Sold out “Spooky Jane’s Walk” events enjoyed in Amherstburg
- Ron Giofu
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The history of the area with a haunted twist came to town last Saturday.
“Spooky Jane’s Walks,” a fundraiser for the free Jane’s Walk Festival held every spring, included two sold-out stops in Amherstburg last Saturday. “Misdeeds and Mystery in a Small Town” was a walking tour in the downtown core with Marsh Historical Collection collection co-ordinator Meg Reiner leading the way.
The second Amherstburg event was “Whispers Within the Walls,” a candlelight tour of the Park House Museum with curator Kat Bezaire and her team of volunteers assisting with presenting tales of the Park House’s history and some paranormal activity that has been reported within its walls since it became a museum.
Sarah Morris, organizer with the Windsor Jane’s Walk Festival, said previous walks in Amherstburg helped make both Amherstburg and Essex County regular stops on the spring tour.
“It was so well received that we now have a county weekend,” said Morris.
Reiner said much of the information on her walk was taken from court records, personal accounts and from The Amherstburg Echo newspaper.
Reiner’s stops included locations on Ramsay St., Murray St., Dalhousie St., King’s Navy Yard Park and Richmond St. Rum running and the town’s history in that era was included, with Reiner also noting the town’s first LCBO was operated by a woman in the area where Garage Gym is now.
The Murray St. fire of 1875 was touched on, with Reiner noting that the buildings where the Artisan Grill and Burger 67 now operate out of were spared. She outlined the historic case of Patrick Fitzpatrick, who was wrongly convicted of assaulting a child, and also told the tale of a murder that took place along Dalhousie St. in the 19th Century.
A mysterious fire of a sawmill that was located along the waterfront where the north end of Navy Yard Park currently is was also part of Reiner’s tour.
Candlelight tours were held Friday night at the Park House Museum while the “Spooky Jane’s Walk” went through last Saturday night. While it is Amherstburg’s oldest home, it is arguable one of the most haunted, Bezaire told the group.
Since it became a museum in 1973, Bezaire said there have been experiences that not even staff has been able to explain. She noted it is the site of paranormal investigations by PO3 Paranormal and they have seen images in mirrors and of maids showing up in windows.
Staff have reported visitors have spotted a woman in a black dress on the museum’s second floor. There have also been reports of footprints being heard from the second floor, despite no one being up there.
The “Spooky Jane’s Walk” continues with stops in Windsor next weekend. Those include “Sandwich’s First Residents and First Residence” Oct. 25 from 11 a.m.-12 noon and “Multi-Unit Housing: What Are We So Afraid Of?” Oct. 25 from 4-5 p.m.
For more information, visit www.windsorjaneswalk.ca.
The “Misdeeds and Mystery in a Small Town” walk returns Oct. 30, this time as a fundraiser for the Marsh Historical Collection.
That night’s one-hour walk starts at 7 p.m. outside the Marsh Historical Collection’s location at 80 Richmond St. in Amherstburg Tickets are $10 and people can register by calling 519-736-9191 or e-mailing research@marshcollection.org.
The publiccan also obtain more information about the Marsh Historical Collection by visiting www.marshcollection.org.
Candlelight tours are also planned for this Friday and Saturday evenings at the Park House Museum with this weekend’s theme being “Legends and Lanterns.” Tours are at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Space is limited and to reserve a spot on one of the tours, call 519-736-2511 or e-mail parkhousemuseum@gmail.com. More information is also on www.parkhousemuseum.com.
Cost is $12 per adult, children and seniors $8 or $35 per family.
Sold out “Spooky Jane’s Walk” events enjoyed in Amherstburg
By Ron Giofu
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