Gibraltar Point Lighthouse

The construction of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse began in 1803 on a site chosen by John Graves 

Simcoe, founder of Toronto and Lieutenant Governor.  Erected to help assist with the safety of maritime vessels sailing on Lake Ontario, the lighthouse began operating in 1808. With a distinctive hexagonal base the original tower was 52 ft (16m) high, built using Queenstown limestone, shipped to the site by barge. Eventually the lighthouse tower was heightened to 84ft (25m).

After almost a 150 years of service the lighthouse was decommissioned and replaced by an automatic electrical signal located to the east of Toronto Island. Though it once stood right on the shore, the lighthouse is now about 100m from the waters edge, as over the years sand has built up in front of the structure. 

The stories of hauntings at the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse may have had their beginnings on January 2nd 1815 when the first lighthouse keeper, John Rademuller vanished under suspicious circumstances.  It is said that Rademuller use to brew his own beer and perhaps even smuggled whiskey from America.  He was popular with the soldiers of Fort York who came for his wares.  On the fateful night of his disappearance it is alleged that two or three soldiers came from the fort and asked for some of Rademuller's brew. He apparently refused them and in their anger they killed him. The accounts of how they may have killed him range from beating him with their belts, stabbing him with a bayonet, flinging him from the tower of the lighthouse to chasing him up the lighthouse stairs where he fell.  It is believed that after his death, the soldiers chopped up his body and buried the pieces in different places around the lighthouse. 

As was apparently reported in the York Gazette January 14th 1815.

“Died on the evening of the 2nd of January, J.P. Radan Muller, keeper of the lighthouse on Gibraltar Point. From circumstances there is moral proof of his having been murdered. If the horrid crime admits of aggravation when the inoffensive and benevolent character of the unfortunate sufferer are considered, his murder will be pronounced most barbarous and inhuman. The parties lost with him are the proposed perpetrators and are in prison.”

It was rumoured that two soldiers, John Henry and John Blowman, were tried for the murder but acquitted. 

April 15 1815  York Gazette printed the outcome of the trial: “No conviction of the supposed murderers of the late J.P. Radan Muller.”

The mystery of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse grew more bizarre in 1893 when George Durnan, the fourth lighthouse keeper, discovered part of a coffin and a jawbone buried near the lighthouse keepers cottage. 

Over the years there have been countless reports of paranormal occurrences in and around the lighthouse. Orbs and strange mists have been seen and photographed coming from within the tower.  Strange echoes and footsteps up the stairs have been heard by visitors and subsequent lighthouse keepers.  Sometimes the sound of dragging can be heard as well as a moaning. Shadowy figures have been seen by visitors to the lighthouse flitting and darting around the tower.  

When I visited the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse I heard a thud coming from inside the apparently deserted tower.  It was loud enough to hear from the pathway that makes its way through the foliage towards the red door. It's worth a trip to beautiful Toronto Island to visit this marvellous beacon.