Tales of the Dead

Step through the gates of St. James Cemetery and discover monuments, memorials, and gravestones that reveal surprising stories of the people who helped build the city.
Among the cemetery’s winding paths lie politicians, artists, business leaders, architects, scientists, and other prominent Torontonians. On this walk, we’ll uncover tales of murder, suicide, scandal, disease, duels, body snatching, and sacrifice that reveal the darker and more unexpected sides of life, and death, in Toronto. Along the way, we’ll visit the graves of Alice and Nellie Pitezel, two young sisters whose murders became part of the infamous crimes of serial killer H. H. Holmes; John J. McLaughlin, the Toronto pharmacist and chemist who created Canada Dry Ginger Ale; and William and Samuel Jarvis, influential figures in early Toronto whose legacies include political power, allegations of corruption, and the naming of Jarvis Street.
Join us among the tombstones and discover what the dead can tell us about the city of the living.