The Land Before the House

The property occupies what was originally known as Lot 202 in the old Town of Niagara.

The lot was originally granted by the Crown to Miles Hitchcock Sr., a United Empire Loyalist. Hitchcock had connections to the Secord family through marriage and sold the property in 1800, shortly before his death.

The present house did not exist during the War of 1812. At that time, Niagara was devastated by the conflict, and much of the town was destroyed when American forces burned the settlement in December 1813.

The years following the war became a major period of rebuilding for Niagara. New homes, businesses and public buildings rose from the destruction, and the town began to take on the appearance that would eventually make it one of Canada’s most significant historic communities.

It was during this rebuilding period that the house at 240 Centre Street was constructed.

John Breakenridge and the Construction of the House

The house is most closely associated with John Breakenridge, a Niagara barrister and the son of a United Empire Loyalist.

Breakenridge acquired the property in the early 1820s and built the house shortly afterward. It was completed in 1823, making it one of the oldest surviving houses of its type in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

This was not John Breakenridge’s first ambitious home.

Together with his wife, Mary Warren Baldwin Breakenridge, he was responsible for a remarkable collection of three substantial homes within the same four-acre block bounded by Mississauga, Centre, Simcoe and William Streets.

The first was the Creen House at 363 Simcoe Street, completed in 1817.

The second was the Breakenridge-Hawley House at 392 Mississauga Street, completed in 1819.

The third and final house was the residence at 240 Centre Street, completed in 1823.

The three houses reflected the rising fortunes of John and Mary Breakenridge during the first decades of the 19th century.

John Breakenridge was a successful lawyer and an important figure in the growing community of Niagara. His obituary in 1828 remembered him as someone who had built several of the town’s most elegant homes.

The house at 240 Centre Street was the culmination of that period of prosperity.

The Architecture of the Breakenridge-Ure House

The Breakenridge-Ure House is a substantial two-storey brick residence built in the architectural traditions that defined Niagara’s rebuilding period after the War of 1812.

The house has been described as both Georgian and Regency in different heritage records. Its formal, symmetrical appearance and classical details reflect both architectural traditions.

The building is almost square in plan and constructed from handmade brick laid in American Common Bond.

Its most distinctive features include:

• Two full storeys
• A nearly square floor plan
• A low hipped or pyramidal roof
• Four prominent chimneys
• Handmade brick walls
• A symmetrical three-bay façade facing Centre Street
• A centred front entrance
• Sidelights and a transom around the entrance
• Stone lintels
• Traditional multi-pane sash windows
• Exterior shutters
• Broad projecting eaves
• A dentilled cornice

Inside, the house historically contained a centre hall plan and numerous fireplaces. Early documentation records nine fireplaces, seven mantels and a bake oven.

The basement was also significant. Unlike many smaller homes of the era, the house had a substantial basement that provided space for cooking, baking and service areas.

At one time, the basement contained a cooking fireplace, baking ovens, a scullery and servant quarters.

The result was a substantial residence that demonstrated both the wealth and ambitions of its owner.

The Sudden Death of John Breakenridge

John Breakenridge’s success did not last long.

He died in 1828, only about five years after the completion of the house.

He was still a relatively young man and left behind his wife, Mary, and five children.

His death placed the family in a difficult financial position. Despite the impressive homes and properties associated with the Breakenridge family, John had accumulated significant debts.

Mary Breakenridge was suddenly faced with the challenge of supporting herself and five children.

The next chapter in the history of the house would be shaped almost entirely by her.

The Niagara Seminary for Young Ladies

In 1829, Mary Breakenridge transformed the family home into a school.

Known as the Niagara Seminary for Young Ladies, the institution operated from the house at 240 Centre Street and provided Mary with a source of income following her husband’s death.

She was joined in the educational venture by Eliza Fenwick, a remarkable figure in her own right.

Fenwick was a writer, teacher and advocate for educational reform. She has been described as an abolitionist, an early feminist and an important figure associated with late-Enlightenment ideas about education and women’s intellectual development.

