Then: Macklem Manor / Old Manor Camp

Macklem Manor was a large neoclassical residence built in the early 1850s by Dr. Thomas Clark Macklem at the intersection of Main St. and the Niagara River Parkway in Chippawa. It was home for a brief time to to the Macklem family, which had been settled in Chippawa since the 1790s. Known as "Macklem's Folly" because of its huge construction and maintenance costs, Dr. Macklem lived in his mansion for less than a decade before health problems prompted him to move to Florida in early 1859. He died on December 11th of the same year.

A Macabre Mansion

After Macklem's death, the Manor was often vacant, and gained a reputation as a haunted house.

According to local legend, around the turn of the last century, the vacant house was used by a group of local boys as their club headquarters. As part of the club's initiation rite, a prospective member was made to walk into the abandoned house after dark. As he entered the ballroom, he was confronted by the sight of a body hanging from the chandelier. The Niagara Falls Evening Review of August 4th, 1950 told the story:

"Since the element of terror which this dummy was supposed to induce (and probably did) would be considerably reduced by gossip, the grand finale was held a deep dark secret. Thus, many who saw the dummy and ran never learned of its true technical background and possibly some lived until the end, wondering."

There were also rumours that the house was the headquarters for a gang of smugglers that had built a tunnel from the basement to the river bank.

Old Manor Camp

Macklem Manor became the headquarters for a detachment of troops during World War I. The 44th Lincoln and Welland Regiment, which guarded the Welland River and Canal, were billeted there. It was an appropriate location, as the manor overlooked the entrance to the old canal, and was directly across from the site of old Fort Chippawa - now the location of Kingsbridge Park.

The 44th was responsible for maintaining the security of critical power and transportation infrastructure, as well as supplementing border security in a time of heightened threats to Canadian national security during the Great War.

Now: Paradise Point Bed and Breakfast

The house was converted to tourist accommodations in the 1920s but was destroyed by fire in 1925.

Today, Paradise Point Bed & Breakfast is located near the original historic site.

Niagara Falls Public Library. Undated (accessed 2021). Local History Digital Exhibits: Macklem House.
https://my.nflibrary.ca/HistoricNiagara/DigitalExhibits/MacklemHouse

Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years.

Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.

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Copyright for all content remains with original creators.