San Diego's El Campo Santo Cemetery

This haunting is the result of old graves being disturbed.

El Campo Santos Cemetery, 1888.

In 1849 in San Diego, California the Catholic, the Catholic Church, a cemetery called “El Campo Santo”--The Holy Field. It was used through 1880.

This cemetery was placed in the area that would one day be San Diego’s historic Old Town. It is located just a couple of blocks from the Whaley House--which I wrote about here.

This cemetery eventually had 477 graves. Several of the founding fathers of San Diego are buried at El Campo.

Today this cemetery is only a quarter of its original size. As the city grew part of the cemeteries’ land was claimed for new development, which included: roads, buildings, and homes.

With this expansion, some graves were moved. Unfortunately, others were not.

In 1894 a horse-drawn streetcar was built through part of the cemetery, which later became San Diego Avenue. In 1942, this road was paved over leaving many graves under the street, sidewalk, and buildings.

In previous posts, here and here I mention it is never a good idea to build over existing graves. This often results in problems for the living.

A Renovation

In 1933, the San Diego Historical Society renovated this old graveyard. From one historic photo and varies descriptions, they endeavored to accurately restore the cemetery.

An adobe brick wall was built around what remains of the cemetery. Markers were reset--only 6 of the original broken iron and wooden paling enclosures remained.

It was at this time that the surrounding businesses and homes started to officially report that the area was haunted.

In 1993, equipment that uses radar to penetrate underground determined that there are at least 20 graves under San Diego Avenue.

Just outside the El Campo Santo’s front gate there are small brass circular plaques that read “Grave Site” embedded into the sidewalk and street. Just above the road is a plaque that reads:

“Remembering the more than 20 men, women, and children who lie buried beneath San Diego Avenue.”

Ironically, only one person--a state Assembly member--was deemed worthy enough to be exhumed and re-buried within the cemetery walls.

Another 13 graves, most of them children were found under the pavement on Linwood Street.

For years, businesses and residents in the Old Town area that surround this old cemetery have reported poltergeist activity.

This activity is always described as “annoying.” Most often people report problems with their electricity, lights, appliances and alarm systems often malfunction.

Many people who have visited and walked through El Campo report feeling freezing cold spots. Others that park their cars in front of the graveyard report they will not start when they return.

People that live and work in the area also report seeing a variety of apparitions within and outside the cemetery walls.

Sometimes these ghosts are mistaken for costumed actors promoting a local business.

Ghosts are seen gliding across the graves in the cemetery and groups of entities have been seen standing near the cemetery's perimeter.

Many of these ghosts are only seen from the waist up. When approached they disappear quickly.

One specific ghost that has been seen on several occasions is that of a gravedigger.

Many ghosts reported are described as Native American or Hispanic, which fits with the history of San Diego’s Old Town.

In the 1990s, during a three-year period, the activity became so pronounced that local residents and businesses came together and paid for an exorcism of the graveyard and surrounding area.

This settled the activity down but it is said apparitions are still seen--especially the gravedigger and a group of ghost children.

El Campos Santos Cemetery is a California Historical Landmark. It is located at the 2400 block of San Diego Avenue. Two notable interments at this graveyard are:

James W. Robinson is known as Yankee Jim--died in 1852. He was a French Canadian Western Outlaw who was sentenced to death by hanging for stealing the only rowboat in San Diego Bay. He is thought to haunt Whaley House.

Antonio Garra who died in 1852. He was a Native American chief sentenced to death for organizing an Indian confederation to drive Americans out of California. He was executed at his gravesite, by a firing squad consisting of 12 men. It is believed he is buried underneath what is now San Diego Avenue.

The Haunted Star of India

The Star of India when built was an experiment for she was built with iron instead of wood. She was built in the Ramsey Shipyard in 1863 on the Isle of Man and christened the Euterpe after the Greek goddess of music. 

Her initial voyages were ill fated. During her first voyage she experienced a collision and mutiny. During her second voyage she encountered a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal that cut off her topmasts, she barely made port. After this her captain died and was buried at sea.

For the rest of her sixty years plus in service her voyages, excluding accidents, were relatively calm. She made six cargo runs to India before 1871, then she was enlisted to sail emigrants to New Zealand, Australia, California, and Chile. 

It was during this time in 1884 that a young teenage stow away named John Campbell snuck aboard in Glasgow. The Euterpe was headed for New Zealand and Campbell was hoping to exchange a life of poverty for a life of adventure.

When Campbell was discovered, the crew put him to work for his passage. Tragically in June of 1884 Campbell fell from the main mast as he landed he broke both his legs and was knocked unconscious. Three days later he passed away and was buried at sea. 

Today witnesses have reported seeing him near the main mast on all decks of the ship. He has also been spotted hiding among the various chests in the ship’s cargo hold. Other reports state that several visitors to the Star of India have felt a cold hand touch them while they were near the main mast.

By the year 1898 the Euterpe was sold to Alaskan Packers who used her as a commercial salmon fishing and packing facility. In 1902 her name was changed to the Star of India. It was during this time another accident happened on board.

