BANFF
FAIRMONT BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL
405 Spray Avenue
Status: Historical Hotel
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Kimpayant&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User:Kimpayant (page does not exist)">Kimpayant</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
History
Built by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a tourist destination along the railway to the west coast this hotel is located deep within the gorgeous Canadian Rocky Mountains. The original hotel – built of wood – was shaped like a H and contained 100 rooms.
In 1926 a fire broke out and burned this hotel down. The beginnings of the hotel as it is today was completed as a replacement in 1928.
In 1968 the hotel was winterized and become a 4 season hotel. It was updated again in 1971 and then in 1988 for Calgary Winter Olympics.
In 2001 it was renamed Fairmont after the American company who bought the chain of Canadian Pacific Hotels in 1999.
Paranormal Activity
Two members of our team did investigate this hotel. They had no interactions with anything haunted except relating to Room 873 (see below).
The Bride
The most famous of the hotel’s ghosts is the Bride; also called the Burning Bride.
The story says a bride – probably in the 1930’s or 40’s – tripped on the top of a staircase resulting in her not only falling down the stairs but her dress catching fire on the candles that had been set on the stairs for her grand entrance.
She is now seen on the staircase where her life ended or in the ballroom dancing. Many witnesses who have seen her in the ballroom say her dress is on fire at the bottom.
Room 873
You will not find this room in the hotel because it has been sealed over. Although a faint outline of the door to this room can be seen in the hallway. There’s also a strange gap in the map of this floor between rooms 871 and 875.
Apparently, guests in this room – when it was open – suffered such intense paranormal activity that it was virtually impossible to stay an entire night. Apparitions of the family members would appear in the room and/or the handprints of a little girl would suddenly appear on the mirror in the bathroom.
The hotel denies it, but the rumour is a man murdered his wife and daughter in this room before killing himself.
Apparitions of the family – and other paranormal activity such as cold spots and a feeling of uneasiness – are seen/felt in the hallway right outside of the sealed room.
As mentioned above our team had a paranormal encounter related to this haunting. They calculated where the windows to this room should be and scanned them with binoculars from outside. On the third pass over a little girl was standing in the window. She appeared to have light hair and dress on – possibly coloured blue – but she disappeared very quickly.
Sam The Bellman
Sam Mcauley was a bellman at the hotel in the 1960’s-70’s but has since passed away. He must have truly loved his job though, as is still frequently seen in the hotel still working.
His ghost still wears his dated uniform and has carried people’s bags, helped guests get into locked rooms and turned on the lights for new arriving guests. Should you attempt to hold a conversation with him, or tip him, Sam is said to disappear.
Secret Room
There was an error in the construction of the original hotel that resulted in a room being built with no doors or windows. This mistake wasn’t realized until the fire of 1926. It is said apparitions and other paranormal activity happen where this room once was.
It is unclear where that was in the modern hotel so difficult to investigate this.
Other Activity
A headless apparition that plays the bagpipes. The ghost of a bartender that lets guests know when they have overindulged in adult beverages and that’s its time to go upstairs to their room for some sleep.
In other rooms guests have had their pillows yanked out from under their heads or been completely shoved out their beds while sleeping. There are a few reports of guests waking and finding a stranger in their room – often who is staring at them – before they suddenly disappear.
BELLEVUE
BELLEVUE UNDERGROUND MINE
2531 213 Street
Status: Former Coal Mine; Tourist Attraction; Open Seasonally
History
In 1903 a rich vein of coal was discovered in Bellevue. By December of that same year the new mine was delivering their first load to the Canadian Pacific Railway; which would become their biggest customer.
By the early 1920’s the demand for coal began to fall resulting in lay offs and strikes for better wages. When World War II began in 1939 the demand for coal increased resulting in a short-lived boom. By 1941 the mine was producing more coal than it ever had before but low government enforced prices and the sheer abundance of coal made even that year one of losses.
By the end of the 1940’s mechanical equipment had put an end to many mining jobs in Alberta and the world but the steepness of the coal vein at Bellevue made the use of machines to mine nearly impossible. The jobs stayed but not for long.
When in the late 1950’s the railway switched from coal to much cleaner diesel fuel it spelled the final days of the mine. By the end the remaining miners were only working 10 to 12 days a month. Attempts were made to find new markets but they didn’t pan out.
With the government not providing any financial assistance the mine finally closed in January of 1961.