The fact that Fenwick was associated with the house gives 240 Centre Street an important place in the social and educational history of early Upper Canada.

The building was no longer simply a wealthy barrister’s private residence. For a period, it became a place where young women received an education at a time when such opportunities were far more limited than they would be in later generations.

Mary Breakenridge remained connected to the property for many years after her husband’s death and successfully maintained the home despite the difficult circumstances she faced.

A Confederate Agent in Niagara-on-the-Lake

The house later became connected to one of the stranger stories in North American history.

Between 1865 and 1868, the house was rented to John Porterfield, a Nashville banker who had served as a financial agent for the Confederate States during the American Civil War.

Following the Confederate defeat, Porterfield sought refuge in Canada.

His presence at the Breakenridge-Ure House creates an unusual connection between this quiet historic residence in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the aftermath of the American Civil War.

The house had previously been associated with Mary Breakenridge and Eliza Fenwick, who represented important educational and reform movements of their era.

Later, it was occupied by a man who had been connected to the financial machinery of the Confederacy.

It is one of the more unusual examples of how a single historic property can become connected to completely different and sometimes conflicting strands of history.

The Ure Family

The second part of the house’s name comes from its later association with the Ure family.

Robert and Dorothy Ure became known in Niagara-on-the-Lake for their ownership of several historic properties.

They had a deep interest in old homes, antiques and architectural artifacts. Over the years, they accumulated a large number of items they believed belonged in historic properties.

However, many of their homes became filled with stored antiques and restoration materials. Renovation projects were sometimes started but never completed.

The house at 240 Centre Street eventually became the most recognizable of their properties.

By this point, it had become a neglected landmark.

For years, people entering Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake along Mississauga Street would pass the large brick house sitting behind boarded windows and doors.

The abandoned appearance of the building helped transform it into a local mystery.

Fire and Abandonment

The house suffered a fire and remained vacant for decades.

It appears to have been abandoned by around 1968 and became increasingly deteriorated over the years.

By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Breakenridge-Ure House had become one of the most unusual sights in Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The surrounding community was filled with beautifully restored heritage homes, landscaped gardens and carefully preserved historic buildings.

Yet at one of the town’s most prominent intersections stood an abandoned early-19th-century mansion.

The windows and doors were boarded over.

The property became overgrown.

The house appeared forgotten.

For decades, few members of the public had any opportunity to see what remained inside.

The longer the house sat vacant, the more stories began to circulate.

The Haunted House

The Breakenridge-Ure House eventually developed a reputation as one of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s haunted houses.

Stories circulated about mysterious deaths, violent events, former occupants and paranormal activity.

Some versions of the story claimed that murders had occurred inside the house. Other stories suggested that people had abandoned the property suddenly or that something disturbing had happened there.

Over time, the building’s physical appearance helped strengthen these stories.

A large, nearly 200-year-old house with boarded windows, fire damage and decades of abandonment was naturally fertile ground for ghost stories.

The house became associated with the darker side of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s history.

However, the documented historical record does not establish many of the more dramatic claims that later became attached to the property.

The stories of murder and haunting appear to belong largely to local folklore and legend rather than established historical fact.

That does not mean the stories are unimportant.

In fact, they became part of the house’s modern identity.

For many people, 240 Centre Street was no longer simply the Breakenridge-Ure House. It was the mysterious abandoned house at the corner of Centre and Mississauga Streets.

The Controversy Over Possible Burials

Perhaps the most serious and controversial mystery connected to the property involves the possibility of unmarked graves.

Researcher James Russell publicly raised the possibility that enslaved people or other people of African descent could be buried on the property.

The theory is connected to the complicated history of Niagara and the movement of Black people through the region.

The possibility of forgotten or undocumented burial sites is a serious historical issue throughout Canada and the United States. Enslaved people and other marginalized communities were not always buried in formally recognized cemeteries, and burial locations were not always preserved in official records.

Russell argued that a more extensive investigation of the property should be conducted using ground-penetrating radar.

