THE PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE       CALIFORNIA         ALCATRAZ FEDERAL PENITENTIARY (SAN FRANCISCO) BACKGROUND: The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1828), and a federal prison from 1934 until AG Robert Kennedy closed it in 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of Native Americans from San Francisco, who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation, with public protests through the 1970s. PHENOMENA: The most feared presence on the island is known as ‘The Thing’ which is said to have red glowing eyes and has been seen not only by visitors today but prisoners and staff when Alcatraz was in operation. Other common reports detail disembodied voices, sobbing, screams, banging of cell doors and putrid smells which some say indicate a demonic presence. Visitors have experienced being touched, feeling cold spots and having emotional outbursts of sadness and anger. TRIVIA:  It appears in motion pictures such as: Alcatraz Island, Birdman of Alcatraz, Point Blank, The Enforcer, Escape from Alcatraz, Murder in the First, The Rock, Catch Me If You Can, and X-Men: The Last Stand. BATTERY POINT LIGHTHOUSE (CRESCENT CITY) BACKGROUND: One of the first lighthouses on the California coast as rugged mountains and unbridged rivers meant coastal travel was essential for the economic survival of this region. In 1855, Congress appropriated $15,000 for the construction on the tiny islet, which is connected to Battery Point by an isthmus which is visible, and can be traversed on foot, at low tide. Although not included in the 1852 contract by the United States Lighthouse Service for the first eight west coast lighthouses, the Battery Point Lighthouse was actually lit ten days before the Humboldt Harbor Lighthouse, the last of the original eight to become operational. PHENOMENA: It is not definitive who haunts the lighthouse or why they do, but one ghost is described as “playful” and others include a child and possibly two adult spirits. Visitors have been touched on their shoulders or claim to sense a presence. Caretakers have their slippers moved at night while asleep, a rocking chair moves back and forth on its own, and  boots are heard trudging up the stairway, especially during storms. Cats staying at the lighthouse display odd behavior while these incidents are occurring. TRIVIA: A tsunami that occurred in 1964 created huge tidal waves that destroyed seven city blocks of Crescent City. The keepers were eyewitnesses to the destruction and threatened themselves by the largest of waves. BODIE BACKGROUND: Located in the Bodie Hills south of Lake Tahoe, this was a former mining and Gold Rush boom town with a bank, rowdy saloons, a Chinatown area and a red light district. The population steadily declined until, by the 1940s, fewer than 10 residents remained. Just over 100 structures remain in a state of "arrested decay," giving tourists a glimmer of its Wild West past. PHENOMENA: There is a “Bodie Curse” that is avoidable by not removing items from the park. Those that do are  plagued with misfortune and many have returned their ill-gotten goods - ranging from rocks and nails to an upright piano - do so accompanied by written apologies. The source of the curse is said to be a park ranger desperate to stop tourists from taking artifacts and those who have tempted fate swear it’s true. As far as ghosts, one can point to its rough past replete with bar brawls and gun fights, but the most interesting character might be Eleanor Dumont, who was a card dealer better known as “Madame Mustache” (due to a dark swath of hair on her upper lip). After arriving here, her luck went bad and after going broke, she injected herself with morphine causing her death. THE BROOKDALE LODGE (SANTA CRUZ) BACKGROUND: The Brookdale Inn & Spa, formerly known as the Brookdale Lodge, is known for the stream running through its primary restaurant, the Brook Room. It was built in 1890 at the former site of the Grover Lumber Mill by James Harvey Logan, a botanist and Judge. Before Judge Logan's development, the area was known as Clear Creek and Brookville. The inn was built around the river after 1922 while it was owned by Dr. Camp. The lodge was purchased by a new owner in 2007 and the name was changed to Brookdale Inn and Spa. The lodge underwent many structural changes followed by neglect and eventual abandonment. PHENOMENA: The most famous ghost here is said to be a young girl named Sarah Logan who is dressed in white and has been seen walking through the lobby or sitting near the fireplace as well as standing on the balcony which is otherwise off-limits to guests. It’s said she sometimes cries out for her mother and guests who try to help her find she has disappeared while they scan the area, one time watching her run across the lobby and through an office window. When the lodge is empty, the clinking of glasses and sounds of conversation or big band- era music can still be heard. A ghostly woman has been spotted walking right over the brook that runs through the building as if floating on air. In the Pool Room, visitors report cold spots, a unsettling presence and physical contact with some thing unseen. Doors slam and footsteps are heard from empty rooms. Room 46 of the motel wing is reported to be very haunted. A woman who worked at the lodge in exchange for housing reported that at night objects and misty shapes would fly across the room. Ghostly ballroom dancers would swirl around leering at her as they floated by. Ghosts would materialize around her bed, their faces sometimes vague and sometimes very clear. TRIVIA: Has entertained famous guests like Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Tyrone Power, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Hedy Lamarr, and President Herbert Hoover. Appeared on shows like, Ghost Adventures, Sightings and Dead Famous. CECIL HOTEL (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: Constructed in 1924 by hotelier William Banks Hanner, as a destination for business travelers and tourists, but within five years of its opening, the United States sank into the Great Depression. Though the hotel flourished as a fashionable destination through the 1940s, the decades beyond saw the hotel decline, as the nearby area known as Skid Row became increasingly populated with transients. As many as 10,000 homeless people lived within a four-mile radius. By the 1950s the hotel had gained a reputation as a residence for transients. A portion of the hotel was refurbished in 2007 after new owners took over. The first documented suicide at the Cecil was reported in 1931 when a guest named W.K. Norton died in his room after taking poison capsules. