Harvey House: Casa del Desierto

The Harvey House hotels and restaurants played a defining role in civilizing the West—by the 1880s there was a dining facility located every 100 miles along the AT&SF.

Casa del Desierto in 1946

In Barstow, California on North First Street sits one of the 84 Harvey Houses that were built in the Western United States by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad to provide quality food and service for its passengers.

After the turn of the 20^th century Harvey Houses were designed by professional architects to reflect the culture and natural terrain where they were built.

Casa del Desierto or House of the Desert was a train depot, hotel and restaurant designed by Los Angeles architect, Francis Wilson in 1911, after the wooden Harvey House hotel in Barstow, burnt down in 1908.

Wilson’s design reflects traditional Spanish and Native American themes with Moorish influences. The old depot is a California Historical Landmark today and is now used as a museum.

Renovated depot.

Ghost tours are given in this building because it has a lot of activity.

The waitresses tasked with serving excellent food * at Fred Harvey’s Houses ** were known as Harvey Girls. These young women—between the ages of 18 and 25 were selected carefully.

Harvey Girls at the Casa.

Many women who applied were turned down, so it was considered an honor to be picked as a Harvey Girl. These women were held to a strict set of rules.

They had a 10:00 p.m. curfew that they had to adhere to every day of the year so that they would be rested for the next day’s work. They wore a black and white uniform that had to be pressed before each shift.

A Harvey Girl by the name of Rachel worked at the Casa del Desierto in the 1920s. She haunts this old depot.

She is seen near where the formal dining room was located. Witnesses report seeing her take orders from customers that are not there. She is also seen walking from the kitchen area, holding an object in her hand.

A more recent story told, is she is seen on the balcony at the Casa –waiting for her fiancé to return from the war. It is believed she committed suicide when he did not return.

Casa lobby.

Another ghost seen at this depot is of a little girl named Emily. She is seen playing peek-a-boo with visitors near the staircase in the lobby. This spirit is known to follow people around when they are upstairs.

Yet another spirit is a man by the name of Buchanan. He announces his presence with a strong aroma of smoke. He was crushed to death between two railroad cars in the depot’s yard.

His last request before he died was to see his family and have one last cigarette.

Many witnesses have experienced rapid temperature changes at the Casa. These temperatures become warmer of colder between 20 to 70 degrees within minutes.

Voices of both children and adults are heard, and shadows or dark figures are seen.

More sensitive people have reported feeling chills on their neck and hands and a tingling sensation on their arms. Other reactions include a feeling of being uncomfortable, becoming dizzy, lightheaded, or even nauseated.

In my experience the above feelings are classic examples that a place is truly haunted.

*  Passengers heading west could order off this menu in the Harvey Houses:

Click to enlarge.

Blue Points on Shell, English Peas Au Gratin, Filets of Whitefish with Madeira Sauce, Potatoes Francaise, Roast Sirloin of Beef au jus, Salmon or Duck, Mashed potatoes, Boiled Sweet Potatoes, Turkey Stuffed, Cranberry Sauce, Baked Veal Pie English Style, Pork with Applesauce, Pickled Lamb Tongue.

French Slaw, Queen Olives, Elgin Sugar Corn, Charlotte of Peaches in Cognac Sauce, Prairie Chicken, Current Jelly, Lobster Salad au Mayonnaise, Sugar Cured Ham, Beets, Celery.

Apple Pie, Assorted Cakes, Bananas, Cold Custard la Chantilly, Catawaba Wine Jelly, Edam and Roquefort Cheese, New York Ice Cream, Grapes, Bent’s Water Crackers, French Coffee.

A meal cost 75 cents.

Fred Harvey

** Fred Harvey while working for the railroad in the late 1800s, noted “a decent lack of food for railroad travelers.” He then pitched his idea to the company to open fine dining restaurants.

His Harvey Houses were the first restaurant chain in America. They introduced the concept of Blue Plate Specials.

Campfire Tale: Not Myself

I stepped off the bus shading my eyes from the bright sunlight. The familiar stately stone buildings that lined my hometown’s downtown area surrounded me.

I looked at the bustling crowd that walked passed me on the sidewalk wondering which direction I should take.

As I walked down the sidewalk I was confused. Why was I here instead of at work? Where had I been earlier? Where was my car? Why was I riding a city bus?

