Dare to Join This Spooky San Diego Ghost Tour?

Like many places throughout California, San Diego has a storied history that isn’t always as prim and proper as America’s Finest City would like you to believe. During its growth in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, numerous events occurred that left the city as we know it haunted around almost every corner.

One place in particular that’s seen plenty of spooks is the Gaslamp Quarter, and no one explores or explains the phenomenon better than the San Diego branch of US Ghost Adventures, who invited me to experience the tour for myself—if I dared.

Dared I did, and what I learned along the way had me sleeping with the light on that night.

What makes San Diego so haunted?

This hour-long San Diego Ghost Tour covers San Diego’s role in the Mexican-American War and explores the countless atrocities over the years, including crime, death, and disease.

According to both the website and the tour, the amount of scandal, murder, and violence left almost every corner of the city haunted. The Gaslamp Quarter, in particular, witnessed a range of events, from Yellow Fever outbreaks to fratricide, and even housed a morgue in one of the city’s most popular bars. Also, read our article on the most haunted places in San Diego.

Let’s take a closer look at where you go on the tour and what you can expect.

Good Night John Boy

Nowadays, you may know the corner of G Street and Fourth Avenue as one of the locations for Good Night John Boy. This 11,000-square-foot 1970s-themed dance bar took over in 2024, but several other businesses have operated here throughout the years. Many may remember the Tin Roof, a “Live Music Joint,” abruptly closing after an eight-year run, or the Rock Bottom Brewery, which had been in operation for nearly 15 years before it, too, shut down.

None of that has anything to do with the tour, but its original location as the Carriage Works, built in 1890, may be the reason no one else has lasted too long.

According to the Historic Building placard outside, it originally existed to house the wholesale business of Todd and Hawley, which occupied the space until 1902. According to the tour, they would hire 11- and 12-year-old boys to work for them. Unfortunately, a young boy named George wound up clobbered by a horse and died, though his spirit may have remained. 

After Carriage Works shut down, Lyons Implement Company moved in, followed by San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego Farm and Dairy Supply, and the Voices of America. Throughout the years, almost every other business owner has seen something there, with some even reporting witnessing George’s eyeless and faceless presence in the building.

Employees and managers alike have reported sightings of him, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re ever here enjoying the disco.

Horton Grand Hotel

Considering it’s the oldest hotel in San Diego, it should come as no surprise that the Horton Grand Hotel is on this list. The hotel itself is actually comprised of the Grand Hotel and the Brooklyn Hotel, which were reconstructed in the 1980s to become what we know of it today.

Those who stay here may want to steer clear of—or circle—room 309. 

In the mid-1800s, when the Grand Hotel became known as the Horton Grand, a man named Roger Whittaker checked in and never left. The story of his death, however, has a couple of renditions, though both agree that Whittaker had an affinity for gambling.

Where one version of the story says he checked in after being on the run from creditors who subsequently killed him, the other (that I learned about on the tour) says a family member killed him after he caught him cheating in a card game.

In that variation, Whittaker had the “lucky” deck of cards in his chest pocket. His brother allegedly shot the deck, and the bullet went straight through his heart.

While many guests still report plenty of activity, such as beds shaking and the shower water becoming increasingly hotter, he has a reputation as a relatively friendly ghost, known for his pranks. Check out our post on the most haunted hotels in San Diego.

Salt & Whiskey

The Salt & Whiskey bar, located adjacent to the Horton Grand, also allegedly has its own share of paranormal activity from time to time.

A popular brothel named Stingaree once stood on the site where they rebuilt the hotel, run by a woman named Ida Bailey. She was known for her bright red hair and feisty attitude, and predominantly ran the pale-yellow cottage known as Canary Cottage. Her women were renowned for their sophistication and class, and Bailey had an uncanny ability to coax men into her establishment. 

Sightings of Ms. Bailey center around the staircase in the middle of the restaurant, although the people who experience her report a warm and friendly feeling rather than anything scary. She’s appeared as a floating white mist or a cold chill that passes through your body.