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, more suicides at the Cecil occurred and by the 1960s, longtime residents had begun to call the Cecil "The Suicide." It also became a notorious rendezvous spot for adulterous couples, drug activity and prostitution. In 1947, Elizabeth Short, dubbed by the media as the “Black Dahlia”, was rumored to have been spotted drinking at the Cecil's bar in the days before her notorious and, to date, unsolved murder. In 1964 a retired telephone operator named "Pigeon Goldie" Osgood, who had been a well known and well liked long-term resident at the hotel, was found dead in her room. She had been raped, stabbed and beaten, and her room ransacked. A man named Jacques B. Ehlinger was charged with Osgood's murder, but he was later cleared; her death remains unsolved.Perhaps most infamously, in the 1980s the hotel was rumored to be the residence of serial killer Richard Ramirez, nicknamed the "Night Stalker." Ramirez had been a regular presence on the skid row area of Los Angeles, but, according to a hotel clerk who claims to have spoken to him, is rumored to have stayed at the Cecil for a few weeks and Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger spent time here in 1991 while he worked as a journalist covering crime in LA (and subsequently murdered three women during his stay). 16 similar tragedies have taken place at the Cecil, the most recent being the 2013 mysterious death of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old traveling student who was found dead, floating naked in one of the hotel's water supply tanks on the roof. Footage was later released which showed her acting very strangely in one of the hotel's elevators and, to this day, people suspect paranormal influence had something to do with her death. TRIVIA: The hotel became the inspiration for the TV show American Horror Story: Hotel. CLAREMONT HOTEL (SAN FRANCISCO) BACKGROUND: Construction of the hotel began about 1905, contemporaneously with the nearby Claremont Park development of Duncan McDuffie, but halted as a result of supply and financial difficulties caused by the 1906 earthquake. Construction resumed for a time in 1910, but further difficulties impeded progress. Finally, the hotel was completed and opened in 1915 as the Claremont Hotel. PHENOMENA: A guest named Kim and her husband were walking the grounds and looked into an open 4th floor window to see the curtains billowing out.  Thinking this odd, she took out her phone and started recording it. When she played it back later the sound of a little girl calling out "Mom..." was clearly audible. One staff member claims many instances of a little 6-year-old girl making herself known in Room 422 in which it’s thought that she died either in the existing hotel, or in a fire that took place before the hotel was built. One guest staying in room 307 woke in the middle of the night to feel someone pulling the sheet over her head then forcing her face into her pillow, trying to suffocate her. When the woman screamed, the entity vanished. Another guest reported having trouble opening the door to get out and dresser drawers that would be inexplicably opened while she away. In room 416 a woman and her daughter had trouble sleeping because they kept hearing doors slamming shut in the rooms next to and above them. When the daughter touched the wall, it was scalding hot. The next morning, they went to see the bellman, asking to change rooms. He informed them that doors slamming on the floor above them wasn’t [possible as there is no floor above theirs at the Claremont.  One guest approached the elevator one night when the door opened on its own. Upon reaching the fourth floor, he started walking toward his room and heard footsteps behind him. He turned and found no one was there. Inside his room, he felt a sharp temperature drop and then claimed to smell smoke and hear the sounds of construction. In his bed later, he felt pressure on the bed and looked to see a small, round imprint in the sheets. San Antonio Spurs player Jeff Ayers checked into the Claremont and was headed to his room when he heard a child making noise behind the door. His room key failed to unlock the door, so he brought it back to the front desk. Assuring him they had given him the correct key, they phoned the room to see if there had been an error, but no one answered. "I really heard voices and a baby in the room, and there wasn’t anybody in there," Ayers said. "It was crazy." The staff was skeptical, but teammate Tim Duncan corroborates the story. "I heard a baby in his room," Duncan said. "There was somebody, or something, in his room. Yeah, I definitely heard something." TRIVIA: The Claremont was purchased in March 2014 by the Fairmont Hotel chain and financier Richard Blum who is the husband of US Senator Diane Feinstein. THE COMEDY STORE/CIRO’S (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: The Comedy Store was opened in April 1972 by comedians Sammy Shore and Rudy DeLuca. The building was formerly the home of Ciro's, a popular Hollywood nightclub owned by William Wilkerson, and later a rock and roll venue, where The