HGB Ep. 619 - The Life and Afterlife of Janis Joplin

This Month in History - Queen Victoria Proclaimed Empress of India

In the month of January, on the 1st, in 1877, Queen Victoria was officially proclaimed as the Empress of India. This was done at the first Delhi Durbar (DUR-bar) ceremony. The term "Durbar" comes from the Persian language, meaning a ruler's court and was adopted from Mughal (moo-gl) traditions. Its purpose was to mark the succession or coronation of British sovereigns as rulers of India after the British Parliament passed the Royal Titles Act in 1876. Thus transferring power from the dissolved East India Company, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Delhi was chosen as the location due to its historical association with imperial power, even though Calcutta (now Kolkata Coal kah tuh) was the administrative capital at the time. There have been three major Delhi Durbars in history, the first in 1877 with Queen Victoria, the second in 1903 coronating King Edward VII and the third in 1911, coronating King George V and Queen Mary. The 1911 Delhi Durbar, announced the movement India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi. In essence, the first Delhi Durbar was a calculated act of political theatre designed to cement British imperial authority at a crucial time in India's colonial history.

The Life and Afterlife of Janis Joplin

Every one who loved her, called her Pearl. Janis Joplin was an energetic singer who lived life hard and fast. Her talent has been inspirational to generations of musicians. Imagine the heights she could've risen to if her life hadn't been snuffed out too early. Janis became a member of the 27 Club after injecting a potent very pure hit of heroin. The hotel where she overdosed is said to still be haunted by her spirit. Join us for the life and afterlife of Janis Joplin! 

Janis Joplin's life began on January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas at St. Mary's Hospital. She was the eldest child of Dorothy and Seth Joplin. Janis was raised in a Christian home and her parents worried as she got older and seemed to drift into a group of outcasts. These outcasts loved music and would sit around listening to blues music by Leadbelly, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Janis would sing along and really enjoyed it and she joined the choir at Thomas Jefferson High School. School was tough as she was bullied often and teased about her acne scarring. She graduated in 1960 and headed to Lamar State College of Technology for a brief time and transferred to the University of Texas in Austin. The hippie movement was just getting ready to emerge and wouldn't peak until the Summer of Love in 1967, so Joplin was a little different than the other women on campus. The campus paper even ran a story in 1962 on how different she was because she went around barefoot and wearing Levis. She also always had her Autoharp too. She formed a folk trio with two men, Powell St. John and Lanny Wiggins, and they called themselves the Waller Creek Boys.

In 1963, Janis decided she was done with school and hitchhiked to San Francisco. And she ended up in what would become hippie central in Haight-Ashbury. This area was having a growing issue with drugs, specifically speed. People think it was mostly psychedelics like acid that were a problem, but even Manson's group was way into the speed. LSD would come into play as well with the Manson murders, but speed was always involved and this is where Janis really got into that scene. Before long, she had the reputation of being a "speed freak." She also started drinking heavily with Southern Comfort being her favorite. Eventually, Janis would try heroin and get hooked on that. 

And while drugs and alcohol, unfortunately, are going to be a key theme in Joplin's life, her sister shared with the world in her book "Love, Janis" that her sister was highly intelligent and sensitive and that she was devoted to her family. She was articulate and no one can deny she was amazingly talented when it came to writing and singing music. That's why addiction sucks so hard. Drinking became a theme in some of her songs. She wrote and recorded the song "What Good Can Drinkin' Do" in December of 1962 while she was still at the University of Texas. This was her first recorded song and was a 12-bar blues song. Joplin claimed that she wrote the song in a drunken stupor. Joplin loved Beat Poets and enjoyed following that scene in the Haight and she started collaborating with other singers she met in the area. In 1964, Joplin and Jorma Kaukonen, who would become the guitarist for Jefferson Airplane, recorded some blues standards together. There were seven tracks and these wouldn't be released until after Janis' death as the bootleg album "The Typewriter Tape." It had that name because Jorma's wife played a typewriter in the background of one of the songs. Shortly before that effort, Janis got into trouble with the law for the first time. Her drug addiction led her to start shoplifting and in 1963, she was arrested. As she fell further into addiction, she started losing lots of weight, to the point that people described her as emaciated, and she had been a full-figured gal when she was in college. Within two years, she was skeletal. Her friends in San Francisco were growing very concerned and they knew she needed to get out of the Haight, so they encouraged her to head home to Port Arthur. They paid for her bus ride. For us, these seem like good friends, but Janis told Rolling Stone magazine writer David Dalton in 1970 about that time, "I didn't have many friends and I didn't like the ones I had."

