Whaley House (San Diego, California) facts for kids
Whaley House, 2010
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| Established | Original construction: 1857 Current museum: May 25, 1960 |
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| Location | 2476 San Diego Avenue San Diego, California |
| Reference #: | 65 |
| Reference #: | 24 |
The Whaley House is an old house built in 1857 in the Greek Revival style. It's a special place called a California Historical Landmark and is now a museum. You can find it in Old Town, San Diego, California. Today, Historic Tours of America, Inc. takes care of it. It's also the oldest brick building in Southern California.
The Whaley House was once the home of Thomas Whaley and his family. But it was more than just a home! It also held Whaley's general store, which sold many things. It was even San Diego's second county courthouse, where important legal decisions were made. Plus, it was the first commercial theater in San Diego, where people watched plays. Many people say the house has "witnessed more history than any other building in the city."
Contents
The Whaley Family Story
Building a New Life
Thomas Whaley, whose family came from Scotland and Ireland, was born in New York City on October 5, 1823. He was one of ten children. Thomas took over his father's successful business. Then, on January 1, 1849, he left New York. He traveled to San Francisco during the exciting California Gold Rush. There, he started his own businesses.
In September 1851, Thomas moved to San Diego. Two years later, he went back to New York and married Anna Eloise Delaunay on August 14, 1853. They returned to California, arriving in San Diego on December 7, 1853. On August 22, 1857, the Whaleys moved into their brand new home, which we now call the Whaley House.
Thomas and Anna Whaley had six children: Francis Hinton (born 1854), Thomas Whaley Jr. (born 1856), Anna Amelia (born 1858), George Hay Ringgold (born 1860), Violet Eloise (born 1862), and Corinne Lillian (born 1864). Sadly, Thomas Whaley Jr. became sick with scarlet fever when he was 18 months old and passed away on January 29, 1858.
After their baby Thomas died and their store burned down, Thomas and Anna moved to San Francisco. In January 1859, Thomas let Frank Ames, a Wells Fargo agent, manage his affairs in Old Town. In the summer of 1868, Thomas invested in new goods and returned to San Diego. He fixed up the old Whaley House, and Anna and the rest of the family came back home to San Diego on December 12, 1868.
Family Challenges and Changes
On January 5, 1882, two of the Whaley daughters, Violet Eloise and Anna Amelia, got married in Old San Diego. Violet married George T. Bertolacci, and Anna Amelia married her first cousin, John T. Whaley, inside the family home.
Sadly for Violet, her new husband, Bertolacci, soon told her about his difficult past. He was a con artist who had married Violet hoping to get some of the Whaley family's money. Bertolacci promised to change, but Mr. and Mrs. Whaley tried to stop all contact with him. Violet became very sad and passed away on August 19, 1885, at just 22 years old.
Corinne Lillian was engaged to be married when her sister died. But her fiancé broke off the engagement because of the sadness and rumors it caused. After these sad events, Thomas Whaley built a new, smaller home for his family in Downtown San Diego. The family moved there, and the Whaley House was left empty for more than twenty years.
Francis Whaley married Susan E. Murray on December 31, 1888. On December 14, 1890, Thomas Whaley passed away due to poor health at their new home. Anna Amelia Whaley died in California on December 12, 1905.
Meanwhile, the old Whaley House stayed empty and started to fall apart. In late 1909, Francis Whaley decided to fix up the building. He turned it into a place for tourists to visit, putting up signs about its history and entertaining guests with his guitar. In 1912, Anna Whaley (Thomas's wife), Corinne Lillian, Francis, and George all lived in the old Whaley House again. Anna died on February 24, 1913, at 80 years old. A year later, Francis Whaley died on November 19, 1914. George Whaley died on January 5, 1928, in San Diego. Corinne Lillian Whaley continued to live in the house until she passed away in 1953.
After all these events, the Whaley House is still known as a haunted house. People say that visitors and staff sometimes see the ghosts of Whaley family members who died in the house. These include baby Thomas Jr., Violet, Anna, Francis, George, and Corinne Lillian Whaley.
The Whaley House as a Landmark
A House with Many Lives
The Whaley House is located in the Old Town area of San Diego. This historic house opened as a museum on May 25, 1960. It was first managed by the San Diego Historical Shrine Foundation, a non-profit group started in 1956. June A. Strudwick-Reading was the Director of the Whaley House Museum from 1960 until she passed away in 1998. Since 2000, the house has been cared for by Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO). Since 2007, someone has lived on the property as a caretaker to help prevent theft and damage.
Thomas Whaley himself designed the two-story Greek Revival style house. Construction began on May 6, 1856. It was finished in 1857 and cost more than $10,000 to build. The bricks for the house were made right in Whaley's own brickyard. This house was the first of its kind in San Diego.
My new house, when completed, will be the handsomest, most comfortable and convenient place in town or within 150 miles of here.
—Thomas Whaley, San Diego Coast Life
Whaley's new house was known as the best in Southern California. It was filled with fancy furniture made of mahogany and rosewood, soft Brussels carpets, and beautiful damask drapes. For its time and place, it was considered a mansion. The house became a popular gathering spot in San Diego. Besides being the Whaley family home, it was also San Diego's first commercial theater, the county courthouse, and a general store.
In October 1868, an upstairs family bedroom was turned into a theater. Thomas Whaley rented the room to the Tanner Troupe, a group of actors visiting San Diego. For their first show, the small room had a stage, a few benches, and an amazing 150 guests! Most people had to stand, and ladies were even asked not to wear their large hoop skirts to make more room. The theater's manager, Thomas Tanner, died just 17 days after it opened. His acting group broke up by the end of January 1869.
The Whaley House also served as the county courthouse in 1869. The county of San Diego rented the courtroom and three upstairs bedrooms for $65 a month. Another part of the Whaley House's history was the Whaley & Crosthwaite General Store, which sold goods to both businesses and regular people.
Tales of Ghosts and Spirits
Soon after the Whaley family moved into their new home, they told the San Diego Union newspaper that they heard loud footsteps in the house. They believed these sounds came from the ghost of James "Yankee Jim" Robinson, a man who had died on the property earlier. This is one of the reasons the Whaley House is famous for being haunted!
Whaley House on Screen
The Whaley House has appeared in many historical films and TV shows about ghosts and mysteries.
- It was featured on Syfy Channel's Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files.
- It was also on Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted, where it was called the most supernatural home in the United States.
- In the 2007 animated movie, Hellboy: Blood and Iron, one character talks about the ghost, Yankee Jim, from the Whaley House.
- In 2012, a movie called The Haunting of Whaley House was made. Even though it was filmed at a different house, the story and ghost legends of the Whaley House were used as the basis for the movie.
- In 2012, the Whaley House was shown on the Biography Channel's The Haunting of Regis Philbin. When he was filming a local San Diego morning show in 1964, Regis Philbin visited the museum. He said he had a strange experience with Mrs. Whaley's ghost. Philbin said, "You know a lot people pooh-pooh it because they can't see it. But there was something going on in that house."
- On an episode of MTV's Ridiculousness, host Rob Dyrdek mentioned living next to "the most haunted house in California." He joked about calling for Old Man Whaley at night.
- In 2014, the Whaley House was the main investigation on Ghost Adventures in their 110th episode.
- In 2017, the house was featured in the first season (6th episode) of BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural for a ghost investigation. This video has been watched over 12 million times on YouTube by 2021.
- A "Ghost Files" episode in 2022 also featured the Whaley House. Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara returned to investigate under their new company, Watcher, after leaving BuzzFeed Unsolved.
See also
- Reportedly haunted locations in California
