Posts tagged with “Ontario”
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Beautiful Joe: The Famous Dog from Ontario

I read Beautiful Joe as a kid. I can still remember having the book with me for a sneak read at night. I’d go into the bathroom and sit on the side of the tub cause I could stretch my legs out there. Beautiful Joe was one of the books I most remember from my childhood. Much later I found out the story was from right here in Ontario and the story was not fictional.

Beautiful Joe was a Real Dog

Beautiful Joe was a real dog, a puppy in 1890, from the town of Meaford, in Ontario, Canada. The dog was a mongrel (or a mutt as we call them) and owned by a milkman who beat and starved the dog nearly to death.

The young dog was rescued by Walter Moore, a local miller. His daughter, Louise Moore, kept the dog and gave it a much different life and named him Beautiful Joe because of how less than beautiful he looked. The dog’s ears and tail had been cut off at some point. The dog grew old and eventually died still living with the family in Meaford.

Joe became famous and never knew a thing about it.

Margaret Marshall Saunders (1861 – 1947) met the dog while visiting her brother and his fiancée, Louise Moore, in 1892. The story inspired her to write a novel from the dog’s point of view.

However, she changed the location of the story to Maine (in the US) in order to enter a literary contest sponsored by the American Humane Education Society. She also changed names in the story and she wrote the story under the name Marshall Saunders because she thought a woman writer would not be taken seriously. She did win the contest and the book was first published in 1893.

Beautiful Joe was the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies. By the 1930′s the book had sold over 7 million copies around the world. Beautiful Joe has appeared in several editions, been translated into ten different languages.

The sequel, Beautiful Joe’s Paradise, was published by Marshall Saunders in 1902.

The book contributed to worldwide awareness of animal cruelty. The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society was started in 1994 and continues to run . You can find the Beautiful Joe Park and monument if you visit the town of Meaford.

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Haunted Ontario

I've almost always lived in Ontario and I don't think I have seen a ghost. Not something I could prove to myself or anyone else for certain. I explore abandoned, old buildings and never feel they are haunted. I don't expect to see a ghost and maybe that's why I haven't. But, I do believe in ghosts.

I don't think I've ever seen a ghost. How can you ever really be sure though? Something spotted from the corner of your eye... an odd light in a photo you took... a sudden draught in the room... Would you say you've seen a ghost, for sure?

So many people believe in ghosts - you feel it must be true. But, everyone should use their own judgement. Take what you see and use what you know to make our own decision about what you believe to be true.

Haunted Towns and Cities

Haunted Ontario Groups

Start Your own Ghost Hunting or Paranormal Investigations Business

You don't have to turn your ghost hunting into a business. You could keep it a little more casual and turn it into a society for your area. Get others with the same interest in ghosts to come together. Talk about your own experiences, your beliefs, places you have explored and then make plans to explore and document a location as a group.

Or, you could try turning it into a business. A unique home business.

How to be a Ghost Hunter

Articles to Read

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Exploring the Sad and Blue House

The Adventure of the Little Sad and Blue House

One of the old, abandoned rural places which I explored over the summer. The location is, Ontario.

I don't like to give away too much about the location because not everyone likes to just have the adventure of looking at an old place. Some people will still do harm, take things, or leave garbage around the site. Worst of all are those who cause damage because these places are owned by someone and they will only be left forgotten as long as they remain care-free and ignored.

Once an abandoned property becomes a problem, gets too many visitors, starts to become wrecked, the property owner will have to do something about it, like demolition. Demolition is the final end for ruined, old places. Once they are demolished there is no adventure left for anyone and, the history of the old place is just a memory.

I like to see old houses before they are gone. I like the history and the idea of documenting and preserving the history, and workmanship/ architecture of those old houses. Mainly, rural farm houses around Ontario.

There is also something sort of romantic and mysterious, alluring about an old house.

I did not go inside.

This is something many people ask and expect. But, going inside does not feel right to me. It's a personal choice. I think there is a thin line between exploring and trespassing. Going inside, just seems to cross the line for me.

Not that I have never gone inside an abandoned house. I'm careful about it. Mainly because it is dangerous. Floors are not so steady after years of weathering. Often the houses I like to photograph the most are those which are the most ruined. So, not very safe to explore them from the inside.

