Fort Wellington has stood tall since the early 1800s, withstanding the might of the War of 1812 and continues to be open to the public.

The fort was initially built to create a better defence around the St. Lawrence River. Without the fort’s barricade, the war would’ve probably ended very differently.

After the War of 1812, the fort was abandoned until 1838 when Canadian rebels and American sympathizers threatened peace. Fast forward to today, Fort Wellington stands as a historical facility, open to the public for tours and re-enactments.

However, something is roaming the halls of Fort Wellington, slamming doors, startling staff members and even making dark appearances.

Some say it’s a colour sergeant from the war named Terrence Anderson, others believe that it could be something more sinister.

The following accounts are real encounters from stories taken online.

According to the three different sources, a “weird event” occurred in the fort’s blockhouse, an old soldier appeared to a visiting re-enactor/interpreter. The story goes that the unknown soldier came out of a dark corner and introduced himself as Terrence Anderson and announced his rank, regiment and that he was from the conflict of 1812. What happened after the ghostly encounter is unknown.

Terrence is a well known presence at the fort but it’s not certain whether he is only specter haunting the grounds. Terrence, according to staff, is known to make loud banging noises in empty rooms, slam doors during fife sessions in the blockhouse and some staff are even too scared to go near the dark corners in the evening.

Another story from 2002 comes from an individual named Kyle Upton who recalled an incident where motion sensor alarms detected that the blockhouse had been broken into. Three people were sent to investigate the area and try to catch the intruder in the act.

The three, watched as the alarm panel showed that someone was indeed intruding on the upper floor of the blockhouse and raced to catch the person in the act. They moved carefully up the stairs and one of the three remained in the middle of the blockhouse while the remaining two circled the perimeter hoping to trap whoever broke in.

Think about that one scene where Mel Gibson and Joaquin Pheonix ran around the house to catch the alien in Signs.

While the one in the middle was keeping tabs on all three footsteps in the room, he suddenly heard other footsteps close to the exit of the catwalk. He was ready to pounce on the intruder when suddenly he was met with no person, but just the sound of footsteps.

In our final encounter, one unnamed individual worked at Fort Wellington during the ‘80s and stated that they have encountered a number of strange occurrences.

In one of these occurrences, along with two other staff members, they noticed someone walk through the gate and around the far side of the blockhouse despite the gate being closed and locked.

They assumed it was another staff member coming to unlock the gate, so two of them walked around to the blockhouse door and found that no one was there. When they returned, the one who stayed behind confirmed that he saw no one leave the area.

In another account, the same individual was tasked with rewinding some 16 mm films in the blockhouse’s modern theatre on the second floor. According to the story, a white cat would constantly hang around the projection room and during this one instance, the cat went stiff and suddenly ran off as fast as it could.

This made them uncomfortable and they decided to inspect the blockhouse for intruders with a couple other staff members. When they entered the barrack room, they found the cat with its fur standing on end and hissing at the southwest corner of the room.

While approaching the feline, they noticed something in the corner of their eyes moving quickly in the direction that the cat was hissing at. This resulted in them running out of the room as quickly as possible.

If you visit Fort Wellington, you can participate in a walking tour of the grounds and watch one of the famous war re-enactments. But just remember, if you encounter your own supernatural event, you’re probably just the latest victim.

Check back each week of October to read another harrowing haunted tale from eastern Ontario and check off your list by visiting each site this month, if you dare.