Byrds were discovered in 1964. When the venue reopened as The Comedy Store in 1972, it included a 99-seat theater. As a result of a divorce settlement, Sammy Shore's ex-wife Mitzi Shore began operating the club in 1973, and she was able to buy the building in 1976. She immediately renovated and expanded the club to include a 450-seat main room. PHENOMENA: It is a long-standing conclusion that the club is haunted. One night on his way out the back door, comedian/security-guard Blake Clark heard banging on the piano in the Belly Room, a small venue on the second floor. He rushed upstairs when he heard the piano, thinking someone was locked in. When he unlocked the door, the noise stopped. Flipping on the light, he saw no one was in the room. As he turned to leave, he again heard the banging of the piano keys. Apparently this has happened on multiple occasions. Waitresses also report odd occurrences. One of them would open the room, light candles, arrange tables and leave. Five minutes later, she’d return to find the candles out, the lights off and the door locked. Returning with the key, she’d find the door open and the room set up again. Another night, Clark made his final rounds in the large showroom, formerly Ciro’s main room. As he locked up, he saw a chair on one end of the stage began to slide across to the other side. He stood frozen, watching as the chair glided effortlessly three feet, ten feet, twenty. He gathered himself and ran out. In another bizarre experience, he went to the rear of the empty stage to turn off a light and turned around to find 40 chairs silently piled center stage, ten feet away. TRIVIA: Alumni of the club include: Tim Allen, Rosanne Barr, Jim Carrey, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Andrew Dice Clay, Rodney Dangerfield, Whoopi Goldberg, Andy Kaufman, Jay Leno, Michael Keaton, David Letterman, Sam Kinison, Dennis Miller, Eddie Murphy, Howie Mandel, Richard Pryor, Gary Shandling, Pauly Shore and Robin Williams. DISNEYLAND (ANAHEIM) BACKGROUND: The first of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, it opened on July 17, 1955. It is the only theme park designed and built to completion under the direct supervision of Walt Disney who came up with the concept after visiting various amusement parks with his daughters in the 1930s and 1940s. It was originally the only attraction on the property; its official name was changed to Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the expanding complex in the 1990s. PHENOMENA: There are many reports of animatronics moving when the rides are turned off possibly because it’s fairly common for families to scatter the ashes of their loved ones (without permission) on favorite rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean or The Haunted Mansion. Custodians have discovered ashes, bone fragments and even a jaw bone in the park for years now. There are also real human bones used in the décor at The Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Ghost sightings in and around the park include Disney himself whose apparition has been seen in his former apartment above the Fire Station on Main Street. There have also been sightings of various spirits believed to be people who either worked or died in the park or have had their remains scattered here. TRIVIA: The park has only had 5 unscheduled closings: in 1963, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, in 1970, due to an anti- Vietnam riot instigated by the Youth International Party, in 1987, on December 16 due to a winter storm, in 1994, for inspection after the Northridge earthquake and in 2001, after the September 11 attacks.  GLEN TAVERN INN (SANTA PAULA) BACKGROUND: The hotel was built in 1911 and is known for its colorful history. At the time the Inn was built, Santa Paula was growing and prospering as an oil town, and was headquarters to Union Oil. The Tudor-Craftsman hotel was designed by famed architects Burns and Hunt and funded by a consortium of twenty-five wealthy townsmen each of whom wanted one thousand dollars for its construction. It was erected directly opposite the train depot to provide accommodations to the many newcomers lured to the area by the burgeoning oil and citrus industries, and to provide a gathering place for Santa Paula's growing high society circles. PHENOMENA: One of the true hot spots is room 307 which is said to be haunted by two ghosts, one a cowboy known as “Calvin” and the other a prostitute. Calvin is described as tall and thin wearing a white shirt and sporting long hair and a goatee. He has been seen walking through walls and is often captured in photographs taken by guests. TRIVIA: The inn has hosted such notables as Carole Lombard, John Wayne, Houdini and canine thespian, Rin Tin Tin, who boasted his own suite long before “pet-friendly” entered the hospitality lexicon. In 2013, the inn was featured on an episode of Ghost Adventures with special guests Brit Morgan and Mimi Page. In 2014, the inn was featured on an episode of The Dead Files. GOLDEN GATE PARK (SAN FRANCISCO) BACKGROUND: In the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park, which was then taking shape in New York City. Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands, in an unincorporated area west of San Francisco's then-current borders. Conceived ostensibly for recreation, the underlying purpose of the park was housing development and the westward expansion of the city. