With its palm trees and beaches, you’d never know that San Diego is one of the most haunted cities in America. Numerous reports of ghost sightings and unexplained phenomena have turned many famous locations into haunted sites.
The Hotel Del Coronado, one of San Diego’s most famous sites, is home to two famous ghosts. Room 502, now 3502, was rumored to be the love nest of hotel builder and owner E.S. Babcock. His mistress, who was staying in this room, committed suicide soon after learning that she was pregnant. The body later disappeared, perhaps taken away to avoid an ugly scandal. Today, lights occasionally flicker in the room, while an icy chill may be felt outside the door.
Around Thanksgiving of 1892, a pregnant Kate Morgan checked herself into the hotel under the name Lottie Anderson Bernard. She waited in room 312, now 3312, for her husband to join her before shooting herself in the head with a .44 caliber bullet. The drapes in the room are now often seen moving behind closed windows. Screens can also fall off the windows for no reason, while a strange glow can occasionally be seen emanating from the room when unoccupied. The staff at the hotel leaves Morgan’s spirit an invitation each year to its annual Christmas party. In addition, the ghosts of a young boy and girl have also been seen running up and down stairs and hallways.
Room 309 of the Horton Grand Hotel in the Gaslamp’s red light district, is supposedly the haunting grounds of the ghost of a mid-1800s gambler named Roger A. Whittaker. In an attempt to make up for growing gambling debts, Whittaker was caught one night cheating in a card game. He tried to hide in his hotel room, but was soon discovered and shot to death by a gunman. Over the years, there have been many reports of the bed shaking, lights going on and off, objects being moved by themselves and armoire doors opening in the middle of the night. Sometimes, the temperature of the room will get uncomfortably warm, with the air conditioning and open window not helping at all. Occasionally, there will be the impression of someone having laid on the bed, despite the fact that the maid has freshly made it up. You may even hear the sounds of card playing in the otherwise unoccupied room.
The Whaley House in Old Town is listed by the United States Department of Commerce as an authentic haunted house. Owned by the County of San Diego, this historic house in Old Town was built on the site of San Diego’s early public gallows, where Yankee Jim Robinson was hanged in 1852.
“”We do not know exactly how many people were hung here,”” head docent Lynn Hamilton said.
Two of Anna and Thomas Whaley’s children died in the house, but neither haunts it. However, on the stairs, visitors have felt chills where Anna Whaley was once held at gunpoint. Some people have also been able to smell her lavender perfume.
“”Outside, you might smell Thomas Whaley’s cigar smoke, since he could not smoke inside,”” volunteer docent Danielle Funk said.
You may even feel the Whaley’s dog brush up against your leg. Women have often felt a child grabbing their hand, but when they expect to see their own child there, they don’t see anyone. The hand-grabber is believed to be the Whaley’s great-granddaughter.
At the nearby Casa de Estudillo, a restored adobe home of the commander of the Presidio, Jose Maria Estudillo, there have also been occurrences of unexplained phenomena. In the master bedroom, you can experience either a cold or a hot feeling. If there is a hot feeling, the spirits are friendly. If it is cold, then the spirits are not happy. In the blue room, people have seen and felt the presence of ghosts. Others have heard pianos playing at night, even though the house is locked tight, and there are alarms that would go off if someone were to break in. However, employees are reluctant to believe that any of these reports are true.
The Star of India sailing ship in the San Diego Bay has also experienced its fair share of haunts. In 1884, a young stowaway named John Campbell was put to work after being discovered. One day, he lost his footing high in the rigging and fell one hundred feet to the deck. Both his legs were crushed; he died three days later and was buried at sea.
Today, visitors to the ship have reported a cold hand touching them when they are near the mast where Campbell fell. In the ship’s galley, the smell of fresh baked bread can sometimes be smelled, despite the fact that the stove has been cold for many years. Even as the ship sits still in the water, people have witnessed the pots and pans above the stove move. You can also feel the cold and fear that haunts the ship when visiting the sleeping quarters where crewmen died after accidents or falling ill. To learn more about ghosts in San Diego, check out “”San Diego Specters: Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Phantasmic Tales,”” by John L. Lamb, which includes stories on famous and obscure haunted sites in San Diego County.
