Whaley House is located just North of the San Diego Airport and 10 minutes away from Sea World.
The history of the Whaley House began when the property that the house was built upon was just an undeveloped piece of property with trees, that was used as an execution yard; conveniently located near the town cemetery. In 1852, this vacant lot was used to hang a convicted criminal, attended by a lot of the townspeople, including Thomas Whaley who noticed the possibilities of this vacant lot.
In 1852, a tall, 6 ft 4 inch man known as Yankee Jim had been convicted along with two other men for stealing a boat, though the three were suspected of more serious crimes like murder. While Jim’s two other partners in crime were given sentences of a year in prison, Jim was given the death penalty probably because he was seen as the bully ring leader, leading the two other men in crime. This gang probably killed some people, though there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. To today’s observer, he was executed for a minor crime of trying to steal a boat.
Right or wrong, Yankee Jim was brought in the back of a buck board, and a noose that was hanging from a tree that grew on this vacant property, was put around his neck. He was pushed off the buck board, but there was a problem that was ignored. Because of his height, the toes of his boots touched the ground, but not enough to support his weight. As there was no hard fall because he was hung too low without the proper force to snap his neck, he instead suffered a terrible, painful and slow choking death; a cruel way to die that no one deserved. Uh oh.
While watching Yankee Jim’s cruel demise, slowly strangling to death, entrepreneur Thomas Whaley had the idea that he could buy this prime piece of property for “a song”, at some point when he had the funds; as no one would want to buy land used for executions. He didn’t see the problems that may arise if he did this. His inspirational thought was to build a one story brick structure; to be a rat-proof granary, that would be in great demand.
Paranormal occurrences began after the Whaley family moved into their new home in 1857. Over the years, as more spirits joined the regulars at the Whaley House, the joint has been jumpin’ ever since.
When George came back to restore the old family home in 1909, he too had experiences with perhaps the spirits of his father, Yankee Jim, little Thomas and Violet, plus the woman haunting the old courtroom space. George would close all the windows and drapes and try to communicate with the spirits in the house.
Since 1960, when the Whaley House was opened as a house museum, numerous paranormal events have been observed by 20th and 21st century witnesses; seen, felt or heard primarily by staff, though other observers have been visitors and investigators.
Click here to read more strange tales: http://hauntedhouses.com/california/the-whaley-house/
Book a tour here: https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/san-diego/whaley-house