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >> One of the multiple ghosts that are said to haunt the park is that of a woman who wanders the Stow Lake area searching for her child that some say accidentally drowned in the lake when a stroller it was in somehow fell in. The woman dove in to save the child but neither was ever found and were assumed dead. A different version has the woman disposing of a baby and then killing herself to hide the birth. Numerous people over the years claim a police officer gave them a ticket while in the park and when they went to take care of it find that the officer who issued it passed away years prior. Legend says if you find yourself followed by a police officer, start to make your way out of the park. If it is the ghost he will vanish at a sculpture called “The Pioneer Mother.” People also report hearing the laughter of children or have witnessed the head of the statue appear to move. GRAUMAN’S CHINESE THEATER (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: For his last of four theaters, Sid Grauman planned something so unique and magnificent inside and out that it would outshine all other theaters in Los Angeles. He and architect Raymond Kennedy chose a Chinese temple as inspiration and created a soaring 90-foot pagoda adorned with a 30-foot dragon and ceremonial masks and topped with an ornate copper roof. But it is the forecourt that makes this the most famous movie theater in the world. That’s where Grauman displayed his most ingenious idea, concrete blocks with the hand and foot prints of the stars. Grauman also built salons for private parties after a premiere or the Oscars where he and his famous friends could celebrate comfortably and hid buzzers near lamps in the lobby to signal people inside to open a secret panel. PHENOMENA: Buzzers in the secret rooms after being disconnected yet still activated for no reason. When one employee heard this he was confused but suddenly realized it was the buzzers for the secret salons coming from inside the sealed rooms. The theater’s resident ghost is named “Fritz” who it’s said worked there at some unknown point in time. Apparently despondent, he hanged himself behind the movie screen. Since then, his constant and friendly presence has been felt throughout the theater. HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: Hollywood's only cemetery was founded in 1899 on 100 acres and called "Hollywood Cemetery" by F. W. Samuelson and (first name unknown) Lombard. In 1897, the two men were the owners of a 60 acres tract of land near Hollywood in Los Angeles County. In that year, they—along with Mrs. M. W. Gardner of Santa Monica, Joseph D. Rodford, Gilbert Smith, and Thomas R. Wallace—formed a corporation known as the “Hollywood Cemetery Association. The cemetery sold off large tracts to Paramount Pictures, which, with RKO Pictures, bought 40 acres by 1920. Part of the remaining land was set aside for the Beth Olam Cemetery, a dedicated Jewish burial ground for members of the local Jewish community. PHENOMENA: Some of the spirits here have been seen walking straight through the gate and others will poke their heads (and occasionally walk) through the wall separating the cemetery from the studio. Guards have witnessed the ghost of Rudolph Valentino walking through the Lemon Grove gate and Clifton Webb, the original "Mr. Belvedere" in three different movies released between 1948 and 1951, has haunted the Abbey of the Psalms mausoleum since his death in 1966. Strange lights, drafts of cold air, smells of cologne, and whispered voices have also been reported coming from the mausoleum. Another spirit is the ghost of Virginia Rappe who attended a party on Labor Day in 1921 in San Francisco at the Saint Francis Hotel. The party was in celebration of a recent contract that Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a famous comedian and actor at the time, had recently agreed to. During the party, Rappe became ill; an ambulance was required to come get her, and a few days later she died at the age of 26. Arbuckle was falsely accused of being rep[responsible for her death. TRIVIA: Its owner was once an adviser on the television series, Six Feet Under. Numerous notable individuals including many prominent persons in the entertainment industry have been interred at the cemetery, such as Mel Blanc, Peter Lorre, Jerry Siegel, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks, Cecil B. DeMille, Fay Wray, Johnny Ramone, Bugsy Siegel, George Harrison and Judy Garland. HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: The hotel was built in 1926, in what is known as the Golden Era of Los Angeles architecture, and was named after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. It was financed by a group that included Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman. It cost $2.5 million ($36.1 million today) to complete and opened on May 15, 1927. Since 2015, the hotel has been run independently by its own management company. PHENOMENA: Among a multitude of paranormal claims here are children (particularly one named “Caroline”) playing in the hallways, a pianist wearing a white suit and “very old shoes” playing on the mezzanine and phantom guests swimming in the pool after hours. Marilyn Monroe stayed at the Roosevelt so often that she purchased a full-length antique mirror for her favorite suite above the pool. After her untimely death in 1962, the hotel stored it away but decades later during a major remodel, employees found it in the basement and hung it in the lower lobby. Monroe’s image has been seen in it regularly, applying lipstick, primping with her hair as she must have done hundreds of times while looking into it. One of Monroe’s Misfits costars, four-time Oscar nominee Montgomery Clift, is also a ghostly resident who sticks close to room 928, his home for several months in 1952 while filming From Here to Eternity. People come from around the world to stay in it on the chance that Clift’s spirit will make his presence known. Past residents report the actor’s spirited behavior, including: ringing the phone incessantly, blaring the radio, turning the heat to over 100 degrees and practicing the bugle for the Eternity role. He’s even shoved a few unsuspecting guests while they slept. TRIVIA: Other notable guests (and possible ghosts) at the hotel include: Frances Farmer, Errol Flynn, Shirley