HAUNTED U.S.A.: San Diego, California (Part 1)
Ah the wonderful city known as San Diego. I believe it means a whales vagina or something like that. Anyway it is home to Comic Con, the San Diego Chargers(oops, lost those guys recently) and Padres and has a rich history in the paranormal. So rich that some would say it’s overflowing with paranormal excitement. Read on to see the spooky spots in and around San Diego.
WARNING: ALL OF THESE AREAS AND LOCATIONS ARE PRIVATE PROPERTY AND ARE EXTREMELY REAL. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Bonita Vista High School:
The boys locker room is said to have a pesky poltergeist who turns the showers on and off. The boys restroom in the gym has had malevolent whispers coming from it when no one is inside the bathroom. Also all over the gym’s bleachers, cold spots can be felt.
Brooklyn Elementary School:
Janitors have reported seeing children running through the halls at night. Aldo janitors have reported that a force has held them in their offices when they try and leave by blocking the door and not letting them open it. Even scarier is the fact that many nights children can be heard crying in the hallways.
Procter Valley:
The story goes, if you park your car next to the chain link fence that a woman can be seen floating on the field behind the gate. This depends on time of day of course. Doubtful you’ll be seeing any full floating apparitions in the daytime.
Downtown San Diego-Solar Turbines:
If you take Harbor Drive near the San Diego Airport you will run into the Global power company that was built in the 1880’s and has been the location of many apparitions walking in and around the building. It is said these are the ghosts of workers who have died at the plant but never officially “retired”. Elevators and doors have been seen opening on their own.(This is a secure facility and not open to the public.)
El Cajon-Rios Canyon:
There have been reports of two cowboys being seen in the back of the canyon at sunset. Could this be just a romantic romp on horseback for two people or is there something more sinister?
El Fandango Restaurant:
It is said on certain nights a woman in white can be seen crying at a table in a dark corner of the restaurant. Ya might wanna get a plate to go…just in case.
Horton Grand Hotel:
This hotel has more than 1 haunted room and the temperature has been known to fluctuate rapidly even when the air conditioning is not on.
The Hotel del Coronado:
Kate Morgan reportedly killed herself. Her body was found on the steps leading out of the hotel and towards the beach. She can be seen in her room(3312) or around the hotel grounds at night.
The McDonalds on Miramar Rd:
It has been said that packets of ketchup, mustard and other condiments have been seen thrown around the fast food joint at night before closing. Also in one of the bathroom stalls on the wood grain, there have been reports of the devil appearing. The door has been changed as of this post.
WILLIAM HEATH DAVIS HOUSE:
As the oldest surviving structure in San Diego, the William Heath Davis House (410 Island Ave. in the Gaslamp) has its own share of paranormal history. Since San Diego didn’t have enough lumber to build a house, a “salt-box” house was shipped in from Maine. Davis’s home is unquestionably one of the more haunted places in San Diego thanks to the sheer number of people who once lived — and died — there.
There was significant pushback from locals about the salt-box houses, and it took the work of one Anna Scheper to get the community to come around. She determined that San Diego was long overdue for a hospital, and the William Heath Davis House was the prime location for it. She was paid a dollar per patient she saw per day, no small sum for the era. These days, you can possibly see the ghost of a German WWII spy roaming around the property, or the apparition of one of the many patients who died there.
BERKELEY STEAM FERRY BOAT:
When many people think of famous haunted ships, they often tend to think of the Titanic. However, don’t let the Steam Ferry Berkeley slip under your radar; this ferryboat saw some incredible things during its tenure… but it also has its own supernatural backstory, too. Launched in 1898, it was the largest passenger ferryboat at the time, capable of carrying up to 1,700 passengers.
It came in handy after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, where the Berkeley was responsible for shuttling the survivors of the devastating earthquake to safety. While it never actually sank during its active years, it did see its own shares of death aboard. In turn, you’d be wise to be on the lookout for the Fedora Man, an ominous being who loiters aboard the vessel. It’s rumored to be the ghost of John O. Norbom, who died aboard the Berkley when he dropped a bottle of nitroglycerin, blowing himself up and injuring five others. The ferryboat is now an exhibit at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
That concludes part 1 of our look at San Diego and all the Paranormal parts we could find. Stay here for Part 2 which will be dropping next week and will be going over Old Town San Diego in DETAIL, that means, THE WHALEY HOUSE! See ya next week!
