5 Haunted Places In California

 

5 Haunted Places in California

California is a frontrunner for the most haunted state in the Union, with its abundance of Wild West ghost towns, intriguing mansions, and haunted hotels. Yes, reports of paranormal activity should be taken with a grain of salt, but whether you're prone to Mulder's fanciful flights or prefer to err on the side of Scully, you have to admit that a good ghost story (especially one backed by a touch of historical legitimacy) can be pretty damn powerful — and California has plenty of them. The spookiest "haunted" locations in the state are listed here.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

The renowned tourist site is surrounded by a variety of ghost stories, but scary tradition predates the prison; legend has it that the Miwok Indians despised the island, believing it to be a meeting place for evil spirits. Cell 14D is the site of Alcatraz's most famous ghost story, according to which a prisoner reportedly spent the night screaming about a hostile creature with luminous eyes, only to be discovered dead the next day. Another legend is that the twang of Al Capone's banjo can still be heard, a reprieve for the renowned mobster during his time there. Another ghost story claims that weird noises can be heard echoing from Block C, where three inmates and two correctional guards were killed in the Battle of Alcatraz, a violent escape attempt in 1946.

Winchester Mystery House

Sarah Winchester, the widow of weapons mogul William Wirt Winchester, lived in the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. The Queen Anne Style Victorian mansion, located at 525 South Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, is known for its grandeur, architectural oddities, and lack of a master building plan. It is a National Register of Historic Places listing and a certified California historical site. It is a tourist attraction that is privately owned.

What fueled Winchester's desire to build? Winchester is said to be haunted by the ghosts of those who died as a result of Winchester firearms. The only way to avoid the malevolent spirits was to keep building, with the twists and turns serving as a distraction from their persistent pursuit. In some versions of the narrative, Winchester received her instructions from a medium who informed her of her curse after her husband died. 

Many people have claimed that the grounds and mansion have been haunted by the ghosts of victims killed with Winchester rifles since its construction in 1886. Its "from-the-ground-up" construction proceeded around the clock, according to some reports, without interruption, until Winchester's death on September 5, 1922, at which time work ended immediately. According to Sarah Winchester's author, Winchester "routinely discharged laborers for months at a time 'to take such rest as I might,'" which "flies in the face of statements by today's Mystery House proprietors that work at the ranch was unceasing for 38 years."

The Whaley House

The Whaley House is a history museum in Old Town San Diego that offers tours and events to the public. The museum is said to be haunted by the souls of the Whaley family as well as a boat thief who was killed on the grounds.

Thomas Whaley was an East Coaster who came to California during the Gold Rush and eventually opened a business in San Diego in the 1850s. In 1857, he constructed the two-story brick house himself, attaching it to an existing granary that would eventually function as a courtroom. He shared the house with his wife, Anna, and their six children.

According to mythology, the land is haunted by several spirits, the oldest of which being James "Yankee Jim" Robinson. He was executed on the property in 1852 as a convicted thief in front of a group of onlookers, one of whom being Whaley himself. Whaley bought the land and constructed a house there for his family, but he later claimed to hear ghostly footsteps that he attributed to Robinson's ghost.

Others allege that the museum is haunted by Violet Whaley, the Whaleys' 22-year-old daughter who fatally shot herself in the heart in 1885. Violet was depressed when her husband, George Bertolacci, married her solely for the large dowry her father had paid and then abandoned her soon after. The humiliated divorcee left behind a note, according to the Save Our Heritage Organization, which manages the Whaley House:

Mad from life's history

Swift to death’s mystery;

Glad to be hurled,

Anywhere, anywhere, out of this world

Bodie, California 

The most realistic method to experience the real-life setting of the California gold rush is to go to Bodie. Bodie was a thriving town with over 10,000 residents from 1877 to 1882, producing more than $35 million in gold and silver. Almost 200 abandoned wooden buildings in a state of "arrested deterioration" to photograph and explore today, with the gold mining days of California a distant memory. Examine the church, schoolhouse, barbershop, and saloon windows for bottles, desks, and other antiquities.

The so-called Bodie Curse, on the other hand, is easily avoided: simply don't steal anything from the park, and you'll be alright. If you steal even a single item, though, you'll be doomed, and according to a KQED program, many previous thieves have returned their loot, which has included everything from rocks and nails to an upright piano, along with letters of apology. The curse appears to have originated with a park warden desperate to prevent sticky-fingered tourists from stealing ancient relics, but those who have tested it swear by it.

When it comes to ghosts, Bodie might point to its tumultuous past, which included bar brawls and gunfights, but Eleanor Dumont, a card dealer known as "Madame Mustache," may have been the most intriguing character (due to a dark swath of hair on her upper lip). She arrived in Bodie, where her luck ran out and she fatally injected herself with morphine due to a lack of finances. Perhaps Dumont's restless spirit is the source of the imaginary curse's long legs.

Queen Mary

The Queen Mary had established a new standard for transatlantic travel, which the wealthy and distinguished regarded as the sole civilized mode of transportation. She instantly captured the public's hearts and imaginations on both sides of the Atlantic, embodying the spirit of an age known for its elegance, refinement, and style.

During the Queen Mary's service, 49 people were claimed to have died, one of whom was John Pedder, also known as "Half Hatch Harry." When the 18-year-old crewman was playing chicken with another crewmember, the iconic door 13 in the underground alley crushed him to death.