Chilliwack "Frederickson Haunted House"

Frederickson Haunted House, 342 Williams Street - source: Facebook Chilliwack History Perspective

Chilliwack has a few ghost stories, but I find this one most interesting.

This is the "Fredrickson Haunted House", formerly located at 342 Williams Street. The house was built in 1909 by William E. Bradwin, who lived there until his death in 1916.

By the 1940s it became a rooming house, though not much is known for sure. According to rumors, a man committed suicide in 1956, and a woman was murdered and concealed in the chimney at some point.

Hetty and Douglas Frederickson bought the house in 1965. Hetty was drawn to the house, stating it reminded her of a castle.

Hetty Frederickson- source: Facebook Chilliwack History Perspective.

After moving in, Hetty started having dreams about a distressed woman in a room. When the family started renovating, they found a room that Hetty claimed was the room in her dreams.

Shortly after the renovations began, Hetty had an apparition start appearing to her, eventually forming the shape of a human before fading away.

Hetty decided to use her talent as a painter to paint the woman she saw in her dreams.

Hetty Frederickson and her painting - source: Facebook Chilliwack History Perspective

As she started to paint, no matter how hard she tried, the painting kept coming out with male features. Once she finally managed to get the painting to look feminine, she left for the night, only to find the painting had changed to appear more masculine. Every day she added more to the painting, and every night, the painting changed.

Altered painting - source: Chilliwack Facebook History Perspective

Fascinated by the phenomenon, and wanting a logical explanation for the footsteps they heard at night, Hetty reached out to the local news. Her story blew up, and she welcomed visitors, even inviting two reporters to spend the night, in hopes to draw out the ghosts more.

In 1966 the family finally moved, but kept posession of the house. For a while it was left empty, being vandalized a few times through the years. In 1968, a large group of musicians moved in, believed to be allowed by Hetty, since she knew one of them. This was not the case, and the bands were removed from the property by police.

Hetty rented the home out to multiple tenants who all reported incidences of hearing footsteps and seeing apparitions, but didn't gain as much attention as Hetty had with her painting. She sold the house in 1972 to James Kipp.

James lived in the home until 1973, when he decided to put it on the market with a sense of humour. The home would include a "very old ghost." In 1975 the house caught fire due to a faulty hot water tank. All residents escaped uninjured, and in 1977 a new house was built on the property. There have been reportedly no incidences in that house, though I remember when I went to high school across the street, kids still talked about the property being haunted.

Sources: Facebook Chilliwack History Perspective

https://evelazarus.com/the-chilliwack-hostess-with-the-ghostess/