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Working With the Barrie Historical Society

Barrie is a small city in Ontario, Canada. I'm the webmaster for the Barrie Historical Society. (The Barrie Society has closed/merged with Simcoe County Historical Society). I've just taken on the job, as a volunteer so the site is not quite ready for prime time yet. But, I wanted to share the historical photos/ postcards I have found of Barrie, so far. (It's also a good way to keep another back up copy of the images as I do find more to add).

The Barrie motto is on the coat of arms: People are the City.

A Bit About the City of Barrie's History

Barrie is a city on Kempenfelt Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario. Former and merged community names include Nine Mile Portage and Kempenfeldt. Allandale and Innisfil are not officially merged with Barrie but they share some resources and public services.

First Nations People used the western shores of Kempenfelt Bay to rest and stop over before continuing on the portage which linked Kempenfelt Bay through Willow Creek, connecting Lake Simcoe to the Nottawasaga River which flows (eventually) to Lake Huron.

Barrie's Military and Industrial Heritage

Barrie became a settlement with houses and warehouses in 1812. Barrie was a military outpost, an important supply depot for the British forces. The old portage route was used for communication, military personal, supplies and equipment to and from Fort Willow and Georgian Bay / Lake Huron.

In 1833 the community was named for British Admiral Sir Robert Barrie, in command of the naval forces in Canada and a frequent traveler along the portage route.

After the war Barrie thrived on industry. Huge trees were logged and shipped out to become masts for British ships and railway ties across Canada. During the winters massive blocks of ice were cut from Kempenfelt Bay then shipped down to Toronto, Buffalo and New York for refrigeration use. There were three warehouses to store the ice so it could continued to be kept and shipped out during the rest of the year.

In 1865 the railway connected Barrie to the City of York and all the growing industry the young Toronto.

The Barrie Tanning Company was the oldest industry and stood until being demolished in 1979.

Modern Barrie History

In the 19th century Barrie was a final stop in the underground railway, allowing slaves from the US to build new lives in Canada. Shanty Bay was named and developed from this.

In 1950 Highway 400 became an express route for commercial, business and personal travel between Barrie and the rest of central Ontario.

Minets Point (a popular beach and picnic area in the 1950's) had a dance hall which burned to the ground in the 1960's.

On 31 May 1985, one of the most violent and deadliest tornadoes in Canadian history, an F4, struck Barrie.

In June 1987 the sculpture, Spirit Catcher by Ron Baird, came to Barrie from Vancouver, B.C. where it had been part of Expo '86.

Barrie hosted Live 8 Canada in July 2005 at what was Molson Park and is now known as Park Place. Most of the site (stage, buildings and trees) has since been destroyed for commercial development.

Well-known residents have included Jeff Buttle, Olympics bronze medal winner for men's figure skating in 2006.

Fire has been a problem for Barrie's historical buildings in the past and has still been the cause of loss as recently as 2007 when the Wellington Hotel was lost due to arson. (The case is still ongoing).

In 2011, Barrie was the 34th largest city in Canada.

Barrie Places and People

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Ghostly Haunted Ontario Groups and Links

This is mainly a link farm while I work on putting the sites I have found into a web directory on this domain.

Canoe.ca: Haunted Ontario
The Toronto and Ontario Ghost and Hauntings Research Society
Terry Boyle: Haunted Ontario
The Haunted Walk: Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario.
Burlington Ghost Researchers
Haunted Hamilton
Whitby Ghost Walks
Ghost Tours of Niagara
Flickr: Ghosts of the Niagara Region
Haunted Ottawa
Canadian Haunters Association
Suite101 by Jason Gray: Tales of Haunted Ontario
Wikipedia: Ghost Towns in Ontario
Abandoned Ontario: Haunted Houses in Ontario
Facebook: Most Haunted Places in Ontario
St. Thomas Elgin Paranormal Society
Facebook: London Ontario Ghost Squad
Paranormal Knights of London
Spirit Matters for Durham Region
Paranormal Toronto

Canadian Links:

CBC Digital Archives: Halloween and Tales of Canadian Ghosts
Paranormal Studies and Investigations Canada
The Halloween Project: Celebrating all things Halloween in Canada.
Canadian Haunters Convention.
Ghost Towns Canada.ca
Ghost Town Pix.com
Haunted Sites in North America: Haunted Sites in Canada by Province

  • Ontario Rural Ruins on Flickr\
  • Creepy Ontario\
  • Urban Exploration Ontario on Google Groups\
  • Ontario Abandoned Places\
  • Abandoned Houses of Ontario on Facebook\
  • Northern Ontario Abandoned\
  • Abandoned Ontario on Flickr