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The Whaley House is the oldest brick structure in southern California, located in San Diego. It was built by Thomas Whaley in 1856-1857. In its heyday, it served as a Protestant Church, city hall, theater, public school, and courtroom. (No, not all at once, duh.) It has been a museum since 1960. You would figure any self-respecting historic old building would have a ghost or two, and the Whaley House does not disappoint. As a matter of fact, the Department of Commerce has designated it an official haunted site. Only twenty-nine other places in the United States have received this designation. Hey, if the government claims it's haunted, it must be so, right?
This house boasts several ghosts, perhaps the oldest being that of "Yankee Jim" Robinson. The actual accounts of what Yankee Jim did vary greatly, the only constant in the stories I've read being something about a very large and expensive boat, but there can be no doubt that on September 18, 1852, he was executed for his crime, alleged or no. For those of you keeping tabs, that seems to indicate that this ghost was probably around before the house was even built. People often claim the hear very heavy footsteps, as if made by boots stomping around upstairs. Other visitors claim to feel like they are choking or being strangled when they pass through an archway that stands over the spot where Yankee Jim was hung. The Whaleys themselves heard the footsteps while living in the house, according to the curator of the museum the house has become. Wonder if the Whaleys hang out with Yankee Jim now, for the couple has become part of the otherworldly residents.
Visitors to the museum sometimes smell the odors of cigar smoke and lavender perfume upstairs. Mr. Whaley was a cigar smoker, and I'm guessing the lavender perfume is Mrs. Anna Whaley, unless Mr. Whaley had some strange tastes in cologne. Supposedly, Mrs. Whaley can also be heard playing the piano at times. There are also sounds of children crying or laughing occasionally. The Whaleys 17-month-old son died of scarlet fever, and a neighbor's little girl, surnamed Washburn, died after slicing her neck on the Whaleys' clothesline. (Another version of the tale has the girl crushing her windpipe, yet another that she hit her head on a rock after crashing into the line, and many maintain that she never existed at all.)
Several celebrities have stayed at Whaley House, including Rod Serling of "Twilight Zone" fame, actor Vincent Price and Regis Philbin. Mr. Philbin and a friend apparently fled the house after seeing someone walk from one room into another. When they shined a flashlight on the person, whoever, or whatever, it was vanished. This was in 1964, before Philbin was a big shot TV host. Night visits are no longer allowed, though I don't think that's due to Mr. Scaredy Pants.
These are the details that I found over and over again while researching the Whaley House, so they are the ones I posted. However, I did find some evidence that there are some skeletons in the Whaley closet, one of which is the possible murder of one of the Whaley daughters, Violet. To find out more about that, visit Whaley Story at Eeeek-NET. I found their tales a bit confusing, but it's only fair I let you know about them. I fear that maybe Violet is one of the spirits, but because of the questionable and violent nature of her death (which was ruled a suicide) she is not mentioned to "gloss over" the Whaley name.
INFORMATION
Address: Thomas Whaley House Museum
2482 San Diego, CA 92110
San Diego, CA 92110
(San Diego Avenue at Harney Street)
Telephone: (619)298-2482
Open 7 days a week. Check for times and holidays.
