps people up the stairs, creates cold breezes, moves props, plays with the lights, plays the piano, and he creates the sound of heavy footsteps. For some reason the strong smell of horse manure has been smelt in this place. The paranormal activity usually occurs before the opening of a show.
The Multicultural Heritage Center, Stony Plain: The Old High School
The Heritage Center used to be the old high school. Many people assume that is why high school students have been seen wandering the halls, shadows show up everywhere, and items coming up lost or found. It seems that whoever is haunting the place does not like renovations too much. Stools have been found on the top of tables. Many times a woman in 1900s clothing has been seen out of the corner of one’s eye. The Oppershauser Building is the second building that is believed to be haunted by a ghost that the staff calls “George.” Footsteps have been heard and paintings have fallen off the wall without the slightest touch. There is a closet upstairs that will take whatever one puts in it. Sometimes it can be found in a different area of the house or it just disappears forever. There also has been reports in the nighttime of faces and voices coming from the window.
Community Cultural Center, Brooks: An Old Hospital
This community cultural center in Brooks was built in the 1940s and used as a hospital. That being said, there is no easier way to understand how the Community Cultural Center is a center of paranormal activity. The first apparition that has been seen quite often is that of an old janitor who still seems to be stuck cleaning room after room. There is also a little boy who haunts this site roaming the halls with a backpack upon his back. Many children who have visited here have reported being read to by an older lady. The only problem is that the description of the lady matches no one on staff. Staff members have talked to a nine year old ghost who seems to be afraid of being there. He plays with toys in the daycare located in the basement, and has reported that there is over seventy-five apparitions here.
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