It dawned on me that I didn’t even know what time it was.

As a woman approached me I smiled and said, “Miss, I am sorry, I forgot my watch . . . before I could ask for the time she dropped her purse, screamed and ran.

The faces of the other people near me—all looked frightened. They were going out of their way to avoid me—some flattered themselves against the building—others ran across the street.

I realized that there must be something wrong with me. Scared myself, I decided I best head home. I hailed a cab.

When this taxi driver got closer to where I stood he sped away.

Why is everyone acting so crazy?

Not understanding what was going on I decided to call home and ask my wife Jean to pick me up. I walked to a pay phone and put in several coins.

A strange voice answered my home phone. I asked to speak to Jean.

The female voice responded. “I’m sorry she isn’t home. Her husband died in a horrible car crash two days ago. She is at his funeral.”

Urban Legend: Killer in the Backseat

Just like ghost stories, urban legends often take on the flavor of the area or region where they are told. I decided to write about “Killer in the Backseat” because it is a good example of how stories morph as they are spread. 

This legend first appeared in the late 1960s and quickly caught on. Urban legends just like folktales most often are circulated by word of mouth but what is unique about this one is that it appeared in a widely syndicated newspaper column in 1982.

One advice column, “Ask Ann Landers” appeared in newspapers across America for 56 years. During this time several woman wrote this column but in 1982 when Ann Landers was at its helm she published a letter sent in by one concerned woman. 

In this letter the woman states that a young female friend of hers experienced a terrifying incident where a car had followed her all the way home. But as it turned out the man who followed her was actually a Good Samaritan because he warned her about an armed and dangerous man who was hidden in the backseat of her car. This letter was represented as being true.

This woman’s story was the urban legend, “Killer in the Backseat”. 

Despite the persistence of this story there are not any documented cases proving it ever actually happened. * Instead it is a cautionary tale that warns women that they must be vigilant about their surroundings. This legend unfortunately is both sexist and sometimes racist. 

The assumption is that that the woman in the scenario is helpless—in all versions she needs a man to save her. In some versions of this story the male who lurks in the backseat is represented as being a minority--often a black man. In this legend this bad man’s unspoken intent is to rape and then murder his victim.

Here is one typical version of this legend:

A woman, who lived in Salt Lake City, was visiting friends in Ogden. When she got in her car to leave it was early in the morning, around 2:00 A.M. She was startled to hear a car engine start up behind her as she drove off. 

There were not many cars on the road so she was surprised to see this car follow her onto the highway. Picking up speed she noticed the car behind kept close on her bumper. Now worried, she slowed down so that the driver behind could pass. But he slowed down as well.

Concerned she picked up speed hoping to leave the other car behind but this car sped up too. After what seemed an eternity, she was relieved to see her exit up ahead. But the car followed her down the exit ramp. 

Frightened now, she ran several red lights but the driver behind did the same. Entering the street that led to her house she started to honk her horn, as she pulled into her driveway her husband hearing ran out.

The car that followed pulled in right after her. Her husband ran passed her car and grabbed the other driver as he stepped from his car. The woman ran toward the two men as her husband slammed the man back against his car. The woman quickly explained, “He followed me all the way from Ogden.” 

As the husband went to hit the man, he managed to blurt out, “As your wife got in her car…I saw a man duck down in her backseat…” The threesome glanced over just as a back door on the wife’s car opened and a man got out and ran down the street.

Despite regional variations of this legend the main story stays the same. One version has the woman stop at a gas station where the attendant lures her away from her car in order to tell her a man is hiding in her backseat. 

In another version the car that follows her keeps turning its headlight brights on and off. As the driver of the car later explains he did this every time the man in the backseat popped up, holding a knife, but the light flooding the car forced him to duck back down. 

Yet an even more violent version involves gang members hiding in a female's car as a part of gang initiations.

Some state this legend is based upon a real news story. 

In 1964, in New York City there was a case of a killer in the backseat of a car. An escaped murderer did hide in the back of a car but in this case ironically the car belonged to a police detective who shot the felon. 

Considering this story does not involve a lone female, it does not happen late at night on a lonely road and it does not have a third person that becomes involved makes it a bad fit.

Alvin Schwartz’s book, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark has a version entitled, “High Beams”. Here is a recording of this story.