Archaeological assessments had already been carried out on portions of the property, however, and no graves were identified during those investigations.

The debate therefore remained unresolved.

Russell argued that conventional archaeological test pits could potentially miss graves.

Others pointed out that ground-penetrating radar also has limitations and does not automatically provide a definitive answer.

As a result, the possibility remains a theory rather than an established fact.

There is currently no confirmed archaeological evidence proving that enslaved people are buried on the property.

At the same time, the controversy has not completely disappeared because the archaeological work conducted to date cannot necessarily be interpreted as proving with absolute certainty that no unmarked burials could exist anywhere on the property.

The question remains part of the ongoing mystery surrounding 240 Centre Street.

Heritage Designation

The historical importance of the house was formally recognized by the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The Breakenridge-Ure House was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 2015.

The designation recognized the property for its architectural, historical and contextual value.

Architecturally, the house is an important surviving example of the rebuilding period that followed the War of 1812.

Historically, it is associated with John Breakenridge, Mary Breakenridge, Eliza Fenwick and the Niagara Seminary for Young Ladies.

It is also connected to John Porterfield and the aftermath of the American Civil War.

Contextually, the house contributes to the historic streetscape of Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The designation helped ensure that the house could not simply disappear.

But preservation on paper and preservation in reality are two different things.

The house still needed to be saved.

The Restoration

After decades of neglect, a major change came in the history of the property.

The house was purchased by Lloyd Kelly, a Texas lawyer who had been looking for a second home in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Restoration consultant and architectural historian Brian Marshall became involved in the project.

Marshall considered the house to be exceptionally significant and described it as one of the oldest surviving unaltered examples of its type.

The goal was to return the house as closely as possible to its early-19th-century appearance.

The project required extensive work.

After decades of vacancy and deterioration, the building needed major stabilization and restoration.

Heritage work included attention to historically appropriate exterior details, including the restoration and replacement of traditional wood shutters.

The restoration was carried out with the involvement of specialists and heritage tradespeople.

What had once appeared to be a lost cause slowly began to return to life.

Current Status

The Breakenridge-Ure House still stands at 240 Centre Street and remains a designated heritage property.

The house underwent an extensive restoration after decades of abandonment.

By the early 2020s, the restoration was reported as being close to completion. More recent heritage and architectural information indicates that the house was brought substantially back toward its historic appearance.

It is no longer simply the boarded-up abandoned house that stood at the corner of Centre and Mississauga Streets for decades.

The property remains officially recognized as one of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s important heritage homes.

The house is now identified within the Town’s heritage documentation as the Breakenridge-Ure House, dating to 1823.

Its heritage features continue to include the symmetrical façade, handmade brick construction, sash windows, shutters, prominent chimneys, hipped roof and other early-19th-century architectural details.

The Legacy of the Breakenridge-Ure House

Few houses in Niagara-on-the-Lake contain so many different layers of history.

The house began as a symbol of prosperity in the years following the War of 1812.

It was built by a successful barrister during a period when Niagara was rebuilding itself from wartime destruction.

After his death, it became the home and workplace of his widow, Mary Breakenridge.

It later became a school for young women and was associated with the educator and abolitionist Eliza Fenwick.

Years later, it became connected to a former Confederate financial agent seeking refuge in Canada following the American Civil War.

In the 20th century, it fell into decline.

It was damaged by fire.

It sat vacant for decades.

Its windows were boarded over.

Its appearance encouraged stories of hauntings and murder.

Then came the controversy over whether forgotten or unmarked graves might exist somewhere on the property.

Finally, after years of uncertainty, the house was rescued and restored.

The story of 240 Centre Street is therefore not simply the story of a haunted house.

It is the story of nearly 200 years of change.

It is a story of wealth and decline, education and war, history and folklore, abandonment and restoration.

For decades, the Breakenridge-Ure House sat in full view of one of Canada’s best-preserved historic communities while appearing to have been forgotten.

Today, the building survives as one of the most significant reminders of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s rebuilding period after the War of 1812.