|
| In 1808, these walls stood just 25 feet from the crashing waves. Today, the water is nowhere to be found. |
Standing 25 meters (82 feet) tall on the Toronto Islands, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is the city's oldest landmark. While it is now a peaceful spot for beachgoers, it was once a lonely, wind-swept outpost that witnessed Toronto's first and most famous unsolved murder.
Sofistikateit Visual Archive
|
| By JK Liu, CC BY-SA 4.0 The lighthouse as it stands today |
The Shifting Sands of Time
One of the most fascinating secrets of Gibraltar Point isn’t just its ghost—it’s the land itself. When this lighthouse was first lit in September 1808, it stood a mere 8 meters (25 feet) from the crashing waves of Lake Ontario.Today, if you visit, you’ll find it "stranded" nearly 175 meters (600 feet) inland. Over the last two centuries, shifting sands and silt from the Scarborough Bluffs have physically expanded the island, wrapping the tower in a lush forest and moving the shoreline further and further away.
The Royal Beginning
The first lighthouse keeper, John Paul Radelmüller, was not your average sailor. Born in Bavaria, he spent twenty years as a royal servant in England, attending to the brother of King George III. Seeking a quieter life, he moved to the Town of York (now Toronto) and became the lighthouse keeper in 1809.The First Light: When it opened, the tower was only 16 meters (52 feet) tall. It burned 200 gallons of sperm whale oil every year to keep the light visible for kilometers across the lake.
The Extension: In 1832, the lighthouse was raised to its current height of 25 meters (82 feet) using limestone shipped from Kingston. If you look closely at the off-white blocks near the top, you can see the subtle "seam" where the stones meet.
Thick Walls: The walls at the base are nearly 2 meters (6 feet) thick, designed to withstand the brutal winter storms and ice floes of the Great Lakes.
The Night of the Cold Case
On the night of January 2, 1815, Radelmüller vanished. Legend says he was visited by soldiers from nearby Fort York who were looking for his famous home-brewed beer.The Dispute: A fight broke out—possibly because the beer ran out or was "watered down." The soldiers allegedly chased Radelmüller up the spiral wooden stairs of the lighthouse.
The Mystery: He was never seen alive again. The soldiers were eventually caught and tried for murder, but they were acquitted because no body could be found.
The Discovery: Nearly 80 years later, in 1893, the fourth lighthouse keeper found a human jawbone and bits of a wooden coffin buried in the sand just 150 meters (500 feet) from the tower.
|
|
Standing guard over two centuries of secrets, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse remains Toronto’s oldest—and most mysterious—silent witness.
|
The Specter of Gibraltar Point
For over a century, visitors and keepers have reported strange occurrences. Some claim to see a ghostly light in the lantern room when no lamp is lit, while others hear the sound of heavy footsteps slowly climbing the 13th step of the spiral staircase.
Whether it is a ghost or just the wind through the 200-year-old limestone, the lighthouse remains a haunting reminder of Toronto's early, rugged history. As of December 2025, it serves as a permanent anchor on the ever-shifting sands, reminding us that some mysteries are never meant to be solved.
Resources:
Toronto Public Library. History of Gibraltar Point.
Goethe-Institut Canada. German Traces - J.P. Radelmüller.
Parks Canada. Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 9.
The Paranormal Seekers. Investigations at Gibraltar Point.
No comments:
Post a Comment