The Ghost of Frost Park

Located on Main Street in Yarmouth, NS is a parcel of land known as Frost Park. 

Being centrally located, Frost Park is great spot for relaxing, taking pictures, holding outdoor events, and if you are lucky, you may even get to meet one of the parks resident ghosts! 

Why would a public park be haunted you ask? Well, up until 1860, it was used by the early settlers as the public burial ground!  

By 1859 it became apparent to town officials that because of the growing population, and for health reasons, it was no longer acceptable to continue to bury the dead in what was quickly becoming the centre of town. 

In 1861 Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery was laid out as a replacement, and some of the bodies were moved to Mountain cemetery, so a water fountain could be installed, others remained in the park. 

Although the numbers of unmarked graves in Frost Park are unknown, there are some headstones that still exist, marking the graves of those who were once laid to rest. 

On May 12, 1971, an article written by Walter B. Fitzgerald was published in the Vanguard. Fitzgerald related several stories that were told to him by Tom Surette of Yarmouth.

Surette, who is described as being very superstitious, claimed to have met and spoken with a ghost in Frost Park on several occasions. The ghost was described as being a stout, very distinguished looking man of about 70. He wore a heavy coat, and a smaller one could be seen beneath.

“The gentleman also wore a brown, soft hat and he smoked a pipe.”

The ghost asked Surette if he was familiar with the Tusket Islands and when Surette replied yes, the ghost told him there was a treasure worth almost a million dollars buried on Eastern Bar Island.

The ghost wanted Surette to help him dig up the treasure. Surette attempted to follow the directions provided by the ghost, but strange, inexplicable things happened each time he visited the location. Young trees fell down in front of him, food disappeared, and a white and red dog was seen on the island with no apparent means of getting there.

On a return trip, a flock of at least 300 crows was observed flying around a tree. When Surette and his son tried to shove a pole down a hole at the base of this tree, the bottom could not be reached. The article concluded with the note that Surette was planning another trip to the island.

When Stuart McLean, archivist for Yarmouth County Museum, was shown Babin’s digital picture, he said the clothes look to be too modern for a ghost and that he’s inclined to think the image is a real person. However, McLean does point out a second form in the photo, (just above and to the right, of Babin’s man) that appears to be a face sporting a large moustache and bowler hat.

“The image is more in keeping with ghosts - it's more of an outline and it blends into the background,” said McLean. “The moustache and hat would date to the early 1900s,” he added.

McLean said accounts of ghosts appearing in Yarmouth, “usually come and go with the fog.”

In August of 2002, a lady by the name of Theresa Babin decided to stroll through the park on her lunch hour and toke a few pictures. 

She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary when she snapped a shot of the Frost Park fountain in Yarmouth with her Olympus 3.2 Mg digital camera. It’s only when she reviewed her pictures that she noticed something very peculiar.

When she saw her photos on the screen, what appeared to be a man in period costume was hiding behind the shrubbery. 

She swears the man was not there when she took the picture and after hearing tales from several others about ghosts in Frost Park, she’s wondering if this is what her camera recorded.

Sources:

Yarmouth Vanguard

historicplaces.ca

Photo Credit: Theresa Babin 

If you are from Nova Scotia, and have experienced something paranormal, or a event that happened to someone you know, we would love to share your story! 

The Legend of "Piper's Pond"

Located on the grounds of the Haliburton House, in Windsor NS, lies a body of water known as “Piper’s Pond.” Legend has it that it was named after a Scottish soldier who drowned there.

There are many different versions to this story, that from a kilted Piper drowning, trying to retrieve his watch from the pond, to a Scottish Piper from the Black Watch, who died from a fall on his horse. 

 

"Piper's Pond"

My favorite version tells the story of a young soldier, who fell in love with a young woman. 

He was a piper in the Highland Regiment, stationed at Fort Edward. Whenever he could, he would sneak away from the Fort, and meet his true love by a pond. 

Soon news came to the Fort that the regiment would be shipping out. The young couple immediately made plans to meet by the pond and run away together. 

On the night in question, the young man tried to sneak away from the fort with his bagpipes tucked under his arm. As fate would have it the sergeant of the regiment happened to catch the young piper as he was trying to leave. 

Fortunately the sergeant was a kind hearted soul and after much discussion, the young soldier was finally allowed to go and meet his true love. The sergeant assumed that the soldier would simply be meeting her to say his last farewell before his regiment left Windsor.

In the meantime, the delay meant that the young woman had been waiting by the pond for a very long time, and she began to believe that her lover was not coming after all. Her heart was broken, and after walking around the pond six times, she was so distraught that she decided to end her life. She wrapped heavy rocks in her long flowing dress, and then threw herself in the water.

When the young soldier arrived at the pond he did not see his lover. He circled the pond seven times after which he finally saw her face staring up at him from the water’s depths. In his anguish, he took up his bagpipes and while playing a mournful tune, he marched straight into the pond in order to be with his true love for eternity.

Legend has it, “that if you run around the pond thirteen times in a counter-clockwise direction, six times for her and seven for him, or once for every full moon in a year, the piper will rise up out of Piper’s Pond and begin to play the bagpipes”.

Another legend, as told by folklorist Helen Creighton, reports that local children were told that if they ran around the pond twenty times, a soldier would emerge from its depths on horseback. The children ran nineteen times around the pond, but lost their courage on the twentieth.

Sources:

www.geocaching.com

Ghost Stories of Canada

Helen Creighton

If you are from Nova Scotia, and have experienced something paranormal, or a event that happened to someone you know, we would love to share your story!