Temple, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Prince, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The scene of the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys where Susie (Michelle Pfeiffer) sings "Makin' Whoopie" while Jack (Jeff Bridges) plays piano was shot at the Cinegrill nightclub in the hotel. The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929, inside the Blossom Ballroom. Other films shot on location at the hotel include Internal Affairs (starring Richard Gere), Beverly Hills Cop II (starring Eddie Murphy) and Catch Me If You Can (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks). HOTEL DEL CORONADO (CORONADO) BACKGROUND: In the mid-1880s, the San Diego region was in the midst of one of its first real estate booms. At that time, it was common for a developer to build a grand hotel as a draw for what would otherwise be a barren landscape. The Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena, the Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, and the Hotel Redondo in Redondo Beach were similar grand hotels built as development enticements during this era. When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years. PHENOMENA: The main spirit haunting the Coronado is said to be Kate Morgan (Farmer), the daughter of an Iowa postmaster. She was married to Thomas Morgan and they had one son who passed away at the age of 2. She left Iowa a few years later with another man and traveled to California, finding work as a housekeeper. On Thanksgiving Day, 1892, she checked into the Coronado under the name Lottie Bernard. Under a week later, the hotel electrician found her body on a stairway that led to the beach. She had been shot once in the head. The story gets complicated here as the coroner claimed it to be a suicide and a housekeeper told reporters she was suffering from a terminal illness. Alternate stories had her abandoned by her male companion or him being the actual killer. It’s claimed her spirit still roams the hotel and grounds playing pranks on unsuspecting guests. Her old room - 3327 - is a hot spot as guests report mysterious breezes, TVs and faucets turning themselves on and off and the sighting of a woman in a black Victorian-era dress sometimes walking down the hallways looking our the windows. Covers have been pulled off sleeping guests at night. Room 3519 is another focus of activity as its said a housekeeper hanged herself in that room. Curtains are seen billowing though the windows are closed, objects are moved around and voices are often heard in the otherwise empty room.   KNICKERBOCKER HOTEL (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND:  Opened in June 1929, it catered to the film industry and is the site for some of Hollywood’s most famous dramatic moments. On Halloween 1936, Harry Houdini's widow held her 10th séance to contact the magician on the roof of the hotel. On January 13, 1943, Frances Farmer was arrested in her room at the hotel after failing to visit her probation officer when scheduled and a famous confrontation ensued. On July 23, 1948, filmmaker D. W. Griffith died of a cerebral hemorrhage on the way to a Hollywood hospital, after being discovered unconscious in the lobby of the hotel. In 1968, Graham Nash was living there the night Cass Elliot picked him up to go to a party where he met Stephen Stills and David Crosby. PHENOMENA:  Among other ghostly sightings, Rudolph Valentino, a frequent guest, is now said to haunt the bar and Marilyn Monroe supposedly hangs out in the ladies' room. LINDA VISTA HOSPITAL (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: The hospital opened to great fanfare in 1904 and even had its own Jersey cows, chickens, and a garden to provide patients with the freshest milk, butter, eggs, poultry and vegetables. The original hospital building known as the Santa Fe Coast Lines Hospital, was razed and rebuilt in 1924. In 1989 it was renamed the Linda Vista Community Hospital. During that time, the hospital was regularly treating a fair number of gunshot wounds and stabbings from the local neighborhoods, which affected its mortality statistics.  In 1991, the hospital ceased operations. PHENOMENA: Long-time claims of ghostly doctors and patients roaming the halls and the possible presence of negative entities. TRIVIA: In the decades since its closure, it has become the center of several paranormal investigations; the most notable investigation was initiated by Ghost Adventures, where the crew stayed a full night in the hospital. Since that time, it has been used primarily as a filming location. LOS COCHES ADOBE (SOLEDAD) BACKGROUND: A frequent stop for stagecoach travelers in the mid-1800s, Los Coches Adobe was the site of a mining operation. However, one day a horrific accident caused over 30 mine workers to be trapped in a collapse with all of them losing their lives PHENOMENA: It’s assumed the loss of life has left a residual impact on the location as local people and visitors have heard the screams of trapped miners from an old well on the property. There are also reports of a lady in black and a male phantom walking the grounds. Some claim to have seen the ghost of a man hanging from a tree on the boundary of the property. TRIVIA: In July 2015, Ghost Adventures filmed an episode here. MISSION SAN MIGUEL (SAN MIGUEL) BACKGROUND:  It was established on July 25, 1797 by the Franciscan order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the Spanish priests wanted to evangelize. It was sold to the William Reed family in 1846 for the small sum of just $250. Reed set up the mission as a bed and breakfast requiring payment in gold and as it was the height of the gold rush he managed to amass a small fortune which he apparently decided to bury somewhere on the mission grounds. It is believed that the buried treasure was worth roughly $200,000 at the time. PHENOMENA: It’s thought that Reed may have boasted of