Gibraltar Point Lighthouse — Canada's oldest lighthouse and its murdered keeper

The Gibraltar Point Lighthouse on the Toronto Islands is the oldest existing lighthouse on the Great Lakes, built in 1808. The lighthouse's first keeper, John Paul Radelmuller, was murdered on January 2, 1815, allegedly by soldiers from nearby Fort York who were angered when he refused to serve them more beer from the bootlegging operation he ran on the side. According to the legend, the soldiers killed Radelmuller, dismembered his body, and buried the pieces across the island. When human remains — including a jawbone and part of a coffin — were discovered near the lighthouse in 1893, the legend gained physical evidence. Since then, the lighthouse has been one of Toronto's most enduring haunted landmarks. Visitors and park staff on the Toronto Islands have reported seeing a man in early 19th-century clothing near the lighthouse at night, hearing footsteps on the iron stairs inside the tower, and seeing a light in the lantern room when the lighthouse is no longer operational. The lighthouse's location on the Toronto Islands — a chain of small, car-free islands in Toronto Harbour, connected to the city only by ferry — gives it a feeling of isolation that seems incongruous with its proximity to Canada's largest city.