(Published with permission from Discover Saint John)
Saint John’s streets are alive with history, but it’s the whispers of the past that truly capture the imagination. Beneath the surface of this historic port city lies a world of eerie legends, sordid battles, and ghostly encounters waiting to be uncovered.
Dare to explore the haunted side of Saint John?
Disclaimer: While this blog is meant for entertainment purposes and the ghost stories are all speculation, the historical facts provided for each location are true and may be upsetting to some due to the nature of the content.
Partridge Island
NOTE: Partridge Island can only be accessed via a booked, guided excursion with River Bay Adventures.
Partridge Island, just off the coast of Saint John, holds a dark and haunted past. First established as a quarantine station in 1785, the island received its largest influx of immigrants in the 1840s during the Irish Potato Famine. In 1800, a signal station, gun platform, and barracks were built on the island, with the island battery acting as a principal point of defense in the War of 1812. During the famine, 2000 people were overseen by the island’s physicians, with 601 of them dying at Partridge Island during the Typhus Epidemic of 1847. The battery was used again during the Fenian Raids of 1866, and during the First and Second World Wars.
Spooky Speculations: Visitors on a guided excursion to Partridge Island often speak of an overwhelming sense of dread as soon as they step onto its shores, as if the island itself remembers the suffering that took place there. There are tales of voices carried on the wind, and sudden cold drafts in the dead of summer.
