According to the official town folklore page:
"In the county of Antigonish there is a place called Caledonia Mills. Alexander and Mary MacDonald and their 16 year-old adopted daughter Mary-Ellen who lived in a farm house in this small community.
In January of 1922, a fire started in part of their house. Oddly it was not near their fireplace or wood stove. Once extinguished another erupted in an empty room at the other end of the home. The family was totally puzzled. Other fires materialized mysteriously. Wet towels and the patches of wallpaper would burst into flames. It did not take the family long to realize that there was something unnatural occurring. With the help of their neighbors they began to guard the house, hoping to catch an intruding arsonist. Fires continued to appear out of nowhere, but no arsonist was ever caught. In total there were 30 unexplained fires.
Fires were not the only unsolved occurrence at the farm. The MacDonalds would enter their barn to find ashes in the stored milk and all the animals moved to different locations within the barn. Soon the family was persuaded to leave the home while the local authorities investigated. When word of the mysteries got out reporters arrived to get the scoop. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was invited to investigate.
The MacDonald's daughter Mary-Ellen, came to be known as “Mary-Ellen Spook”. She moved to Central Canada and no further incidents occurred."
Source information, and official town pages
In May 2011 we received the following report that implies that perhaps odd things might still be occur in the vicinity of this famous Canadian poltergeist case:
"This happened when I was in my early teens but it has stayed with me all these years (I am now 41). Myself, 2 uncles and a friend were coming home from Antigonish and decided to take the other way home so they could show me another way home (Erinville) and how certain roads connect (as I was a new driver and they were showing me a shortcut home from teen dances that took place in the Intervale). We left the paved road and were on the dirt road.The night was clear with a full moon and you could clearly see the stars. All of a sudden we hit a huge thick fog that came out of nowhere. We all were chilled to the bone and had goosebumps.The boys seemed a bit freaked but wouldn't say a word as to why until we arrived at my grandparents. Once we were in the house they all were white as ghosts and thats when I was told about the Mary Ellen Spook Farm."
Our thanks to the witness for sharing this experience with us. We appreciate it. If you have had a ghostly experience in Nova Scotia please contact us. Your privacy will be protected, and confidentiality is assured.
