By KEN BROWN, SUN MEDIA
For California resident Ted English, yesterday’s 200th anniversary of Toronto’s oldest building meant even more for him because it involved the celebration of family.
The western end of Toronto Island is home to the 200-year-old Gibralter Point lighthouse, and English is a member of the Durnan family, which has a long history with the island and its lighthouse.
“It means an awful lot,” said English, 79, who organized a reunion of more than 50 of his Durnan relatives, some of whom he had never met, to coincide with the event.
Completed in 1808, it’s the oldest working lighthouse on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada. (The Sambro lighthouse in Nova Scotia began operating in 1759.)
The third keeper of the Gibralter Point lighthouse was English’s great-great-grandfather James Durnan.
“It’s much more than a lighthouse,” said English, a former Toronto Island resident himself. “It’s a keystone of the whole family”
There is more than 170 years of Durnan history on the island, English said, and for some of his ancestors the lighthouse acts as a headstone.
“You walked over Durnans there,” he pointed out.
Yesterday’s celebration was co-hosted by Heritage Toronto and Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.
Ceremonies began with a theatrical account of the lighthouse’s history by Shadowland Theatre. The crowd of a few hundred were then marched over to the landmark by fife and drum.
Behind limestone walls 2 metres thick rises an 80-step spiral staircase, and visitors were invited to climb to the top after the ceremonies.
Ray Skema, 53, was in the first group to make the ascent, and he said as a Torontonian it felt great to be up there.
“This is like the best time ever just to be in this historic building,” Skema said. “It was cool to be here for the anniversary and be part of the first 10 people to tour it.”
The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of John Paul Rademuller, the lighthouse’s first keeper.
City Councillor Pam McConnell said the Rademuller haunting is a great story for kids, but the building means a great deal to the city.
“It isn’t just a children’s story,” she said, adding it’s great to bring Toronto’s stories to people in a simple way. “It really is about the beginnings of our city of Toronto.”
Heritage Toronto unveiled two commemorative plaques at the base of the lighthouse.
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For the actual article and video clip, please see the link below:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/07/06/6078306-sun.html
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