Discovery Harbour – Cemetery Photography by Chantal Larochelle

Earlier this year, my mother and I visited Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishene, Ontario, a historic naval and military site with a small cemetery and a reputation for ghostly sightings.

The cemetery was at the top of my list, but there was plenty of history to discover along the way.

Discovery Harbour. Penetanguishene ON ©2026

Discovery Harbour started as a British naval base at Penetanguishene Bay. The location was chosen because of its position on the Great Lakes.¹ Although the bay was identified as a possible site as early as 1793, construction didn’t begin until 1817.¹˒² Ships, sailors, soldiers, civilian workers, and their families all called this remote outpost home.¹

In 1828, a British military garrison moved from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene, joining the naval base.² The Navy left in 1834, but the military stayed until the site closed in 1856.²˒³

The historic buildings and replica ships are still there to explore today. We didn’t have time to see everything, though, since I was eager to find the cemetery.

I asked at the ticket desk where to find it as soon as we arrived. The staff marked it on a map, and a staff member, in full costume, offered to walk my mother and I there. Along the way, he told us a bit about the site’s history.

He also pointed out the replica ships in the harbour and told us that visitors can go aboard them. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to check out the ships, but I enjoyed hearing the history of how the site went from a naval base to a military outpost.

Haunted

Staff and visitors have reported strange sightings at Discovery Harbour for years.⁴

Some of the stories include children looking out of a window and an apparition of a woman in a white dress.⁴ Staff also reportedly saw something sitting on a chair inside one of the buildings. When they left and came back, it had disappeared.⁴

Staff eventually gathered these stories together and started offering Ghost Tours.⁴

There have been some strange reports involving photographs, too. One visitor captured what appeared to be a woman in a blue dress reflected in a mirror, while another photo showed a skull-like image on a wall.⁴ Others have captured translucent orbs, and a film crew working on Haunted Huronia reportedly filmed something crossing in front of the camera in the Keating Building.⁴

Old Garrison Hospital Cemetery

The Old Garrison Hospital Cemetery, also known as the Penetanguishene Military Hospital Cemetery, is tucked away between historic buildings, at the bottom of a sloping hill.

There are only two gravestones here, but they commemorate three people.

Something I noticed was that each original gravestone has a second stone beside it, with the same inscription engraved on it. The original stones have weathered quite a bit over the years, making some of the writing difficult to read. The extra stones make it much easier to read the names and epitaphs.

Our guide told us a little about the three people buried here.

The McGarraty brothers, John and Samuel, were privates in the 79th Regiment, travelling along the muddy Penetanguishene Road in June 1831. One brother became ill and was left in the care of the other. When their fellow soldiers returned with help, both brothers had died.¹

The story goes that fever killed one brother, while the other died from the terror of being left alone in the woods.¹

“ERECTED / By their Comrades / to the / MEMORY / of / Privates John and Samuel / McGarraty. Two Brothers / late of the 79^th ReG who / died on their march to / this Post on the 2^nd June / 1831 / John AGED 25 / Sam^l AGED 23 years / In the midst of life came Death”

Unfortunately, our guide wasn’t able to tell us much about Rosana McCabe, only that she died from an illness at just 10 years old and that her father had her buried here.

“ERECTED / by / Michael McCabe / In memory to his Dau / ghter Rosana McCabe / Who departed this / Life on the 3^rd April / 1839 Aged 10 Years / and 97 days / May the / Lord have mercy on her soul”

There may be more people buried here than we know.

Wooden markers rot away, and gravestones can become buried over time, so some graves may have been lost without a trace. These two remaining stones give us a glimpse into the lives of those buried at Discovery Harbour.

After chatting with the staff about my cemetery photography, our conversation turned to some of the other stories connected to the site. They told us about the Ghost Tours and Secrets of Séance events they offer. I haven’t had a chance to experience either one yet, but I’d love to return and hear some of these stories for myself.

Between the cemetery’s history and the reports of strange happenings around the site, Discovery Harbour has given me another reason to plan a return visit.

Thanks for reading!

References:

The History of Discovery Harbour | Discovery Harbour
Welcome to your digital tour of Discovery Harbour | Huronia Historical Parks
Naval and Military Establishments on Lake Huron | Ontario Plaques
Ghosts seem to reside at Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishene | Midland Mirror

Last weekend, my fiancé Chris and I spent the night at a haunted Airbnb. Since we’ve been engaged, it’s become an annual tradition to have a haunted holiday in October. Last year, we spent the night in room 105, the most haunted room at the Inn at the Falls in Bracebridge, Ontario. This year, we spent the night at the Beck House in Penetanguishene, Ontario.