his hidden treasure a bit too loudly as some pirates staying at the mission in 1848 destroyed the building and killing between 10 -13 people inside. They were executed after being caught. Perhaps the restless spirits of any and all of those involved still haunt the building with a spectral lady dressed in white believed to be Mrs. Reed and a ghostly man in a blue pea coat thought to be William. MOSS BEACH DISTILLERY (SAN MATEO) BACKGROUND: Originally established in 1927 as a speakeasy, it converted into a successful restaurant after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. During the Prohibition era, it was a speakeasy called Frank’s Place owned by Portuguese immigrant Frank Torres who built the club in 1927 Reportedly, illegal Canadian whiskey and rum was brought from ships, to the beach, and into vehicles for transport to San Francisco. The coastal fog prevalent to this area aided in the cloaking of the ships. PHENOMENA: A beautiful woman named Mary Ellen who always seemed to be clad in a lovely blue dress was a popular figure at the establishment. Legend has it she fell in love with a piano player named John Contina despite her marriage to a bootlegger who eventually discovered their affair. When he came into the bar to confront the couple, Contina pulled a knife, but the husband pulled a pistol. Somehow Mary Ellen was shot (or stabbed) and killed during the fracas and her ghost is said to remain on the premises to this day where she has been given the moniker, “The Blue Lady”. Her list of mischief is long and varied. She materializes at unsuspected moments, pinches patrons necks, taps their shoulders, pokes their sides, whispers to them, moves or levitates objects, opens doors, turns lights on and off, tosses books off shelves and knocks over glasses at the bar or at tables right before stunned customer’s eyes. At times she will steal earrings right off women’s ears and then hide them in unusual places. She will appear behind women in mirrors in the restroom or lock employees out of rooms. One bizarre occurrence involved the computer system printing out the year 1927 on all receipts which reflects the year the roadhouse first opened. Lastly, a ghostly man has been seen sitting in the dining area, and the ghost of a woman named Anna Philbrick is said to walk the nearby beach and appears as a water logged corpse covered in seaweed. OAK PARK CEMETERY (CLAREMONT) BACKGROUND: Established in 1897 and now the final residence to many of the founders of the city. PHENOMENA: Visitors report seeing orbs circling a gargoyle statue, gray shadows after dark and a winged figure walking up and down the driveway. Legend has it that people have had sightings of small gray apparitions bolting around the cemetery at night that have been known to attack people. The appearance of shadow people are another common claim. PANTAGES THEATER (LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: The Pantages Theatre Circuit had been built on vaudeville, and starting in 1930 the new theater combined first-run movies alternating through the day with vaudeville acts for its first two years. During the Great Depression, it was forced to economize and thereafter operated primarily as a movie theater, though live entertainment was presented occasionally. Alexander Pantages sold the Hollywood landmark in 1932 to Fox West Coast Theaters. In 1949, Howard Hughes acquired the Hollywood Pantages for his RKO Theatre Circuit and moved his personal offices to the building's second floor. From 1949 through 1959, the theater hosted the American motion picture industry's annual Academy Award Ceremonies. It continued to be a major venue for roadshow movies into the 1970s. From 1965, it was operated by Pacific Theaters. The Hollywood Pantages closed as a movie theater in January, 1977, and re-opened the following month with the first of the many stage productions that have since become its regular fare. PHENOMENA: The ghost of Howard Hughes is said to haunt the theater and is seen in the executive offices and his footsteps are heard throughout the building. He presence is announced to workers by the smell of cigarettes which, oddly, Hughes hated. He also appears as his younger self, walking around a corner and right through a wall that once contained the door to his office. In 1932, a female patron died in the mezzanine section after a performance and let’s her own presence be known by her singing during the day or sometimes late at night. Employees wonder if the young lady was perhaps a singer looking to hit it big in Hollywood but never got her big break. Even microphones have picked up her voice during live performances. PIERPONT INN (VENTURA) BACKGROUND: In 1908, Josephine Pierpont bought land on a bluff overlooking the ocean in Ventura for development as a site for an inn that could serve the increasing number of automobile enthusiasts who would travel along the Pacific Coast looking for a place to rest and enjoy a home-cooked meal. She hired Sumner P. Hunt to build a Craftsman Style bungalow inn on the site. It opened in September 1910, originally as "The Wayside Inn", later changed to "The Pierpont Inn". The inn changed hands several times and fell into disrepair until it was rescued by Mrs. Mattie Vickers Gleichmann in 1928. After Mattie's husband, professional baseball player Gus Gleichmann, was forced to leave the sport after being injured, they decided to pursue a career in hospitality. In 1938, Gus Gleichmann was killed in an automobile accident and Mattie decided to continue operation of the Inn without him to fulfill the dream of being able to provide a future for their children. PHENOMENA: Much of the activity here is attributed to Josephine or Mattie, but another resident spirit named Emily Darling also haunts the inn. In the Spanish Revival Banquet Center, footsteps and tapping are heard and in the catering offices, some photos taken have revealed some