Murder Mystery To Babe Ruth: The Unusual History Of The Toronto Islands
The lighthouse keeper has been missing since 1815.
For those looking to get away from the city for a day, but not actually leave it, the Toronto Islands have offered that perfect escape.
But as Toronto Historian Morgan Cameron Ross highlights in this episode of Then&Now, the Toronto Islands used to look very different.
Perhaps most notable about the extensive history of the islands themselves is that they were in fact not islands, at least not until some severe weather in 1858 eroded the connection to the mainland.
Over the years, some key places on the islands have come and gone including Hanlan's Point Stadium — where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run — as well as an amusement park also located at Hanlan's Point.
While these establishments are no longer there, one building has remained for over 200 years and with it a mystery that goes back just as long.
In 1815, only several years after its construction, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse saw the disappearance and rumoured murder of its first keeper, J.P. Radan Muller, a disappearance that remains a mystery to this day.
