Danielle_E.
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I came across this and sent it to Lyne, my co-worker who will be with me, and you should have heard her. She said "can we get out of this" lol. I said no way we are staying the entire night on Oct. 25th, we are participating int the haunted walk and in the seance.
The second to last paragraph.... iis the room we are staying in while we are there on the 25th the "Warnen's Quarters" Wonder if he will appear to us
The second to last paragraph.... iis the room we are staying in while we are there on the 25th the "Warnen's Quarters" Wonder if he will appear to us
The Carleton County Gaol (a kind of jail) opened in 1862. Although it was esteemed as a progressive, modern facility in 1862 by 1972, however, it was considered utterly inadequate for housing prisoners. The jail accommodated 150 prisoners.
In 1972, John Wylie made a proposal to the regional government to convert the prison into a hostel. The prison was renovated, and on August 2, 1973, the Ottawa International Hostel opened in the presence of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 2002, the Ottawa International Hostel's name changed to the Ottawa Jail Hostel, preserved as a historical landmark.
Lyndelle Lebruin and other members of the Center for Diversity, Pluralism and Inclusion's Mentor Program at Plattsburgh State University recently experienced their first overnight trip at the Ottawa Jail Hostel. On their arrival, Lebruin stated that the prison resembled an ordinary old building. With the exception of the sign off to the side of the entrance, the hostel's true identity remained a secret to the first-time visitors.
"It wasn't first class facilities," said Lebruin. " The hostel felt a bit strange because it was a building that people visited and toured everyday, and it was once also a place where people were imprisoned and hanged."
Vanessa Elton-Smith, a hostel international member, explained that although the jail was renovated, its solitary confinement and some of the cells were maintained for the tour. The Jail tour highlights many architectural and security details and gives an idea of what it was like to be a prisoner or a guard in this facility. Elton-Smith said that prisoners who returned were amazed at how big the Ottawa Jail Hostel was because it doesn't look very big from the outside. Once inside it is cavernous.
Numerous suicides and accidental deaths, some quite suspicious, occurred at the penitentiary. Patrick James Whelan was hanged on Feb. 11, 1869, for the murder of the Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee (Apr. 7, 1968). McGee was a Father of Confederation. William George Seabrook was also executed Jan. 10, 1933 for the shooting death of Paul Lavigne (Dec. 11, 1931). Lavigne was shot during the robbery of the Domestic Service Station, where he was employed. Eugene Larmont was executed Mar. 27, 1946, for the shooting death of Thomas Stoneman (Oct. 2, 1945). Stoneman was a police detective who intercepted Larmont during a robbery. These are the only three executions on record and all were by hanging.
Lebruin explained that prisoners were placed in small cells without bathroom and only bunk beds on opposite walls. They were also hung in their cells. The floors were short and weren't very far apart.
The visiting males and females from Plattsburgh were separated, males slept in the cells, while the females were given regular rooms. The hostel didn't have that warm homey feeling because it had the cold sensation of a jail. There were bathrooms for everyone, though the light switch had a timer on it. There were nine floors, but we used only two floors. The other floors were apart of the tour with rooms such as the solitary confinement room.
Our guide told us that once a woman was making fun of the tour guide while she was walking towards the door and it slammed in her face and broke all her fingers on one hand. Also a group of people on a tour started to bleed from their nose after passing the cell of a man that was hanged. During the tour, the guide said that she have seen the ghost of people who died or was hung on the floor she lives on.
The ghost of a little girl and old man has been seen on the floor. The warden lived there with his family on a section of a higher floor. Old prisoners often don't want to talk about everything that happened to them and get very scared when they pass the warden's door after so many years. Prisoners were chained to the floor and fed through a small opening in the door. One prisoner was there for six months at a time.
Although the Carleton County Gaol is haunted with the misery, depression, and sorrow, it a great place for cheap accommodation right in the heart of Ottawa. The lure of spending the night in an authentic living piece of history and to have a very unique experience at a bona fide Ottawa jail serve as attractions for the thrill seeker or penny-pinching student.
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