Over 13,000,000 tons of coal were mined here. At least 50 miners lost their lives in the mine mostly due to explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.
The mine is now open seasonally giving people a chance to go 1000 feet (304.8 metres) into the mine – 150 feet (45.7 metres) beneath the earth’s surface – and experience life as a miner. Any further penetration into the old mine is impossible due to severe safety concerns.
Paranormal Activity
One paranormal investigation had their light helmets go out and unexplained whistling which was describing as sounding like a waltz. They also had ghosts communicate with them and answering their questions using a spirit box.
People have seen apparitions of the miners while on the tours; children are the most common reporters of this activity.
Disembodied voices as well as bird calls are also reported. Birds in cages were used to test the air in mines.
There are also reports of people being touched by unseen presences; one person reported being tapped on the shoulder.
Other Reported Activity: shadow figures; objects moving on their own; light anomalies and feelings of unease and of being watched.
CROWSNEST PASS
THE FRANK SLIDE
Highway 3
Status: Natural Disaster Site, Heritage Site
Before and After the Frank Slide
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Keith_McClary&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User:Keith McClary (page does not exist)">Keith McClary</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
History
The town of Frank was founded in 1901 in what was then the District of Alberta in the North-West Territories. The site was chosen at the base of Turtle Mountain due to the railroad and the discovery of coal.
Many considered Turtle Mountain to be very unstable with numerous rock slides in the past. Previous to the big slide miners had heard the mountain rumble and seen the wooden spars crack and splinter under the constantly changing pressure. In the end the mine was making money and it was cheaper to build the town close to the mine.
At 4:10am April 29, 1903 a piece of the mountain weighing about 110 million metric tonnes (121 million US Tons) of rock slid over the town. Witnesses claim it took about 100 seconds for the slide to come down the mountain meaning the rock was moving about 112 kilometres (70 miles) /hour. The slide was heard as far away as Cochrane 200 kms away.
Until the Hope Slide; it was the largest land slide in Canadian history. It is still the deadliest land slide in Canadian history – despite it not being as bad as it was initially reported – with between 70 and 90+ people dead.
Most of the people who died were completely buried and have never been recovered and it is questionable whether about 25 homeless people who were hanging around mine looking for work had left town or not. The death toll could easily be as high as 115 to 125.
The site is now a Canadian heritage site with an interpretative centre on site with over 100,000 visitors every year.
Paranormal Activity
Apparitions have been seen wandering the rock field usually seeming to be in shock and lost for lack of a better word. On rare occasions they have spoken to the living and seem to be focused – understandably – on finding friends, family and loved ones. They appear – aware or not of our time – to be trapped in the time period immediately after the slide.
There are numerous stories of phantom lights through the slide area. Some seem like lanterns going the debris field searching for survivors. Others seem to react to the living and will flee if approached.
Unexplained – described as eerie – mists fill the debris field frequently.
Unnatural energy – that is often described as ghostly – fills the entire area.
Disembodied voices – including entire conversations – have been heard both on and underneath the rocks slide area. There’s something very chilling about hearing people talk from an area that’s been buried under tons of rock for over 100 years.
People also report the feeling of unease, not being alone and being watched.
EAST COULEE
ATLAS COAL MINE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
(Atlas Coal Mine)
110 Century Drive West
Status: Former Mine; Formerly Abandoned; Heritage Site
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History
This coal mine operated from 1936 to 1979 and is the last complete coal mine left in Canada. It also has the only still standing coal tipple in the Country. It is open from the Victoria Day Weekend to the Thanksgiving Weekend for tours.
The coal mined out of this location was used to heat homes, to cook and for power for CPR’s steam locomotives across the Country. It is the last site left in a valley which once had over 130 operational mines.
Paranormal Activity
The original owners of the mine were the Patrick family. One day their young son, Billie, wandered into the mine and was never seen again. There was a huge search at the time but no sign of Billie was ever found.
His apparition is seen eternally playing on the grounds and is usually described as laughing and having fun. He is also said to be responsible for the phantom running footsteps and disembodied laughter that are heard.
13 people are said to have died in the mine including 4 who died on the same day in a gas explosion. The mine operated for a long time during an era when accidents were rarely reported and a lot of unsavoury things happened during the wars between management and unions so its quite possible there were many more deaths on site.
