Canada’s Haunted Hockey Hall of Fame

This ornate building in Toronto that houses the Hall of Fame was used for over 100 years as a branch of the Bank of Montreal.

For the past 60+ years a ghost known as Dorothy has haunted this building. There have been numerous books and articles written about this female ghost with countless witness reports.

One popular backstory has been circulated for years as to why Dorothy haunts this building.

It was believed by many that Dorothy was a teller at the bank. She became involved in an affair with the branch manager--a married man. Later, when this romance soured this man jilted her. She then committed suicide on the upper floor of the bank in the mid 1900s.

A newspaper article written by The Star in 2009 revealed their research about this well known haunting.

They discovered the popular backstory about Dorothy was actually true.

The Ghost of Dorothea Mae Elliott

Dorothea was only 19 year-old when she shot herself early one morning in 1953. She was transported to St. Michaels’s Hospital where she died later.

Dorothea was orphaned at the age of 9 when both her parents died within a few years of each other.

Employees that worked with Dorothea at the bank remember her fondly. She was a popular colleague who was bubbly and beautiful. Her looks were compared to a Hollywood star of the time--Rita Hayworth.

One female employee noted that she was tall and buxom, sophisticated and well liked by the men. This same employee noted that the morning Dorothea committed suicide her blue dress appeared to be wrinkled and untidy.

Finding herself rejected by this branch manager Dorothea took a .38 caliber revolver from a drawer it was kept in at the bank and went to the 2^nd floor women’s washroom where she shot herself.

Since her death, there have numerous reports of strange activity occurring in this building--first when it was still the bank and later when it became the location for Canada’s Hockey Hall of Fame.

An Active Haunting

For many years staff and employees have refused to be in this building after 6:00 p.m. Most refuse to go up to the second floor.

Common activity reported includes: cold spots, lights flickering on and off and doors opening and shutting without cause.

Other reports include: hearing moans and screams throughout the building as well as people hearing footsteps.

Some witnesses state a phantom hand touched their shoulders.

One former Hall of Fame employee, Rob Hynes who was an events coordinator had a scary encounter with this ghost.

He was in a kitchen on the 2^nd floor behind the conference room when he got a strong feeling someone was watching him. When he entered the conference room he saw one of the chairs moving around. There was no breeze in this room.

He quickly exited this room when this chair headed for him.

One young male visitor to the Hall of Fame started to scream, “Don’t you see her, don’t you see her.” He stated that he saw a woman with long black hair walking through several walls upstairs.

In the early 1990s before the Hall of Fame was located in the building a musician by the name of Joanna Jordan was playing her harp for an event being held in the Great Hall.

She looked up and saw a ghost looking down at her from the ceiling. She had not heard about this haunting beforehand. In later years, when she visited the Hall of Fame she refused to go up to the 2^nd floor.

45 foot high ceiling

More Sightings

On the site Toronto and Ontario Ghosts and Hauntings Mathew Didier wrote about the Dorothy haunting. He at one time worked as a teller at this bank branch. His post solicited many comments.

One man who left a comment was an employer of the bank in the 1980s when it was used as office space for the bank's computer department.

He states that there was a lot of poltergeist activity and cold spots in the building when he worked there. He and his fellow workers did not share what they experienced at the time afraid of dismissal.

Because of the building’s history he and others did not like staying after 6:00 p.m. or going up to the 2^nd floor. They found Dorothy liked to play pranks.

He and forty other employees worked in cubicles on the main level. One day he left his desk to copy a paper two cubicles down from his. He was only gone a few moments but when he returned he found his space in disarray.

His desk was messed up and his coffee cup was spilled. He also found his filing cabinets were locked. None of his colleagues were close enough to have done this in the short time he was gone.

There are many more stories about sightings of this ghost on the research society site mentioned above.