Thomas Whaley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 5, 1823 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 1890 (aged 67) San Diego, California, US |
| Resting place | Mount Hope Cemetery, San Diego |
| Occupation | Settler |
Thomas Whaley (October 5, 1823 – December 14, 1890) was an early settler of San Diego, California. The residence he built there in 1857 is now a public museum called Whaley House.
Whaley was born in Manhattan, New York City, 1823 to Thomas Alexander Whaley Sr. and Rachel Pye. His father died in 1832 and his will said Thomas should receive a liberal education.
Whaley left for California during the California gold rush, and ending up working in San Francisco stores. This became successful, but was lost after an arson fire in 1851. He was advised to go to San Diego, so he and Lewis Franklin sailed there in 1851 and opened a store called Tienda California. He studied Spanish so he could sell to the Kumeyaay native people. The next year Franklin sold out to Whaley, and Whaley had a succession of other partners.
Whaley married Anna Eloise DeLaunay in 1853 in New York. She was born March 31, 1832, in New York City to a French family. They had six children, including Anna Amelia, George Hay Ringgold, Violet Eloise, and Corinne Lillian.
Whaley was appointed president of the San Diego board of trustees (informally called "mayor") during 1858–1859. Whaley was a Whig, though the position was officially non-partisan. [1]
In 1857, Thomas Whaley built a house in San Diego, in the area now referred to as Old Town. It was the first brick house in San Diego. The bricks were made at Whaley's kiln in Old Town, and the walls were finished with plaster made from ground seashells. The one-story wing served as the county courthouse during 1869–1870, with upstairs rooms used as San Diego's first commercial theater and meeting rooms for the County Board of Supervisors and record storage. At times, part of the downstairs was a store. The Whaley Family lived in the home off and on until 1885, when they moved into a new home in New Town (now Downtown) San Diego. The brick house in Old Town is now a museum, Whaley House, at 2482 San Diego Avenue. It is thought by some to be haunted.
Thomas Whaley died at his New Town residence on December 14, 1890, aged 67. His wife Anna died at the Old Town residence on February 24, 1913, aged 80. Thomas and Anna are buried in a family plot at the nearby Mount Hope Cemetery.
According to the Travel Channel's "America's Most Haunted" TV show, the house was featured as the number one most haunted house in the United States.
Philip Hardwick was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch and its twin station, the original Birmingham Curzon Street, which stands today as the oldest railway terminus building in the world.
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Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is a state protected historical park in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California. The park commemorates the early days of San Diego; it includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California.
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Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from adobe bricks in 1836 by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest example of the Monterey Colonial style of architecture in the United States. A section of the former ranch has been preserved by the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park and it is both a California Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is located on Adobe Road on the east side of the present-day town of Petaluma, California.
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Hamilton House may refer to:
The Whaley House is a Greek Revival–style residence and museum in Old Town, San Diego, California. It is the oldest brick structure in Southern California, built in 1857. It is a California Historical Landmark No. 65 and is currently maintained by Historic Tours of America, Inc (HTA).
Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of the historic architecture and landmarks around the San Diego, California, area. Founded in 1969, Save Our Heritage Organisation maintains several historic buildings including the Whaley House and the George W. Marston House. They are directly partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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The following are reportedly haunted locations in California, in the United States. This list is sorted by county.
The A. Berding Home is a historic Carpenter Gothic Victorian style house with Italianate accents built by pioneer merchant Arnold Berding in 1875 at 455 Ocean Avenue in Ferndale, Humboldt County, California is also called "The Gum Drop Tree House" from the neatly trimmed row of 150 year old cypresses in front.
Alice Lee was born on May 27, 1853, in Westport, Essex County, New York, and died on February 18, 1943, in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, living approximately 89 years. As one of the most influential figures of the Social Movement, she had a same sex partner, Katherine Teats, who died in 1952. They were both aspects of the social environment by hosting two U.S. presidents and their wives at their San Diego, California, residence. Lee and Teats are, according to the San Diego Historical Resource Board, "one of the first documented domestic partnerships in San Diego," being documented living together in various Census records; in the 1930 Census, Lee was the Head of Household and Teats was Partner. Together they owned various real estate properties in San Diego, had an active civic and social life, and were accepted as a couple.
