We could call this building something of an enigma. It is the oldest building on the campus of Acadia University, founded in 1838 by the Nova Scotia Baptist Education Society. Originally known as Queen's College, it became Acadia College in 1841 and Acadia University in 1891. It was not until 1881 that women were allowed to enter the university, yet their residence is the oldest building on campus. On the surface this seems a bit of a paradox.
The reality, however, is somewhat less strange. The building, designed by Andrew Dewar, was originally a finishing school affiliated with the university, housing both women's residence and classrooms. In 1926, Seminary courses, and the building, were absorbed into the university. It remained a women's residence and academic building. In 1980 the residence became co-ed and today also houses Acadia’s School of Education.
The story of a haunting in the seminary has been passed down through the generations for many years - the story of a girl who lived in the seminary and committed suicide while there. While her identity has come to be in some doubt, some believe her name was Constance Hagan and her story lives on. One rendition of the story follows.
The Seminary House Ghost
In 1878, Acadia Ladies’ Seminary was built as a companion to the men’s college. Created as a finishing school for young, Baptist ladies, Seminary House still stands today as the oldest building on the campus. For decades, it has served as a residence and, unlike in its early days, has been fully co-ed for years. It’s a lovely old place – though always spoken of as something of a fire trap – that, following renovations, is also now home to the school of education.
Who haunts Seminary House? Her name hasn’t been remembered but her story has been passed down year after year so that it’s become part of campus lore. In the late 1800s, shortly after Acadia Ladies’ Seminary opened, one of the students housed there discovered that she was pregnant. For a well-to-do young lady of upstanding Baptist roots, the Nova Scotia of the 1800s was no place to be an unwed mother. Unable to think of any better options, the girl hung herself, slipping into the open space between a banister and the back stairwell.
After the Ladies’ Seminary closed, and female students were accepted into the general university population, Seminary House began its transformation into a full-time residence. Reports began to trickle out of noises heard in what was called the Prophet’s Room, which in actuality was a suite of chambers often let out to visiting lecturers. More than one guest claimed to have seen the pale spirit of a blond lady wandering the rooms, politely closing doors behind her as she passed. That’s the nice thing about the Seminary House Ghost; she’s not a troublemaker. She keeps to her own space, limiting most of her nocturnal wandering to a television lounge, study area and, of course, the back staircase. Many students say they can hear her footsteps going up and down at night, and that if she passed you on your way to the basement laundry room, you would feel a cold chill and hear her quiet step.
From the Bouncing Pink Ball