Fernie & Elk Valley Culture Guide Fall 2019 Edition | Page 13

Roy Whitehouse nearly met his end here and may have
returned later to haunt the halls and stairways.
Back in Fernie, the 500 block
between 1st and 2nd Avenue has the
highest concentration of supernatural
activity. At the Ingram Block (look up
on the south side the middle of 2nd
Avenue and find the plaque that reads
‘Ingram, 1910’), William Ingram met
his unfortunate end. A pillar of the
community, Ingram was a well-known
and active businessman. On the night
of November 21, 1939, someone was
watching as Ingram made his regular
walk home, stepping from the shadows
to hit Ingram on the back of the head
with an iron pipe, fracturing his skull.
The attackers fled and Ingram died in
hospital five days later. Two young men
were later acquitted of murder charges,
but a third was held for trial and later
attempted suicide in the cells beneath
the Fernie Courthouse. He was
saved by a blood transfusion and later
acquitted of Ingram’s murder following
an appeal.
Many years later, an artist had a studio
on the top floor of the Ingram building,
and installed a convex mirror at the
top of the stairs so that he could see
anyone coming up. One afternoon
he came in, locked the door, and
settled in to paint. He clearly heard
the faint sound of a key in the lock of
the bottom door, followed by slow,
heavy footsteps advancing towards
him up the stairs. He looked toward
the convex mirror but there was no
one there. Others who worked in the
building reported ghostly shapes and
the pungent smell of cigar smoke.
Meanwhile at the Courthouse, it seems
Roy Whitehouse – the man acquitted
for Ingram’s murder, may have returned
to the place where he tried to take
his own life. For years, workers have
reported stories of pattering feet,
ghostly voices and shadowy apparitions.
It seems Ingram and Whitehouse
may have some unfinished business in
Fernie.
Tales from the Past continued on next page...
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