very weird light anomalies. Office staff have also reported pens moving on their own. THE PRESIDIO (SAN FRANCISCO) BACKGROUND: It had been a fortified location since September 17, 1776, when New Spain established the presidio to gain a foothold in Alta California and the San Francisco Bay. It passed to Mexico, which in turn passed it to the United States in 1848. As part of a 1989 military reduction program under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, Congress voted to end the Presidio's status as an active military installation of the U.S. Army. On October 1, 1994, it was transferred to the National Park Service, ending 219 years of military use and beginning its next phase of mixed commercial and public use. PHENOMENA: A variety of ghostly figures have been seen inside the Presidio. Some knock on the door to the Visitor Center and vanish from sight when anyone responds. The spirits of military personnel from a different era have also been seen knocking on the doors of empty rooms in other buildings. At one time the old army hospital at the Presidio had so much paranormal activity it was consider one of, if not the, most haunted places in the area until it was torn down and a new building put in its place. Nonetheless, people have encountered cold spots in the new building. QUEEN ANNE HOTEL (SAN FRANCISCO) BACKGROUND:  The hotel is an historic 1890 Victorian mansion, in the namesake Queen Anne architectural style, and decorated in the painted lady style. It was originally a girl's boarding school. It narrowly survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The school had a number of teachers but none displayed as much passion for education as Miss Mary Lake. When not educating the girls she called room 410 her home. Her world was turned upside down when the school closed but not one to give up, she packed up her belongings and went on to live out the rest of her life at another location. PHENOMENA: Guests at the hotel have report sightings of Mary Lake roaming the hotel’s hallways. People have also seen her ghost in her former home, room 410. THE QUEEN MARY (LONG BEACH) BACKGROUND: The RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line – known as Cunard-White Star Line when the vessel entered service. She was the flagship of the Cunard and White Star Lines. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the war. On 2 October 1942, Queen Mary accidentally sank one of her escort ships, slicing through the light cruiser HMS Curacoa off the Irish coast with a loss of 239 lives. Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach where it serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. PHENOMENA: The First Class Swimming Pool is said to be haunted by two female spirits who are alleged to have drowned there in the 1930s and 1960s respectively. Apparitions of both have been witnessed. There are also reports of a lady in white in the Queen’s Salon, a male in 1930s attired in the First Class suites and the sounds of children playing near the storage room. There are also reports of tapping and screaming down in the engine room, perhaps the spirit of a seaman killed down there when a hatch door closed on him, crushing him to death. One of the staterooms is alleged to be haunted by the spirit of a person who supposedly was murdered there. SILENT MOVIE THEATER ( LOS ANGELES) BACKGROUND: The theater has been a fixture on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles since 1942. Its original owner, John Hampton opened the theater 15 years after silent films were in decline. He showed his personal collection of silent film favorites and then slowly increased his library. His theater showed Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino and the Keystone Cops in all their glory. Tragedy struck Laurence Austin, the next owner of this theater in January of 1997. It was first thought he was shot and killed during an apparent robbery, but police later revealed that Austin’s business partner and long time lover James Van Sickle actually hired a hit man to kill him so he could inherit some money. He and the gunman both received life in prison. PHENOMENA: Charlie Lustman bought and re-opened the theater in 1999 and after seeing the faded blood stains on the carpet and the posters Hampton hung in the theater, he stated that Hampton’s spirit inspired him to take over. During the time he owned the theater it became apparent to him and employees that the building was haunted. Hampton’s spirit haunts the lounge area of the apartment upstairs where he and his wife Dorothy lived for 45 years. When Lustman arranged a 3-D film festival in 2000, he received a black eye from hitting a display case. Then the projector that had worked fine for a year broke down minutes before the first 3-D film could be shown. It appeared Hampton was unhappy with his decision. Laurence Austin’s spirit has also shocked more than one witness in the theater’s lobby near the spot he was killed. Lustman and a former publicist for the theater heard the repeated jingle of keys while alone in the building which was nervous habit of Austin’s. To settle down the activity Lustman brought in a shaman, sage was burned and rose crystals were placed where Austin was murdered. In 2006, Lustman sold the theater to the Harkham brothers who re-opened the theater as Cinefamily, showing an eclectic mix of talking and silent films. SUICIDE BRIDGE (PASADENA) BACKSTORY: Colorado Street Bridge is a beautiful structure with a dark side. It is known locally by its nickname, “Suicide Bridge” due to the unusually high number of them here. The latest figure sits at over 100, but that number is  growing constantly. The bridge was built in 1913 and saw its first death in 1919, which is a rate of more than one suicide per year. However, some say that this ‘official’ number is not actually accurate because local authorities have been rumored to shave off a few