The Hermitage and Griffin House
The Hermitage is a popular site in Ancaster. This historic house was once the property of Reverend George Sheed in 1830. Since then the house had changed ownership many times before burning to the ground in 1934. The last owner of The Hermitage was in fact local author Alma Dick-Lauder. The fire that eventually consumed The Hermitage occurred directly from a party that she had been hosting. The shell of the old house and surrounding buildings can still be visited today. One of the main draws of this old property is the legend of the property being haunted. There are ghost tours run throughout the summer with the tour guides telling haunted stories of the land and the surrounding county.
Griffin House, also a popular attraction, is a house built in 1827 by Englishmen in Ancaster. It was purchased by an African-American escaped slave in 1834 who also had enough cash to purchase 50 acres. It offers Underground Railroad tours and history-related programs.
Griffin House was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008. The house is a rare surviving example of a four-room house typical in Upper Canada in the early 19th century. It was owned by Enerals Griffin, an African American guest worker from Virginia who escaped to Canada in 1834.
For the next 150 years, their descendents lived and farmed here atop a hill in peace. The property was sold to the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority in 1988. Public visitation and interpretation is offered by Fieldcote Memorial Park and Museum.