Apparitions are frequently reported by both visitors and staff in the old wash house.
The ghost of a woman in a brown dress – who is said to have predicted a methane gas explosion – is seen running towards the old mine office or waving to a small boy in the second floor of one of the old employee housing – it is unclear if this boy is Billie or not.
Next door to the shower house a “lady of the night” named Pretty Alice who kept a brass bed for “business transactions”. There are reports of large orb of light moving across this room that is thought to be Annie herself – mediums have made contact with the spirit of Annie in this room.
EAST COULEE
EAST COULEE SCHOOL MUSEUM
359 2 Avenue
Status: Former Public School; Museum
History
Thanks to the Atlas and Empire coal mines this town began to prosper in 1929 when the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the trains through.
In October of 1930 the school opened with 4 classrooms for grades 1 – 5. In 1934 4 more classrooms were added to the school – as the town population continued to grow – moving students from temporary classrooms.
Throughout the 1940’s the town continued to grow reaching a peak of 3,800 but in the 1950’s natural gas and diesel began to replace coal as the major fuel sources. No coal buyers; no coal mines.
By the 1970’s the coal mines were closed and so was the school as the town became a ghost town.
The school was reopened as a museum in 1985 showing how students lived and learned during the coal mining era.
The current population of East Coulee is about 160.
Paranormal Activity
The apparitions of children have been seen in the hallways, classrooms and looking out of the windows of the former school.
Bright forms – considered to be ghosts – are seen in the basement.
There is a room in the school that has artifacts from the town’s mining days including some objects that are said to have been present during fatal accidents. People feel very uneasy in this room as if they are not alone and not welcome. There are also a few reports of misty figures and apparitions of miners being seen here.
The disembodied voices and laughter – more rarely singing - of children have been heard in the building as well as being recorded as EVP’s.
Other Reported Activity: unexplained noises; electrical disturbances and light anomalies.
FORT SASKATCHEWAN
FORT HERITAGE PRECINCT
(Fort Saskatchewan Museum and Historic Site)
10006 100th Avenue
T8L 0J3
Status: Museum and Historical Site
DescriptionEnglish: The cairn commemorating the original Fort Saskatchewan, in the Fort Heritage Precinct
Date4 May 2020, 15:53:27
SourceOwn work
AuthorMatthew Boonstra
History
In 1875 the North West Mounted Police (precursor to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: RCMP) arrived at this site to build a fort. It was the first such fort to be built in Northern Alberta and was designed to bring law and order to the region. Numerous outlaws were hung on the grounds but only one was female; Florence Lassandro known as the “Mob Princess”.
Eventually a town built up around the fort that now is a thriving community just north east of Edmonton. The fort site is now a museum and heritage site that is open to the public from the May long weekend to the September long weekend.
Paranormal Activity
The apparition of the “Mob Princess” is the most frequently seen ghost in the old fort grounds but other executed criminals are also seen. The apparitions are seen both in the buildings and wandering the grounds.
Other activity: disembodied voices and whispers, light anomalies, phantom footsteps, feelings of being watched, not wanted and unease, doors opening and closing on their own and objects moving on their own.
LONGVIEW
TWIN CITIES HOTEL
(Twin Cities Saloon)
105 Morrison Road
Status: 2 Star Historical Hotel
Annual Paranormal Investigation
History
This hotel opened on September 2, 1938. It was built by 3 famous NHL players: Paul Thompson, Cecil Thompson and Red Dutton.
During the area’s oil boom in the 1930’s a town grew north of where Longview is now called Little Chicago and a tent town – due to the inability to build houses fast enough – developed where Longview is today.
The oil boom is long over and all that remains of Little Chicago is a plaque on the side of the highway today. Little New York turned into Longview although only a little over 300 people live there now.
The hotel was named after the original 2 cities that once existed there.
It is one of the few buildings left from the area’s glory days and a reminder of the mid-20th century of the economic boom.
Paranormal Activity
No one knows when the reports of paranormal activity at this location began or even remembers a time when it wasn’t simply accepted as being haunted. The ghosts are thought to be former guests and staff.
The most famous ghost has been named Bruce a former staff member.
Reported Paranormal Activity: shadow figures; guests being locked in their rooms and unable to exit; objects moving on their own including a table in the bar levitating and moving 180 degrees; disembodied voices; doors opening and closing on their own; phantom footsteps; the phantom sound of a woman singing at a distance and light anomalies.