numbers whenever they get too high. PHENOMENA: The bridge is also said to be incredibly haunted. There are many reports of a man jumping off the railing, but vanishing before hitting the water. It is also fairly common to see a female apparition crossing the bridge. Drivers often have to swerve to avoid her, but she vanishes nonetheless when they come too close. USS HORNET (ALAMEDA) BACKGROUND: The U.S.S. Hornet was the eighth ship to bear the name when launched in 1943. During her deployment in the Pacific Ocean, the ship racked up numerous naval decorations for wiping out almost 1,500 Japanese aircrafts, and destroying over a million tons of shipments belonging to Axis forces. Sadly, over 300 people lost their lives during the 27-year period the ship was operational, most of them in battle along with a few suicides. Since the decommissioning of the U.S.S. Hornet in June of 1970, she has been declared a National Historic Landmark as well as a California Historical Landmark, and was opened to the public in 1998 as the U.S.S. Hornet Museum in Alameda. PHENOMENA: Over the years, crew members and visitors have reported unexplained phenomena that includes: feelings of being touched, or even pushed when no one else is around, objects moving from one area to another, and apparitions dressed in military garb appearing to work and function as if they were still on duty. TRIVIA: Hornet was the subject of the TV series JAG in its opening episode of Season 3 named "Ghost Ship". It was investigated by the TAPS team on the Syfy Channel show Ghost Hunters. In 2011, the ship was featured on Ghost Adventures. THE WHALEY HOUSE (SAN DIEGO) BACKGROUND: The Whaley House is a historic museum in Old Town San Diego, open to the public for tours and events. Thomas Whaley was an East Coaster who moved to California during the Gold Rush and ended up operating a store in San Diego in the 1850s. He built the two- story brick home in 1857, attaching it to an existing granary that would later serve as a courtroom. He lived there with his wife, Anna, with whom he had six children. PHENOMENA:  According to legend, the property is haunted by multiple spirits; James "Yankee Jim" Robinson is perhaps the oldest among them. A convicted thief, he was hanged in 1852 on the property before a group of onlookers, one of whom was Whaley himself. When Whaley made his family home there, but would claim to hear disembodied footsteps, which he attributed to Robinson’s ghost. Others say that the museum is haunted by the Whaley's daughter, Violet, who in 1885 fatally shot herself in the heart at jthe age of 22. She was despondent after discovering her husband, George Bertolacci, wedded her only for the sizable dowry her father had offered and abandoned her shortly thereafter. Other strange events include sightings of Thomas Whaley standing at the top of the stairs and a floating apparition in the downstairs rooms. WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE (SAN JOSE) BACKGROUND: The story of the home begins when Sarah Winchester bought what was an unremarkable eight-room farmstead in 1884 and promptly set about turning it into a giant oddity. She was a woman of wealth and unusual tastes who moved across the country after being urged to do so by a spirit medium. Three years earlier, she lost her husband, William Winchester, the owner of the Connecticut rifle firm Winchester Repeating Arms Company and before that, a very young daughter. The medium told her that William was warning her that it was a curse that had been placed upon the family that claimed their daughter and himself, and that she would be next. The protagonists were the ghosts of every person who had died at the end of a Winchester weapon. These souls were attached to Sarah and would spare her only if she agreed to continue her building project until her death. Adding chamber after chamber, door after door, her bequeathed fortune ($20.5million, or $530 million adjusted for 2018) would fund her 38-year construction project. As the house grew over the decades – without any discernible blueprint – whispers began about mental state. PHENOMENA: Some of Sarah’s workmen and servants may still be looking after the place, due to sightings of figures or feelings of a presence reported many times over the years by tour guides and visitors. A frequent apparition is a man with jet-black hair believed to have been a former handyman. He’s been seen repairing the fireplace in the ballroom or pushing a wheelbarrow down a long, dark hallway. Several years ago, a man working on one of the many restoration projects in the mansion started his day early in a section with several fireplaces, known as the Hall of Fires. The house was quiet before tours got underway and, working on a ladder, he felt someone tap him on the back. He turned to ask what they wanted but no one was there. Believing he’d just imagined the sensation, he went back to work, only to experience what felt like someone pushing against his back. At that point he hurried down the ladder, crossed the estate and started on another project, figuring that someone — or something — didn’t want him working in the hall that day. A tour guide named Samantha recently led visitors to the Daisy Bedroom, where Sarah Winchester was trapped during the 1906 earthquake. Samantha was about to begin her talk when a very clear “sigh” came from the small hallway outside the bedroom door. Thinking one of her guests had fallen behind, Samantha turned to call the person into the room but saw no one. Then, as her eyes adjusted to the darkened hallway, she saw the form of a small, shadowy person gliding around a corner. Samantha quickly stepped around the corner and again saw nothing but heard yet another deep sigh. She felt sure it was the tiny form of Sarah Winchester herself, perhaps peeved to find people in her favorite bedroom. RETURN TO PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE