The Whaley House

Address:
Thomas Whaley House Museum
2482 San Diego Avenue
San Diego, CA 92110

Telephone number:
Information: 1-619-298-2482

Hours
10AM-5PM every day except major holidays

The Whaley House has been called the most haunted house in California. It has been designated as an official haunted site by the U.S. Department of Commerce (only 29 other places have received this honor). It is located in the historical Old Town section of San Diego... a nice place to visit if you are ever in the area.

There have been many ghosts sighted on the Whaley House property, one of which dates back to before the house was even built. In 1852, a man known as "Yankee Jim" Robinson was accused of attempting to steal a large boat (a schooner or pilot boat) in the harbor. Accounts vary on whether Yankee Jim ever actually stole the boat. [I have here in front of me 5 different references, whose accounts vary from "Jim stole San Diego's only pilot boat, worth $6500" to "Jim was sightseeing in a rowboat and happened to row near the schooner"] At any rate, Jim (who had a previous criminal record) managed to elude capture for a day or so, but was eventually recognized by a man he was begging food from. The man clubbed Jim over the head with the butt of his sword, and Jim was carted off to jail.

Jim had a trial, during which he was barely conscious (probably he was dying from the wound from the blow to the head being infected, medical care not being what it is today). He was sentenced to hang for his attempted crime, although two of his supposed accomplices got off with only a year in prison. September 18, 1852 was set as the day of execution. Townspeople actually had to be talked out of lynching Jim before this date. By the time the day arrived, Jim was fairly delirious, having received little or no medical attention. When asked if he had any last words, he rambled on and on until the sherriff finally gave the order for the mules to pull the cart from underneath Jim's feet. Unfortunately, the executioners had not accounted for Jim's tall height when mounting the noose, so Jim's toes scraped the ground. It took him 45 minutes to slowly strangle to death.

Today, it seems, Yankee Jim would like to remind modern visitors of his fate. He has often been heard trudging around in his heavy boots upstairs. It is said he walks to the edge of the stairs and then stops. The spot where Jim was hung is now an archway between the music room and the parlor. Some visitors have felt as if they were being strangled while passing through the archway. In the 1960s (?), a psychic by the name of Kay Sterner visited the house. She claimed to (clairvoyantly) see mules pulling a wagon out from under a scaffold, even though she had no prior knowledge of the land's history.

The history of the Whaley House itself is interesting as well. In 1855, Thomas Whaley bought 8.5 acres of land in San Diego and in 1856 began to build the house. The house was finished in 1857, and cost $10,000 to build... a large amount for the time. The Whaley House soon became the place to be for San Diegans. Thomas and his wife, Anna, had 6 children together in the house. More to come...

www.ghosts.org home