Haunted Barns! Part 2
PRESENCES INSPIRE PRESERVATION
by Peter Roe
It has often been noted that ghosts haunt any location where life has existed, be it a house, a hospital, a prison, an asylum, a battleground or a theatre. In 2018 The Searcher Group showed the world evidence that even Town Halls were not immune to phantom presences. So it should come as no surprise that farm properties – including barn structures – are also not exceptional in terms of being ghost-free.
Over the course of an 18-month long intensive investigation of a rural Ontario property,* members of The Searcher Group became quite familiar with the residents of an ages-old barn, lurking inside and out of it. Beginning with a game-changing photograph of a young male face thrusting itself into an investigator’s camera lens, to shadowy human figures inspecting the team’s parked cars, to disembodied footfalls in the abandoned loft, our experiences with barn ghosts were numerous, but more importantly, fascinating and uniquely educational in terms of a deeper appreciation of the area’s history. [*Meeting Place of the Dead, by Richard Palmisano, Dundurn Press, 2014.]
By carefully and respectfully documenting ghosts, a serious research team is forced to delve into our collective past in order to learn why some humans have opted to remain past the expiration of their bodies. Acknowledging those who have gone before us all by sharing their stories serves to enrich our culture and understanding of our young country’s origins; in The Searcher Group’s case, one long-term investigation* actually rectified the history of an age-old property! [*Ghosts: An Investigation into a True Canadian Haunting, by Richard Palmisano, Dundurn press, 2009.]
When one considers how much use barn structures endure throughout their existence, is it any wonder that people who spent a great deal of their physical time on earth inside them might return once again in spirit? Though not likely as highly active as a hospital setting, barns too have been locations of genuine joy, deep sorrow and even quiet contemplation – meaningful, powerful emotions that tend to invite our spirit memories back to recall, both while alive and sometimes even after death.
There are many stories from our past yet to be discovered and the preservation of Ontario’s barns ensures that someday we may have a chance to learn from them.
Peter Roe is the Assistant Director of The Searcher Group (est. 1979) and Director of Mortal Coil Paranormal. He is the author of Haunted Town Halls [Quagmire Press, 2018] and co-author of an upcoming book [2024] with Searcher Group founder and author, Richard Palmisano.
To all OBP blog readers: If you have not already done so, please support not-for-profit, volunteer-run, Ontario Barn Preservation by becoming a member! Also, if you are in the business of repairing, reconstructing, engineering, designing, etc. old barns, please consider advertising your amazing skills on our Barn Specia-List. If you own an old barn that you would like to offer to someone else, or you are hoping to obtain one for your own project, make use of our Barn Exchange page. If you own an old barn and would like to save it in the virtual world for future old barn lovers, historians and researchers, check out our Your Old Barn Study page. And please send us your own barn story, photos and/or art for submission as a OBP blog posting for the enjoyment and education of all barn lovers! info@ontariobarnpreservation.com
