Vintage Photo: This haunting photo taken in the early 1900s as the mansion appeared in its abandoned state. Look closely in the windows and you can see the eerie outline of a tenant who forgot to leave this world!
DUNGEON & HAUNTED MANSION HISTORY
The Dungeon of Doom was created in October 2000. We had just moved in in April of the same year and found the house to be fairly creepy! There were strange noises and some inexplicable occurances that happened pretty regularly. Lights and TV sets would turn off at a particular time of night all on their own. One day our Radio that was playing perhaps just a little too loud ( on the main floor) was physically shut off one afternoon while we were working on the second floor. No one else was in the house! The TV would be turned off at 11:07 while in the middle of a movie. And for no reason at all there are times when you feel like you just shouldn't go into a particular room right then!
When we explored our basement we found: a mostly dirt floor (curiously uneven and hollow in some places), field stone and concrete walls throughout, very little lighting and strange passage ways to hidden rooms! The old boiler would make some strange and sometimes unexpected scary noises. We soon decided to share what we had with the rest of the community. The "dungeon" as it was always refered to anyway, was soon born. It had very few extra props added, it really didn't require too much! We hid some friends in the shadows and led others on a personal tour of the dungeon. It was a hit! Every year it has grown both in size and popularity. Now, coming up to our ninth year, our "tourists" can see all three levels of our massive production. Our live action and very interactive experience is really top notch. We have had tourists from all over. Our guest book boasts visitors from Japan, England and Korea! Of course we also have some diehard fans who come every year from all over southern Alberta just to see what is new. In direct comparison to other haunts our guests have been to, they say ours wins hands down! Could it be the natural ambience that the house itself provides? Or is it our unseen but helpful guest?
OGDEN HOUSE HISTORY
The house was constructed by W.T. Ogden between 1910 and 1919, at a cost of $15,000. A huge sum of money at that time. He was a family man who married for a second time after the deaths of his first wife and two of his young children. The second wife came from Iowa and didn't want to move to Alberta unless she had a home like the one her family had. So... W.T. built this one for her, or so the story goes. The sad part is he only lived here for only 12 years before his own death. The family soon moved away and the house was left in control of one of the sons. In March 1934 after the a fire at the school, the grade 1 and 2 students went to school at the Ogden house. In the 40's it was used as a rooming house for refugees, and as a pool hall. In 1958 the house was sold to F.W. Morris who owned a carnival and kept a ferris wheel and go-carts on the property. F.W. only stayed until 1962. After that Stephen Wild had it and this is where things get fuzzy. The Village history on it states Stephen bought it in 1964 and then basically disapeared. No one is on record for nearly ten years! In between there the house became run down and the village children thought that the house was haunted. Windows were broken, doors were left open for stray animals to come through including a horse. I believe it was 1972 when the village sold the property for back taxes, all of $3000. But the next few owners only stayed for a year or two at a time. Finally in 1976 a couple moved in who planned to stay a long time. Unfortunatly the husband died in a car accident just outside of town and the house began to show signs of wear. The family kept the house until 2000 at which time it was sold to us. Despite its ability to frighten people, we love it and plan to stay a long, long time. Maybe we will haunt it after we are gone!
