And we're back for day two!
Today’s post is about the Prince George Hotel. Today's site is interesting in that if you've ever been to the Tir Nan Og Irish Pub, you've already been here! But in the event you weren't aware, the building is widely thought amongst the Kingston community to be the site of some truly unsettling stuff. During its years of operation the cleaning staff would see and hear peculiar things like lights and radios turning on and off, and doors seemingly slamming on their own. Some guests and staff even reported seeing the shadowy figure of a woman, who some believed to be the ghost of young Lily Herchemer, a guest of the hotel in the early 1800s.
Lily supposedly had a romance with a sailor who worked at the nearby harbour, an arrangement she knew her parents would not care for. She was known to hang a lantern from her windowsill to let the sailor know that it was safe to come and visit. One night this started a fire in which she perished. Guests for decades afterwards reported feeling her presence, a guest who maybe never truly left.
The hotel stands today downtown along Ontario Street, close to Kingston’s waterfront. The proximity to water was ideal for the local bootleggers who ran liquor up and down the lake during Prohibition. The building, constructed of limestone (Kingston's not called the Limestone City for nothing), was built over 195 years ago in 1809 and in the years since has been used at various times as a warehouse, saloon, and the aforementioned hotel. Maybe check it out if you're ever in the area this week! Happy Hallo-week, and stay tuned for more ghostly and spooky tales.
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