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Arts & Culture

HISTORIC PLACES WITH ELSA SEVILLA: Historic Haunts

Welcome to the Whaley House, a unique house museum restored to its nineteenth century roots. Its haunted reputation is as old as the Whaley House itself.
Courtesy of Sandé Lollis
Welcome to the Whaley House, a unique house museum restored to its nineteenth century roots. Its haunted reputation is as old as the Whaley House itself.

Airs Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV + Saturday, Nov. 2 and Monday, Nov. 4 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS 2

Do you believe in ghosts?

Join Host Elsa Sevilla as she visits four haunted historic places in San Diego.

First, she sees the Davis-Horton House / Museum (formerly known as the William Heath Davis House), the oldest wooden structure in Gaslamp Quarter. At one point this house-museum was used as a county hospital where dozens died and the spirits are believed to be alive year round.

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Next, visit the Whaley House Museum in Old Town, which is probably one of the most visited of the haunted, historic places in San Diego.

The earliest known photograph of the Whaley House, c. 1874. Thomas Whaley called it the “handsomest and the most convenient house within 150 miles.”
Courtesy of Dean Glass, Whaley House Historian
The earliest known photograph of the Whaley House, c. 1874. Thomas Whaley called it the “handsomest and the most convenient house within 150 miles.”

Then a visit to El Campo Santo Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in San Diego, it holds just under 500 burial sites.

Finally, Elsa explores the historic Hotel del Coronado, where the ghost of Kate Morgan, the beautiful stranger, is said to haunt a specific room in the hotel. No one knows why she took her own life but guests have said she has made her presence known.