The Poorhouse Ghosts- Wellington Museum

About this episode

This episode explores the haunting experiences reported at the Wellington Museum, a former poorhouse in Fergus, Ontario.

There's a grand stone building in Fergus, Ontario, that has stood for nearly 150 years. It was built as a poorhouse in 1877 — a place for the destitute, the sick, the aged, and the forgotten. But according to staff who work there today, some of those who lived and died within its walls may never have truly left. In this episode of Haunted Canada, we speak with Katie Clark, heritage programmer at the Wellington County Museum and Archives, about the strange encounters inside one of Canada's last remaining poorhouses — from footsteps heard walking down carpeted hallways when no one is there, to a little girl whose laughter echoes through the kitchen at midnight. Visitors have smelled cigar smoke in empty rooms. Rocking chairs move on their own. And staff have learned one unsettling rule: if you hear the little girl, don't talk back to her. With 271 souls buried in the pauper cemetery on the grounds — and twice that number who died inside — it's no surprise that the Wellington County Museum has become one of Ontario's most haunted historic sites. Some believe the spirits of former inmates still walk the old dormitories, unwilling or unable to move on from a place they never wanted to…

People in this episode

Host: Nadine Bailey

Guest: Katie Clark

Topics covered

• ghost stories
• haunted places
• history
• poorhouse
• Wellington Museum

Keywords

• ghosts
• haunting
• Wellington Museum
• poorhouse
• Ontario

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wellington County Museum and Archives

Places: Fergus, Ontario, Ontario

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