I have spent many a happy hour in the Whaley House in San Diego, CA. This brick house was completed in 1857 and became the home of Thomas Whaley and his bride Anna
Eloise DeLaunay of New York. Thomas was a serial entrepreneur and operated a grocery store from his home.
There was a granary build adjacent to the house that has also been used as a courtroom. At some point in 1857 Thomas found that his grocery store was not well located so he opened a store in the nearby Plaza. An arsonist set fire to the Plaza grocery store in the Plaza and combined with the
death of little Thomas the family was distraught. They then left their home behind and moved to San Francisco.
Thomas became an U.S. Army Commissary Storekeeper and he and Anna had three more children, George Hays Ringgold, Violet Eloise, and Corinne Lillian. After the 1868 earthquake the Whaley's decided to move home to San Diego. Once again Thomas opened a grocery store in the home. Portions of the
home were rented out as a courtroom and a theatre.
They endured another tragedy when their daughter Violet committed suicide at the Whaley home after her divorce from husband George T. Bertolacci. The family moved to another location in San Diego and abandoned their home. Francis Whaley restored and lived in the home around 1909 and began using
it as a museum. Youngest daughter Lillian moved into the home and died there in 1953. At that point the house was again abandoned and fell into a state of total disrepair.
San Diego county stepped up to rehabilitate the house and opened it as a museum in 1960. It is a historical landmark is listed by the United States Department of Commerce as an authentic haunted house. The land under the Whaley house has experienced numerous hangings, angry arguments, suicide
and other deaths. No wonder it is considered the most haunted home in America.
Some of the hauntings experienced by guests and staff include the smell of cigar smoke or perfume, piano music, materializations, singing, footsteps, lights going on and off when the home is closed, moving objects, voices and more. During one of my visits I took a picture of a ghost in the
children's bedroom. The apparition is a monk (notice the tonsure on the head) holding a child. This scene may have taken place when little Thomas died.
You will never be bored during a visit to the Whaley house in San Diego. Make sure you spend some time and take lots of pictures. Modestly priced tickets are available at the store next to the home and the money raised is used for upkeep.