The Beck House, built in 1885, is one of the oldest standing buildings in Simcoe County.¹ It was built by Charles Beck, a wealthy lumber magnate, for his wife Emelia and their nine children. Charles, who also went by the name Carl, was mayor of the town from 1892 to 1895. In 1903, he was the first person to buy an automobile in the area.² Sadly, two of his nine children died in the house, at a very young age. Emelia, their mother, also passed away young.³

Today the house has been converted into apartments for permanent residents, but two apartments on the top floor are available to rent through Airbnb. Many visitors to the Beck House have reported flickering lights, hearing footsteps, and unexplained knocking. Some have even heard disembodied voices, and have felt invisible hands tucking them in at night.

The Beck House, Penetanguishene ON ©2022

The house itself is just beautiful and is quite imposing as you come up the driveway toward it. The red brick, slate roof, and Queen Anne revival design give off elegant but spooky vibes.² The house was decorated for Halloween when we arrived, which added to the spooky atmosphere, with pumpkins on the stairs, and ravens perched on the veranda railing.

As you enter the house, you are greeted with large whiteboards that are covered in writing from visitors’ past. Here, people shared their experiences, thanked the hosts, or just marked that they were there. Some guests recommend what to keep watch for, like the doll in the green dress, or suggested other interesting places to visit in the area, like the Asylum Point Cemetery.

Walking up to our room, was like walking through time. The beautiful winding staircase, with its creaky steps and beautiful hardwood railing, almost seems to go up forever. Among a smattering of Halloween decor, were more historical pieces, like vintage dresses and a spindle wheel. Even more gorgeous antiques waited for us inside apartment 302.

The apartment is beautifully decorated with antique furniture and items. I especially loved the decor in the red room, with its gold cherub lamps, antique rocking horse, and a gorgeous dressing table complete with an antique mirror. There is also a little alcove in the living room area that is filled with vintage hats and hat boxes. All these little touches add so much to the space and the experience of staying there.

We checked into our room at about 6 p.m., and after briefly exploring the space and dropping off our things we headed out for supper. We made mental notes of the position of the doll in the green dress, just in case. We had a lovely supper at Flynn’s Public House, downtown. The downtown core looks lovely, but we didn’t have much time to explore it. After supper, we visited Discovery Harbour to experience Pumpkinferno, a display of meticulously hand-carved jack-o-lanterns. It was magical! Walking among hundreds of lit jack-o-lanterns while Halloween-themed music plays is the epitome of Halloween. There were also some haunted attractions there to visit like Grim Reaper’s Grove, Macabre Mansion, and the Ghost Ship. They even had a little cemetery set up. After enjoying some hot chocolate, we headed back to the Beck House and apartment 302.

The doll in the green dress had not moved, and nothing seemed to be out of place. We settled in the living room to decompress from the days’ travels and adventures. In the dining room, there is a notebook filled with previous guests’ experiences, I read a few while we had some snacks. We decided to spend some time alone in each of the rooms, to see if a spirit may want to reach out. I took the red room, while Chris took the green room. I read with the light on, now and then peeking at the rocking horse to see if it was moving. Chris sat in the dark in the green room, with only the light from his phone as he scrolled on social media. He didn’t experience anything either. After a while, he joined me in the red room. We decided we would spend the night in the green room, as we could hear another tenant’s TV below us. Then we retired to bed.

I don’t generally sleep well when we stay at haunted locations. I think it’s because I am afraid to miss out on seeing something supernatural happen. Eventually, I did fall asleep. Nothing peculiar happened, although. At one point during the night, Chris seemed to be having bad dreams. He was moving a lot in his sleep and even cried out. At exactly that moment I heard a creak in the floorboards. It sounded like it came from the doorway of the bedroom. We had gone to sleep with the door open. I didn’t see anything in the doorway. The rest of the night was uneventful.

In the morning, we packed our things and said goodbye to the Beck House, but we still needed to say goodbye to Carl and Emelia. After a nice big breakfast at Phil’s Casual Dining, we stopped in to visit the Presbyterian Cemetery.

At the back of this pretty little cemetery is the Beck Mausoleum. It’s a rather imposing structure, flanked on either side by lovely white planters. The door is firmly locked, with a charming cast iron gate protecting it. I’m not certain of who rests within the mausoleum, but I would think that Charles, Emelia, and some their children, if not all, are laid to rest here. I thanked Carl and Emelia for our lovely visit in their house and paid my respects. Directly in front of the mausoleum, there are many grave markers for later generations of Becks. This is the only mausoleum in this small cemetery, standing like a sentinel keeping watch.

We did visit a couple of other spots in Penetanguishene, but that will be a story for another day. I hope you enjoyed this Haunted Cemetery Road Trip story. Have you ever spent the night in a haunted hotel? Do you have any October traditions? I would love to read about them in the comments!

Happy October and as always, thank you for reading!

References:

Haunted Simcoe: The Beck House | Barrie 360
Carl Beck House | Penetanguishene Heritage
Facebook post, October 9, 2018 | The Beck House

Cemetery Photography by Chantal Larochelle

Tag: Discovery Harbour

October Cemetery Stories: Discovery Harbour

Haunted

Old Garrison Hospital Cemetery

Haunted Cemetery Road Trip: The Beck House