There are many reportedly haunted locations in San Francisco, California . According to ghost hunters, over 100 sites in the San Francisco Bay Area are reported to be haunted. [1]
There are many reportedly haunted locations in San Francisco, California . According to ghost hunters, over 100 sites in the San Francisco Bay Area are reported to be haunted. [1]
Manrow’s House, was built in 1851 by J.P. Marrow, a successful civil engineer and also a judge advocate of a vigilance committee with high reputation in the city. He reported paranormal activities at his house in the form of “visitations, table tapping, rapping and so forth”. These accounts were published in newspapers of San Francisco. [2]
The Neptune Society Columbarium, at One Loraine Court, was originally part of the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Room 410 at the Queen Anne Hotel is said to be haunted by the namesake of the Miss Mary Lake's School for Girls. [3]
Room 207 at the Hotel Union Square is said to be haunted. [4]
Alcatraz Island and Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary are rumored to be haunted. The Huffington Post included it in a Halloween article list of "spooky places". [5]
Over 1000 people have committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, resulting in claims of it being haunted. [6]
According to ghost hunters, Greenwood Mansion, between Napa and American Canyon, is reputedly haunted by its former owner John Greenwood and his wife who were murdered there in 1891. [7]
The ground of an old village where the Spanish forces had killed many Patwin is part of Rockville Hills Regional Park. Local people reported seeing a “partial apparition of Chief Solano” [8]
Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce set ghost stories in San Francisco in the 19th century. The ghost incidents narrated are of the 1850s to 1950s set here are in the genre of stories, journalistic articles or based on investigations into the incidents. Some of the references have been sourced to books in the San Francisco Public Library, books such as “Haunted Houses of California” and the story of San Francisco Art Institute by Antoinette May, the "Vanishing Hitchhiker" by Rose Robinson, and “Foot Steps in the Fog : Alfred Hitchcocks San Francisco” authored by Jeff Craft and Aaron Leventhol. [9]
Alcatraz Island is a small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history. The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a major tourist attraction.
The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after Winchester's death in 1922. The Victorian and Gothic-style mansion is renowned for its size and its architectural curiosities and for the numerous myths and legends surrounding the structure and its former owner.
A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property. Parapsychologists often attribute haunting to the spirits of the dead who have suffered from violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide.
Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. The practice has been heavily criticized for its dismissal of the scientific method. No scientific study has ever been able to confirm the existence of ghosts. Ghost hunting is considered a pseudoscience by the vast majority of educators, academics, science writers and skeptics. Science historian Brian Regal described ghost hunting as "an unorganized exercise in futility".
Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse—the first one built on the U.S. West Coast—located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.
Summerwind, formerly known as Lamont Mansion, is a ruined mansion on the shores of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. Located on private land, its ruins are closed to the public. A number of urban legends and ghost stories in popular culture have contributed to its reputation as a haunted house.
Alcatraz Island has appeared many times in popular culture. Its appeal in film derives from its picturesque setting, natural beauty, isolation, and its history as a U.S. penitentiary – from which, officially, no prisoner ever successfully escaped.
In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, the three men tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unused utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained on the island.
The San Francisco Brewing Company was one of the oldest micro-breweries and bars in San Francisco, in addition to being one of the first four brew pubs in the United States. It was not always known as the Brewing Company, as only in recent decades did it take the moniker. It was located on the edge of what was once known as the Barbary Coast, at the intersection of Columbus and Pacific Avenues. It was formerly known as the Andromeda Saloon and the Albatross Saloon.
The following are reportedly haunted locations in California, in the United States. This list is sorted by county.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley was an American writer on topics related to spirituality, the occult, and the paranormal. She was also a radio show host, a certified hypnotist, a board director of the "National Museum of Mysteries and Research" and the "Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial Encounters", and a "Lifetime Achievement Award" winner from the Upper Peninsula Paranormal Research Society, Michigan. She has written more than 49 books, including ten encyclopedias.
The New Industries Building is a building on the western end of Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, United States. It was constructed in 1939 for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million modernization scheme which also included the water tower, power house, officers quarters and remodeling of the D-block.
United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz or The Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The site of a fort since the 1850s, the main prison building was built in 1910–12 as a U.S. Army military prison.
Alcatraz Hospital is a defunct hospital which was located on Alcatraz Island, California, US. It began operations in the 19th century while the United States Army operated Fort Alcatraz and continued to provide services after the transition to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Though Alcatraz is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the hospital is not included on the general tour.
Alcatraz Wharf is located on the southeast side of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, California, US. Classified as building number 33 of the Alcatraz Island National Historic Landmark, its historic name variants were "Alcatraz Dock" and "Alcatraz Pier". It is the main access point to Alcatraz. Another dock on the island's northwest side was only used for rock loading. The wharf contained many of the islands historic buildings, including Building 64, the Bombproof Barracks, Chinatown, Ranger Office, Garage, Dock Tower, Storage Vault, and Firebox #3.
The Vollmer House is a historic house built between 1876 and 1885, and located in the Japantown area in San Francisco, California. The house is known for its outstanding decorative details on the exterior.