The Whaley House, located in Old Town San Diego, California, has the reputation of being the most haunted house in America. The two-story Greek Revival house was constructed in 1857 by local businessman Thomas Whaley. While initially serving as his residence, the building has also been home to a granary, various businesses, the County Court House, and San Diego’s first commercial theater. The house was opened to the public as a museum in 1960.
Thomas Whaley was born on October 5, 1823, to Thomas Alexander Whaley and Rachel Pye Whaley. He showed an early aptitude for business, so his parents sent him to a boarding school in Colchester, Connecticut, and later enrolled him in the Washington Institute. After his education, Whaley went on a two-year stint in Europe before returning to New York to help manage his parents’ business interests, which included a locksmithing company and various real estate rental properties.
In December 1848, news of the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill reached President James K. Polk in Washington, D.C. Within days the California gold rush was on. Whaley was offered a steamship ticket to California and was quick to recognize the potential business opportunity. He assembled a cargo of goods, including stock of his own and consignment items belonging to George S. Wardle. On New Year’s Day, 1849, Whaley boarded the Sutton for a 204-day journey to San Francisco. Upon arrival, he remained aboard ship for several weeks until Wardle’s new store opened on Montgomery Street. Whaley soon became successful enough to open his own store and began investing in other business enterprises.
The Whaley House in San Diego, seen in this photograph from 1940, entertains thousands of visitors each year. The residence was built on the site of a hanging in 1852, and is reportedly haunted by the ghost of the condemned man, an alleged burglar named Yankee Jim Robinson. (Library of Congress)
During the Great Fire of 1851, Whaley lost his store and its entire contents. He relocated to San Diego and arrived in Old Town that October, where he opened Tienda California, a store he ran jointly with Lewis Franklin. Whaley bought out Franklin’s share the following March and sold a one-year partnership in the business to Francis Hinton.
In August 1852, “Yankee Jim” Robinson was sentenced to death for burglary at the County Court. On September 18, he was given a quick Catholic baptism and renamed Santiago Robinson before he was led atop a wagon and a noose was fitted around his neck. Whaley attended the hanging and later purchased the property.
Whaley returned to New York City in 1853 and married Anna Eloise Delaunay. They were wed at the Church of the Ascension on August 14. In December the couple returned to San Diego. Their first child, Francis Hinton, was born on December 28, 1854. The Whaleys would have five other children.
Thomas Whaley purchased several lots of land and in May 1856 he fenced in the property and built a brick granary. Construction on the house began in September and was completed in 1857. The same year Whaley became County Clerk.
The Whaleys themselves believed that they were haunted by Yankee Jim’s spirit. Soon after they moved into the house, Whaley said he heard loud footsteps on the second floor and attributed the noise to Yankee Jim. Anna felt that an unseen presence had taken up residence in the home and thought the property was cursed.
In 1858, the family moved to San Francisco. Whaley appointed Frank Ames, a business acquaintance, to look after his properties in San Diego. The house was rented out, and an earthquake in 1862 caused some structural damage to the brickwork.
From 1859 to 1868, Whaley held various jobs, including that of an issuing clerk in Sitka, Alaska Territory. The Whaley family returned to San Francisco in the summer of 1868. Whaley went on to San Diego and found the house in bad shape. The building was rented to the Tanner Troupe of actors until Thomas Tanner died in January 1869.
In August 1869, the county leased a large room on the north side of the house for use as a courtroom for sixty-five dollars a month. After Violet’s death in 1885, the family moved to a new home and the house was left empty until 1909, when Francis restored the building and opened it to the public.
Visitors have reported seeing apparitions in the house and hearing noises, including heavy footsteps, laughter, and children’s voices. Faint notes drift from an unseen piano, while upstairs, music comes from a violin and guitar. In the dining room, the clank of a knife and fork hitting china can be heard, and in the courtroom people report hearing the pounding of a gavel. Fragrances, too, are experienced, especially perfume and cigar smoke. During the holidays, visitors to the Whaley House report smelling fresh baked bread.
The ghostly residents of Whaley House are said to include the convicted burglar James Robinson, commonly known as “Yankee Jim,” as well as those of Thomas Whaley and his wife Anna, and possibly their daughter Violet Whaley. Whaley’s apparition has been seen in the parlor and also at the top of the stairs, where he stands and looks down at his earthly visitors. He is described by witnesses as being formally dressed in a frock coat (a knee-length coat), pantaloons (trousers), and a top hat.
A female spirit thought to be Anna Whaley has been seen in the parlor, where she sits on the couch. Sightings of Anna are also reported in the garden as well. Anna is said to prevent visitors from going up to the second floor, presumably to keep them from bothering her children. People climbing the staircase say they feel a pressure, as though she is pushing them away.
By some accounts, Yankee Jim’s ghost is raucous: he is thought to roam the hallways clad in heavy boots, and his loud footsteps are clearly audible. Other spirits glimpsed at the Whaley House include the figure of a woman dressed in a long skirt and cap inside the courtroom, and at least one psychic has felt the presence of a young girl, who some believe may be Whaley’s great-granddaughter Marion Reynolds. Although Reynolds did not live at the Whaley house at the time of her death, she spent much of her childhood there.
Perhaps most tragic is the story of Violet Whaley, who is also believed to haunt the Whaley House. Violet was married to George T. Bertolacci on January 5, 1882. Within weeks of their nuptials, Bertolacci deserted her, and the couple later divorced in 1885. Distraught, Violet attempted unsuccessfully to drown herself on July 5, 1885, by jumping in the cistern. But on August 19, she took her father’s revolver out to the privy and shot herself through the heart. Thomas Whaley found his daughter and carried her into the house, where she died about a quarter of an hour later. Violet was only twenty-two years old. Visitors to the house speak about experiencing a sense of sadness on the second floor, which they attribute to Violet’s unhappy life.
Other specters are said to inhabit the Whaley house, too. Children sometimes see a ghostly dog chasing an equally ghostly cat through the house and garden area. Some visitors report being touched or having their arms grabbed. Unexplained events include rocking chairs that move by themselves and chandeliers that swing even when there is no wind. Doors open and close and the shutters on the windows are said to open by themselves, although some attribute this activity to Yankee Jim.
In 1956, the County of San Diego purchased the Whaley house and saved it from demolition. Since 2000, the Whaley House has been preserved through the efforts of the Save Our Heritage Organization.
Karen S. Garvin
See also Amityville Hauntings; Chinatown Ghost Stories; Haunted Houses; Myrtles Plantation; Stanley Hotel
Further Reading
Ledgerwood, Melissa, Sara Michelle Ledgerwood, and Paula Ledgerwood. 2015. Haunted Old Town San Diego: A Walking Guide and History. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
May, Antoinette. 2013. Haunted Houses of California: A Ghostly Guide to Haunted Houses and Wandering Spirits. 3rd rev. ed. San Carlos, CA: Wide World.
Richards, Sally. 2012. Ghosthunting Southern California. Covington, KY: Clerisy Press.
Strudwick, June A. 1960. The Thomas Whaley House. San Diego: Historical Shrine Foundation of San Diego.
Wlodarski, Robert James, and Anne Powell. 2004. The Haunted Whaley House II: A History and Paranormal Guide to America’s Most Haunted House in Old Town San Diego. West Hills, CA: G-Host.