Former dolls’ house museum sits quietly as Niagara Parks storage site

If there are paranormal beings and spirits still occupying Bertie Hall, they are likely enjoying some peace and quiet.

The building at the corner of Phipps Street and Niagara Parkway has a rich history dating back to 1833 when it was built by War of 1812 veteran and entrepreneur William Forsyth.

His family constructed a large dock on the riverbank, where they operated a ferry across the river and this location served as a stagecoach stop and later as a hotel in the 1870s, reads information from Niagara Parks.

The transportation routes along the Niagara River corridor became important for travellers to the area, including freedom seekers arriving via the Underground Railroad.

Niagara Parks has owned the building since the early 1980s and previously had lease agreements with the Town of Fort Erie and the museum, as well as the Mahoney Dolls’ House Gallery, a collection of miniature doll houses valued in 1982 at $800,000.

The gallery and museum closed its doors in 2010 and many of the pieces were sold in an auction, in which people from many parts of Canada and the U.S. made bids.

One doll house was sold for $11,000 and it was reported that one person who visited spent a total of $25,000 on multiple items.

It has also been the subject of a number of TV shows that visit sites believed to be haunted. Several articles have been written about it having spirits as tenants, as well.

Sitting along the corridor of a stretch of the Underground Railroad, a portal for freedom seekers escaping slavery, Bertie Hall was also believed at one point to be a safehouse for those individuals.

However, that theory was debunked a few years ago and a plaque in front of the big red building was removed and replaced with one containing more factual information.

That reflected a “more accurate history of the building,” Niagara Parks chief executive officer David Adames recently told Fort Erie Radio.

This was done as part of a cultural heritage evaluation of the property.

In recent years, the building has been a storage site for Niagara Parks’ archives and historical records, and it seems that will remain the case for the foreseeable future.

“There’s nothing definitive in terms of what we’re doing with the site,” said Adames when asked if Niagara Parks has any plans for the building.

“We’re going to keep it in Niagara Parks’ ownership,” he added.

There is nothing remaining from the dolls’ house era.

“All of those items are long gone from the house,” said Adames.

Ward 1 Councillor George McDermott, who represents the neighbourhood the building sits in, admitted it’s a “beautiful place,” and that if Niagara Parks decided to change its use, a restaurant could be an option, he said, admitting he has not been inside since the dolls’ house museum closed.

“Every building has potential, but what the parks commission is into is another story,” said McDermott.

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