THE WAY HOME (INSIGHT POST): THE GHOST OF GIBRALTAR POINT LIGHTHOUSE
The Ghost of Gibraltar Point Lighthouse
Insight into the ghost story from the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse used in THE WAY HOME Season 2 on HALLMARK CHANNEL.
If you're a local you may already know this story. It is after all one of “the most haunted places in Ontario” if you’re not local you might want to buckle up for the ride. And before we dive into the pond there may be spoilers ahead.
The lighthouse used in Season 2 of The Way Home isn’t just a set design, it's an actual lighthouse on the Toronto Islands known as Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. Episode 3 we see Kat learn about the lighthouse and the Landry family’s part in building it from Elijah. In present time we see Rita giving out Haunted Walking Tour fliers and later Kat and Elliot remembering their field trips and the memory of the legend “A tortured soul has haunted lighthouse point for hundreds of years waiting to avenge his execution. At night you can still hear the clinking of his chains, as not even death could set this criminal free…” Later, in Episode 7 we learn that Thomas and Susannah are hiding Jacob in the lighthouse which Cyrus paid for, Thomas was the lighthouse keeper and Jacob appointed him. Jacob came up with the plan to skim off the shipments to the British. Jacob is the reason the hidden room exists; he and Thomas built it together.
The Ghost of Gibraltar Point Lighthouse
Gibraltar Point Lighthouse located on the Toronto Islands was built during the year 1808 and completed in 1809. Legend suggests it is haunted by the first lightkeeper John Paul Radelmüller (aka Radan Muller).
Allegedly, one especially cold night on January 2, 1815 JP disappeared. The legend goes on that a local regiment of soldiers located nearby at Fort York came to the lighthouse in search of JP’s bootlegged beer. They were already very drunk and an argument broke out which ended in JP’s murder. In an attempt to cover their tracks the soldiers dismembered his corpse and hid the remains somewhere nearby.
John Paul Radelmüller was born in Bavaria. He had brown hair, blue eyes and stood 5’10” tall. After immigrating to England as a young man he served as a personal assistant to the Duke of Gloucester brother to King George III for sixteen years before attempting to return to Germany. When that didn’t work out he returned to the royal household working for the Duke of Kent, future father of Queen Victoria whom he accompanied to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1799 where the Duke served as Commander in Chief of the British forces for a short time. He briefly worked as a steward for the Lieutenant Governor. In 1804 he sought a land grant but after that didn’t pan out he served as an interpreter, taught school, penned a translation of government sponsored agricultural tract, then finally July 24, 1809 was appointed first light keeper of Gibraltar Point where he served throughout the war of 1812. John Paul married Magdalene Burkholder in 1810 and they had a daughter named Arabella. For all intents and purposes JP was a well regarded, harmless and benevolent man.
There’s plenty of additional documentation to be found in the links below. I'll let you make up your own mind on what really became of the first light keeper at Gibraltar Point.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar_Point_Lighthouse
https://eamonnokeeffe1812.com/
Images PC Hallmark The Way Home
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