The haunting history of Hamilton House on Henderson Highway

Hamilton House is pictured in this undated photo. (University of Manitoba)

A historic Winnipeg home with a haunted heritage is officially off the market.

Hamilton House, located at 185 Henderson Hwy., has been conditionally sold as of last week.

The home boasts a storied history that includes ties to spiritualism, paranormal research and the impacts of the Spanish flu.

However, despite its significance to the heritage of Winnipeg, the historic home’s future could hang in the balance.

The history of Hamilton House

Named for Dr. Thomas Glendenning Hamilton, the Elmwood home represents over 100 years of Winnipeg’s history.

Hamilton lived in the house from 1910 until his death in 1935.

He was a pillar of the community—a respected physician, a member of the Winnipeg School Board, and an MLA for the Manitoba legislature.

However, Hamilton was best known for the paranormal investigations he conducted at his home.

“I think this came as a result of one of his sons dying as a result of the Spanish influenza,” explained Jim Smith, who is on the board of Heritage Winnipeg.

“I think that changed the whole family. I guess he wanted to contact the soul of his dead son and that led to the whole psychic research stuff.”

During his years of research, Hamilton conducted thousands of séances at Hamilton House, with many notable guests joining in, including author Arthur Conan Doyle and former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Hamilton used the best-available cameras to document these sessions, with images that show mysterious white clouds and other paranormal phenomena that are still available for public consumption.

“They had regular mediums there,” Smith said. “There’s some people that believe the house is haunted to this day.”

Following Hamilton’s death, the Henderson Highway home remained in the possession of the Hamilton family until the 1970s. Since then, it’s been taken over by several different people and organizations, with its latest sale coming through last week.

The future of Hamilton House

In the present day, Hamilton House faces threats much greater than paranormal activity.

Since the home does not have heritage status, any owner that takes over has the right to do with it as they please, including demolition.

Smith noted it’s up to the homeowner to get heritage status, as it can’t be done by an outside group.

“Of course, there’s the worry about a house like that being torn down and then an apartment block or whatever could be built on the site,” Smith said.

“I mean, there’s nothing that could stop that. You couldn’t stop it. That’s just the reality.”

Kate Solar, who is Dr. Hamilton’s great-great-granddaughter, said the home is personally meaningful to her.

“The house, I’m really personally invested in it, because it’s my ancestors,” she said, adding that she’s in the process of making a documentary about Hamilton House.

“But it’s also a story that really intersects so many aspects of Canadian history and some that aren’t widely known, like the Spanish flu epidemic, this history of science and religion and belief in spiritualism and the way that those dynamics shifted in the early to mid 20th century.”

Solar said she hopes the house remains standing and that it continues to serve as a testament to the history of Winnipeg. She added she would also like to see the home further memorialized through signage or a museum.

“It’s kind of like an island on Henderson Highway. All the buildings around it are quite commercial and industrial and much newer buildings,” she said.

“So, it really stands as a testament to what that area used to be like.”

Saving historic homes

For Smith, it’s essential to preserve historic homes like Hamilton House because to understand the present, we need to know about the past.

“Our history is important. How did we get to the place we are now?” he said.

“I think it’s important so that in the future there are representatives. So, people can see, you know, 50 years from now, 100 years from now.”

Smith added that it’s necessary to advocate for the preservation of historic monuments, because once something is gone, it can’t be brought back.

“You need to act. If you think history is important…you’ve got to act before it disappears,” he said.

“This is the thing—it’s no good complaining after the fact.”

Smith said it would be a real shame if Hamilton House were to ever be demolished, noting the house has garnered not only local but also international attention.

CTV News has reached out but has not heard back about the home’s new owner or their plans for Hamilton House.

Paranormal activity in Winnipeg

Hamilton House isn’t the only site known for paranormal activity in Winnipeg. In fact, there’s an entire group dedicated to investigating these phenomena.

It’s called the Winnipeg Paranormal Group, and it runs private investigations into paranormal activity in Manitoba.

According to Kelly Smith and Ashley Barnes, who run the group, Winnipeg is a hot spot for haunted sites, including the Fort Garry Hotel, Dalnavert Museum, Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Burton Cummings Theatre and Ross House Museum.

Through their investigations, they’ve discovered evidence that includes photos, audio responses, and personal experiences.

“We’ve done a lot of things in the city,” Smith said.

“We’ve done a lot of private investigations, public investigations. We have investigated a lot of the well-known places: Fort Garry, Lower Fort Garry, Fort La Reine, you name it. But we’ve also investigated places across Canada…We just keep finding more and more evidence.”

Smith and Barnes said they know of Hamilton House but haven’t been able to investigate themselves.

“It’s very well known in this field,” Smith said.

“It’s just an example of people leading the spiritual investigations…It’s just another example of why Winnipeg is well known for the spiritual paranormal field.”