We had heard rumors about the Whaley House in San Diego. This house is actually listed by the United States Department of Commerce as an authentic haunted house! We decided to take a trip and investigate…
This house was built on the old site of the public gallows, where several deaths occurred. We discovered that this site is one of the most popular in San Diego.
History of The Whaley House
Construction began on this house in 1856, and was the first 2-story brick building in San Diego. Thomas Whaley and his family made their home there. During that time the building was also a general store, a courtroom and a theater. Today, the house is operated and maintained by the Save Our Heritage Organization and is open to the public for tours.
Our Tour
We took one such tour of the house. Even the entrance to the now-museum was impressive. We started the tour in the area that was the old general store, then moved into the courthouse room. Both areas were very impressive looking, well kept…and…chilly.
We proceeded from the courthouse to the dining room…which was downright cold. We listened and looked for signs of an A/C, but found none. By the time we reached the dining room, the battery on our digital camera had died…we recall it being at least half full when we entered the house.
From there we walked up the staircase to where the theater and several bedrooms are. Again, the theater was quite chilly, and, gave us the chills. One of the guides told us about the different stage productions they held there. Only after we left the room did the guide inform us that it is one of the most active ones in the house.
You can’t walk into the bedrooms, but you can observe them through glass. There was a man on tour there, apparently a regular as he was very knowledgeable about the house. He had a camera in his cell phone. He would “talk to” the ghosts, out loud, then shoot a photo. He did this over and over again, probably 10-15 times. Then, he’d show us the photo on his phone, each one had glowing orbs suspended in air in the rooms! It was amazing.
We finished our tour downstairs with the Master bedroom, the one Mrs. Whaley died in. Then, saw the living room and outside area where the gallows used to be.
The tour was interesting and fun, and, the guides (and guests) were quite knowledgeable.