A 4 hour overnight paranormal investigation – held by a local group – is generally scheduled once a year with packages including dinner and an overnight stay offered. These events are usually in October or November.
MYRNAM
MYRNAM MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL
Corner of 50 Street and 47 Avenue
Status: Former Hospital; Abandoned; For Sale
History
This is the second hospital on this location. The first one was in a converted house and only had a 3 bed capacity.
Sometime in the early 1960’s this much larger and modern – for the time – hospital was opened. Details are scare on the history of this small town hospital but it appears to have operated until 1995 – although some accounts place the closing in the late 80’s or earlier in the 90’s.
There is asbestos in the building – estimates say everything from just around the pipes (which may be a confusion with lead paint) to being full of it. Considering the time period it was built in the latter has a greater chance of being correct. Either way this asbestos prevents the building from being demolished and puts a hefty price tag on anyone dealing with the abatement to repurpose the building.
Paranormal Activity
The following paranormal activity has been reported at this location:
Apparitions of former patients and nurses; shadow figures; poltergeist activity including, doors opening and closing, objects moving on their own and objects falling; unexplained noises including bangs, taps, scratching, voices, screams, crying and footsteps; touches and tugs from unseen presences; feeling like you cannot breathe; cold and warm spots and feelings of unease, being watched, not being wanted and not being alone.
SHERWOOD PARK
STRATHCONA COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
913 Ash Street
Status: Former Fire Hall; Former Police Station; Museum & Cultural Centre
History
This building was first built in 1959 as Sherwood Park’s first Firehall. In 1967 a RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) detachment was added.
Both services shared the building until 1975 when the fire hall moved to Sherwood Drive and became Firehall #1.
The RCMP continued to use the building until 1992 when they moved to Bison Way.
The building was abandoned until 1995 when the Strathcona County Museum & Archives moved in. The museum opened in 1997.
Paranormal Activity
The apparitions of both a RCMP officer and a prisoner of the jail cell on site are seen on site. Both are described as being friendly and have never given anyone more than jump scares when they suddenly appear.
Strong smells of both licorice and that sulfurous smell matches give off when they are first lit are reported near the former jail cell. The 275-kilogram (606 lbs) door slammed shut in front of a volunteer on its own although it hadn’t moved in years.
Other Activity: an open Bible switches pages on its own; objects move on their own; lights turn on and off on their own; electrical disturbances; cold spots and feelings of not being alone.
The museum has been offered services to remove the ghosts but these have not been accepted. The ghosts have never harmed anyone and are part of its charm.
WAYNE
ROSEDEER HOTEL
(Last Chance Saloon)
555 Jewell Street
Status: Historical Hotel and Bar
By
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ymblanter"
title="User:Ymblanter">Ymblanter</a> - <span
class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
As of May 2021, this property was for sale by an owner who was very open about the paranormal activity happening and passionate about preserving the building’s history. It is unclear whether the property has sold and, if so, how any new owners feel about the haunting.
This hotel was built in 1913 when the town had a population of over 3000. In the early 20th Century, the nearby coal mines were booming and producing.
In 1957 the mines were closed leading to a mass exodus. At last count there were only 33 permanent residents in Rosedale.
The hotel, now paired with the Last Chance Saloon, are all that’s still standing from the town’s glory days. You can still stay in the hotel – the Saloon especially has exceptional reviews – or a camping or RV spot on the property.
This site is located only 10 minutes from downtown Drumheller.
Paranormal Activity
Back in the day this place was pretty rough; and they still have the bullet holes in the walls to prove it. In the heydays of the mine some miners tried to form a union so the mine owners brought in union busters belonging to the KKK.
The final event that ended union dream was when the KKK brought the union leaders into a room in the hotel on the third floor and severely beat them resulting in 2 deaths. These 2 men are said to be the ghosts in the hotel. The third floor of the hotel has been closed many times in the past due to the level of paranormal activity due to these ghosts.
The misty apparitions of these men have been seen both in the hotel – usually on the third floor in the room they died in – and in the Saloon. People have heard their names spoken – as well as other disembodied voices -all over the building.
There are many reports of people catching something in the corner of their eyes and turning to see nothing. Phantom pipe smoke is smelt in the billiards room.
There’s also the ghost of a woman who is seen more infrequently and whose identity remains unknown.