The Whaley House, California – Haunted

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:44:24 +0000

The Whaley House happens to be one of those few rare monuments that have a tendency to come into news every now and then. This is because of the various supernatural kinds of events that keep on happening here.

The Whaley House was actually a proper house, where a family once lived. Thomas Whaley, the youngest of the three Whaley brothers had built this house, and had moved in here with his wife. Strange events kept on happening in the lives of the couple, as well as of their children, both married and unmarried, such that many deaths happened inside the Whaley house. While there were members of the family who died of sickness, there were others who had even committed suicide. Thus, there came out a long list of family members who died inside the Whaley house, and there have been reports that ghosts of these dead members are often spotted. It is because of such reports, that the house has become one of the 30 haunted houses in the country.

The house was converted into a museum in May, 1960, and it today remains as one of the most famous tourist attractions. Any person visiting San Diego can miss out on something else, but cannot afford to miss out on the Whaley House. The house was built from bricks which were taken from the Whaley’s own brickyard, and they were the proud owners of this house, who claimed that it would be one of a kind, the most beautiful in the town. There is beautiful rosewood and mahogany furniture inside the house with damask drapes, Brussels carpets, and other beautiful luxurious items. Besides being the residence of the Whaley family, the building was also San Diego’s first commercial theatre, a county courthouse, and even a general store. The theatre was located in a bedroom upstairs, and had the seating capacity of up to 150. Moreover, the courtroom occupied 3 bedrooms in total.

Some believe that the Whaley House was haunted even before the Whaley family itself moved in. There are a lot of ghostly legends that are attached with this monument, and many TV channels and newspapers etc. have covered this monument, and given it different rankings in the list of the most haunted houses in the area. Visitors have claimed to see Anna Whaley, wife of Thomas Whaley’s ghost in the gardens of the house. It is also said that when the Whaley family had moved inside the house, they used to hear heavy footsteps, which they concluded to be something else.

Once every month, there are ghost hunting tours that are carried out in the Whaley house by the San Diego Ghost Hunters (SDGH).

The Whaley House Haunted? You decide!

Fort Alcatraz

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:35:50 +0000

Alcatraz, which was previously named by the Spanish as “Isla de los Alcatraces” meaning “Island of the Pelicans” for the large number of the bird species present on the island, was already believed to been home of evil spirits by the native Americans, and were home to large number of criminal outlaws.
When the Mexican-American War, taking place in California, ended in the year 1848, USA took control over it and understanding the island’s strategic position for the defense of the San Francisco Bay, a fortress was decided to be built over the sandstone outcropping of 1853. A round wall of stone and brick was built around the island, with offices, barracks, temporary wharfs and shops in it. Around the year 1854, a lighthouse mounted with eleven cannons was built.
But after this, the building of the Fort Alcatraz was delayed due to the lack of enthusiasm of the workers, who were more interested in searching for gold and also lack of raw materials, which took quite some time to be imported from China.
In the year 1857, a landslide, measuring around 7000 or so cubic-yard, buried lots of laborers, resulting in the first death accident, taking lives of two men. Still the continuation of the building took place and in the year 1859, it was completed with the Citadel, the final defensive position along with a few outbuildings, an enclosed gun position row for the protection of the dock, an armed guardhouse for the entrance. The only way to get to the citadel was through the drawbridge over the dry deep moat surrounding the building. The whole fortress had provisions for around 200 soldiers for a 4 month siege.
In the year 1859, when Captain Joseph Stewart and around 86 men from the Third US Artillery’s Company was designated as the commandant of the island, it was soon started to be used for another purpose, as a prison. It started jailing some of its own soldiers but later it took in prisoners and escapees from other insecure islands as well. In the year 1861, it played a great role in pacifying the civil war between the confederates and union supporters and the protection of the San Francisco city. Being one of the most secure and armed island with lots of ammunition and supplies, it was considered the most powerful fortress in the Mississippi’s west. In the same year the Pacific Department assigned it as a military prison, which was no different from the other prisons in the extremely bad living conditions of the prisoners. It was conspired to be attacked by the confederates but it was prevented. As the number of prisoners was increasing in the Fort Alcatraz, the Lower Prison was built. The number of cannons and barracks seemed to increase as well. After the civil wars, the Mudoc wars, and the Indian wars, many confederates, native Indians and Mudoc Indians were captured and sent to Alcatraz, among whom some died due to the bad conditions of the place or some disease. After the Spanish American wars in the year 1898, an Upper Prison was also built, some cannons were discarded and some updated…
It was considered one of the most powerful and guarded prisons and also one of the crucial parts of the Alcatraz Island and has played a pivotal role in the USA history.

Weird, Strange, Interesting Places to Visit » California

The Whaley House, California – Haunted

What should we do next ?

Fort Alcatraz

What should we do next ?