Davis-Horton House

Formerly known as the William Heath Davis House, the Davis-Horton House, home now to the Gaslamp Museum, also has a storied past that can leave some people shaken—and sometimes even physically ill.

This house is the oldest wooden structure in the city, and many consider it one of the most haunted sites in San Diego. William Heath Davis initially constructed it in 1850 as the foundation of “New Town.” His efforts, however, faced significant hostile pushback, and he eventually abandoned the house, which Alonzo Horton completed years later before also ultimately abandoning it himself.

A woman named Anna Scheper turned it into a hospital, which many believe is the reason it’s so haunted, due to the growing instances of Yellow Fever at the time. 

Among the reported ghosts on the property are a man in a WWII uniform who people believe was a German spy who lived—and died—there during the war. On the second floor, people often spot a woman in white Victorian attire wandering around, although her identity remains a subject of debate. Some believe she’s Sarah Horton, Alfonzo’s wife, and others say she’s a patient who once died in the hospital.

Whoever she is, staff recommend turning the other way if you spot her. A woman named Mary, who worked for the Gaslamp Historical Foundation, once saw her, spoke to her, and wound up getting so ill she almost died. Her symptoms aligned with Yellow Fever, although no traces of the disease were ever found in her when she visited the doctor. 

Yamada Building

Constructed in 1869 and primarily known for its use as a theater and billiard hall, the Yamada Building, now housing Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, also has a tragic past.

According to the story from the tour, a realtor named Dave saw blue wisps floating around the first and second floors. When he went to investigate, one of the wisps flew into his body and left the other side. He was going to pass this off as his imagination, but one of his coworkers also witnessed it, lending credence to his experience.

Either way, whatever happened sent Dave into a downward spiral that culminated in him allegedly hanging himself. The strangest part of the event was the blue chalk found on the rope around his neck, though no such chalk was ever seen at the crime scene, in the building, or even at his home.

Prohibition

People know Prohibition these days as one of the best speakeasies in town, and it has always been on my list of places to visit that I hadn’t gotten around to yet. Fortunately, since I was the only one on the tour, the bouncer decided to let us in and check it out without the cover fee after hearing our stories from the ghost tour.

Even without the dark past associated with the bar, its location underground and the way it blocks out any noise from above is eerie enough on its own, despite the fun atmosphere and live music that welcome people.

Initially built in the 1800s, the location was briefly used as a morgue during the 1860s. The city kept dead bodies there for cremation, autopsy, identification purposes, and other means of disposal. In the 1990s, it became the Museum of Death. People believe the spirits who linger are those who are stuck in the morgue and unable to pass to the afterlife.

Although the bar staff is famously difficult to pry information out of regarding the hauntings, the bartender on shift that night told my tour guide, MJ, to “avoid the woman’s restroom” and said the stock closet right next to it was his least favorite place to go. Besides that, only the owner is brave enough to sit down there in the dark, and most employees opt to leave through the back entrance at the end of the night rather than climb up the dark stairs.

As far as strange events go, lights are known to flicker on and off, and they recommend women avoid wearing ponytails so as not to have them mysteriously tugged. Interestingly enough, glasses flying around are also known to be a thing, which results in a $20 charge if it happens to you. The reason I find this so interesting is that when I came home to tell my partner about the tour, he said he and his friends had been at Prohibition once, and he swore he saw a glass fly and break. Since they kicked out the person it happened to, he brushed it off as the person being too drunk. Hearing that flying glass was part of the legend had him rethinking what he saw.

Yuma Building

Aside from its haunts, a notable fact about the Yuma Building is that it was one of the first buildings in San Diego constructed entirely out of brick. Initially owned by Henry “The Captain” Wilcox in 1877, his wife, Maria, took over after he left his fortune to her and turned it into the Victorian it is now. These days, they use the first floor for commercial business, and private luxury apartments occupy the rest of the building. 

