Kingstie


There are several accounts of varied descriptions in regards to L. Ontario going back two hundred years and probably longer.
During the fur trade a ‘great snake’ was spotted in the water forcing the unexpected return of a boat from Toronto (York) bound for the Niagara area. Described as 30ft long by witnesses who swore an oath before a magistrate.

On July 3rd, 1817 the crew of a ship witnessed the appearance of a blackish snake-like monster “one foot in diameter and 30 – 40 ft in length” approx three miles offshore.

Two children stated that they saw a “20 – 30 ft.” snake-like creature near Grantham on August 5th, 1829. Their experience was recounted in a local paper, which went on to state that “this wasn’t the first sighting in Lake Ontario and, doubtless, that such serpents lived in the lake.”
In 1968 a Scarborough resident (east end of the GTA) saw a 20ft eel-like creature with a “mane of some sort” in the waters off Toronto.
Kingstie is a name given by some to creature sightings in the Kingston area or eastern portion of the lake. Over the years many extraordinary sightings have been witnessed in this general location:
An early mass sighting occurred in September 1881. Passengers and crew of the steamship ‘Gypsy’ saw a creature approx. 25 – 40ft in length with small legs and a large tail.
In the channel between Wolfe and Simcoe islands two sailors reported seeing a serpent creature during the summer of 1888.
In July 1892 a couple was reportedly “attacked by a huge serpent with eyes like balls of fire” near Brackey’s Bay. The husband fended off the monster with his fishing pole.
Two physicians spotted a 30ft creature described as having “one eye in the middle of his head as well two antler-like horns” as they sailed from Alexandria Bay to Kingston’s yacht club in August 1931.
During the 1970’s an employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources twice witnessed “a large creature dive into the lake from the shores of Prince Edward County.
- entry provided by Nessie Hunter, braydonstachel@hotmail.com