A Chinese seaman got caught in the chain room while the anchor was being raised. The noise of the rising anchor was so loud his cries for help were not heard. Unfortunately, he was crushed and killed by the rising chains. His ghost is said to haunt the Star as well.

By 1923 the Star of India being outdated was bought for $9,000 and towed into San Diego bay. The new owners wanted to restore her but the Great Depression and World War II got in the way. The Star fell into disrepair and was briefly used as a floating brothel. 

It wasn’t until 1976 that she was finally restored to her original splendor. Today the Star of India is apart of the San Diego Maritime Museum and is still put out to sea at least once a year; this makes her the oldest active ship in the world.

Besides the Star’s two resident ghosts other strange phenomena has been reported over the years. Human outlines have been seen on beds where no one is sleeping. 

Pots and pans move of their own accord in the ship’s galley and the smell of fresh bread is often detected even though the galley is no longer used for cooking or baking. 

Several witnesses have also reported hearing voices and footsteps below them when no one is there. Shadow figures have also been seen.

In recent years the museum has hosted Spooky Seafaring Tales and ghost tours on the Star of India close to Halloween.  

The Haunted Whaley House

The Whaley House in San Diego, California is so haunted it is one of only two houses that the United States government recognizes as being haunted. 

San Diego Pioneer Thomas Whaley built his home in 1856. Unfortunately, the land he chose to build it upon was a Kumeyaay Indian burial ground. 

In the early 19^th century when San Diego became a booming city, disease and conflict dropped the Kymeyaay population in a brief ten years from 16,000 to 9,000.

The ghosts at the Whaley House have been witnessed by large numbers of people—often by groups of people who witness the phenomenon at the same time. 

One ghost often seen at the Whaley House’s is that of Yankee Jim Robinson. In 1853 Robinson was a colorful character who tried to steal a boat—it is said he did this so that he could become a pirate. During his attempt he was hit over the head with a butt of a sword and badly injured.

The story goes he was put on trail right away still suffering from a bad concussion. The judge at his trail was drunk, he convicted Robinson immediately. Then while he was still semi-conscience Robinson was hanged on a makeshift scaffold. 

Because of Robinson’s height his feet could just touch the floor, which resulted in a slow suffocation; it took him nearly an hour to die. This exact spot was where the future Whaley House was built. 

Yankee Jim is said to haunt the stairs heading from the first floor to the second, specifically the ninth step, which is believed to be where he dangled during his drawn-out death. 

Some visitors to the Whaley House have experienced the feeling of a noose tightening around their necks as they tour the house. Yankee Jim has also been spotted standing behind tour guides during their presentations.

The builder of the house Thomas Whaley, is another ghost that is very active. 

Visitors and volunteers often smell the sweet aroma of a Cuban cigar—Thomas Whaley's favorite brand—in fact this aroma is sometimes so overpowering that some visitors have to leave the home. 

Thomas’s ghost is seen wearing a long coat and top hat. His spirit roams the house but he is most often seen at the top of stairs or in the master bedroom. People hear his booming laughter throughout the house regularly.

Thomas’ wife Anna is yet another ghost often spotted downstairs and in the garden. A distinct smell of perfume is associated with her presence. 

One volunteer walking through the garden noticed a young woman picking flowers without permission. She approached the young woman who was wearing a long cream dress with her hair swept up in an old-fashioned hairstyle. When the volunteer got within ten feet of this woman she just vanished.

Thomas and Anna had a red-haired daughter who died at the age of eleven under mysterious circumstances. It is known that she ate some poisonous powder. 

She is by far the most playful ghost in the house. She often appears to children her own age. She is so real they don’t at first realize she is a ghost. She likes to pull hair and tickle the house’s young visitors. It is said that she is responsible for the swinging meat clever in the kitchen, which hundreds of visitors have witnessed.

Thomas Whaley died at the age of 67 in 1890; Anna lived until 1913. The last Whaley to live in the house was Corinne Lillian Whaley who was the youngest of six children. She died in 1953. 

After this, the Whaley House fell into disrepair. Its' demolition was prevented in 1956 by the Historical Shrine Foundation of San Diego County, which bought the land and building. Today the house is an historical museum and has been restored to its original splendor.

A recent curator of the Whaley House Museum a Mrs. Reading arrived at the house early one morning in order to prepare things for the days' visitors. 

She was making her usual inspections when she rounded a corner into the dining room and came face to face with a Native American Indian who looked to be as real as anything else in the room except that he had no feet. He hovered in view for a few minutes and then faded away.

There are so many eyewitness accounts that I will not attempt to list them all. Here are just a few compelling ones. 

One tour group was being shown the rooms upstairs when they all heard the piano being played downstairs. The piano music was still heard as the group gathered at the the bottom of the stairs but then the music just stopped. The music room was silent. 

Anna Whaley while alive loved to sing and play her piano. She also loved her music box and this box is heard playing when no one has wound it. 

Other witnesses have heard singing in the building late at night, when everything is locked and the lights are out. Window shutters are seen opening and closing at night as well.

Many witnesses have seen a young boy playing in the Whaley House master bedroom. The Whaley’s lost one son while he was a toddler, people hear him laughing and crying in the house.