Before that, it was also used as a brothel and was one of the first stops during the brothel raids of 1912. Here, the women wore different-colored dresses that matched a set of painted pebbles, allowing men to indicate to the madam which woman they wanted. During the raids, police rounded up 138 women and gave them two choices: Quit and work for the city, or take a prepaid ticket out of town.

All but two took the ticket, but most of them came back. Of the two who stayed, one became a telephone operator, and the other went insane due to a disease. Apart from a shadowed man walking in the hallways that people believe is The Captain checking up on things, the other, more sinister spirit could be the woman who went insane. 

While the building underwent renovations to become the current housing, a couple found a woman rummaging through their rooms, banging, shouting, and causing a great commotion. They locked her in there and called the police, who confirmed they heard what was going on inside and tried to coax the woman out. However, when they entered the locked room, she’d disappeared altogether, with no sign of disturbance or any trace of her having been there.

Ghirardelli

Next door to the Yuma Building sits a popular Ghirardelli location, but previously, it was a full-blown adult film theater. There have been numerous reports of activity throughout the years, including hot spots that “burn from the inside.” An employee named Cheryl once felt as though the walls were on fire and heard screaming coming from within them. She insisted you could hear the screams from any corner in the building.

There have been no reports of any activity since.

A fun and not-so-scary fact about the current location is the chocolate bunny found inside the store. It’s there to commemorate San Diego, with the Gaslamp area previously known as “Rabbitville” due to the number of rabbits in the area. 

Old City Hall

Last but not least, and arguably the creepiest story, lands at the Old City Hall. Built in 1874, this Florentine Italianate building was one of the first buildings in downtown constructed entirely of materials made in the city. It was initially used as a commercial bank before the city purchased it for use as City Hall. It also served as a library, police headquarters, and a jail in 1900. 

In 1905, the mayor-elect barricaded himself in the building to be sworn in, despite an angry mob outside trying to stop him because they deemed him unfit for office. In the 1930s, the city sold the building and converted it into a hotel. In the 1950s, when they renovated the building to accommodate more housing, people believed that these changes unlocked a dormant presence that had been present for some time.

Some people heard banging, and some apartments experienced an influx of bugs, but it wasn’t until 1966 when a family of four moved in that things got really strange. 

The family complained to management about the incessant banging coming from the walls, only to have their complaints ignored. They knew they weren’t crazy, but no amount of complaining convinced management to investigate the issue. After three consistent days of banging in the summer of ’66, the father purchased a sledgehammer, knocked down the south wall, and found a small room, roughly six feet by eight feet in size, with no doors or windows—only scattered papers with gibberish written all over them in pencil.

When they brought the findings to the management, instead of the management siding with them, they were instead evicted from the apartment due to the damage they caused to the wall. The family refused to leave, but went quiet after the altercation with the manager. When he didn’t hear from them for a while, he assumed they had moved out on their own and rented the apartment to someone else. When he hired a cleaning crew to clean up for them, they found the gruesome murder of the entire family, a sight so shocking that the police at the time said they’d never seen anything so grisly.

There was no evidence of anyone else entering, and the case remains unsolved.

The most “likely” theory was that the father killed everyone with the sledgehammer following the emotional turmoil after the eviction, as they found his body clutching the sledgehammer. However, the father’s head was missing and has still never been found.

Some people believed the killer hid the head in the building, especially after people reported a strange smell around their apartment in the height of the summer heat, before it had air conditioning. Others think the killer hid the head elsewhere, and it was never found due to decomposition. The most chilling theory is that the killer ate the head to get rid of all of the evidence.

Regardless of what happened, this story should have a mainstream film adaptation, and I may even write the script myself.

Book this and other San Diego ghost tours here, and be sure to look at their list of cities to see what other haunts you can enjoy around the country.

Last Updated on June 16, 2025 by Maria Haase

The post Dare to Join This Spooky San Diego Ghost Tour? appeared first on San Diego Explorer.