We can only imagine what Janis' parents must of thought when they saw their daughter get off that bus. They helped her to recuperate and she changed her life. She didn't drink or do drugs and re-enrolled in college at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas as an anthropology major. She would change to a social work major later. Austin had a growing music scene and Janis would commute there with her acoustic guitar and perform. Janis even started wearing her hair in a beehive if you can imagine that. 

She had also been dating a man named Peter de Blanc when she was in San Francisco and he had moved to New York while she was in Texas, so they were doing the long distance thing. Peter decided he wanted to marry Janis, so he flew to Texas to ask her father for her hand and the couple became engaged. Peter traveled a lot and perhaps that is why he called off the engagement a few months later. San Francisco was calling to Joplin again and she returned there in 1966. And it isn't surprising because of what we would learn from therapy sessions that Janis attended in Port Arthur. Janis hated the idea of not being successful with music and she feared being stuck working as a keypunch operator or secretary or just being a housewife. And she also thought she couldn't perform without drugs and alcohol. Her psychiatrist, Bernard Giarritano, told biographer Myra Friedman after Janis had died that she didn't think she could have a professional singing career without relapsing into drugs. He asked her to bring her guitar with her and would get her to sing and he tried to reassure her that she performed just fine sober. His reason fell on deaf ears, but Janis did lay down seven tracks with just her and her acoustic guitar in Austin before leaving for San Francisco. These included her original composition "Turtle Blues" and an alternate version of "Cod'ine" by Buffy Sainte-Marie, which would be released posthumously years later. 

On June 4, 1966, Joplin joined psychedelic rock band Big Brother and The Holding Company. This band was up and coming in the Haight and managed to get a record deal with independent record producer Mainstream Records. They recorded their self-titled album in 1967, but it wouldn't be released until they became more successful later. 

And that success came after they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival. The festival ran from June 16-18 in 1967 and people went crazy for the band and Janis in particular. Big Brother and The Holding Company and Janis performed Big Mama Thornton’s "Ball and Chain" with a barnstormer performance. Cass Elliot was captured on film in the crowd mouthing "Wow, that’s really heavy" during Joplin’s performance. Papers were talking about Janis internationally and Clive Davis, who was president of Columbia Records at the time, sought to get her signed. Albert Grossman, who was Bob Dylan's manager pursued Joplin as well. This was probably amazing for Janis because she had attended the festival in 1963 and got to meet Bob Dylan, who she considered an idol. She told him, "I’m gonna be famous one day!" Dylan responded,  "Yeah, we’re all gonna be famous." And they both certainly did become famous. It started for Janis right here at that very festival. Columbia Records did sign the band and they re-released their debut album with the songs "Down on Me," "Bye Bye Baby," "Call On Me" and "Coo Coo." The band's next album was called Cheap Thrills, which included a live version of "Ball and Chain" as well as "Piece of My Heart" and "Summertime." Just eight weeks after release, Cheap Thrills reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed number one for eight (nonconsecutive) weeks.

Joplin tried hard to do life without drugs. When she first got to San Francisco, she moved into an apartment with a man named Travis Rivers who had been sent to Austin to bring her back to San Francisco. Janis made him promise that needles wouldn't be allowed in their apartment, but Travis eventually broke that promise when he left some friends at the apartment and Janis walked in to find them shooting up. A band mate who was with her, Dave Getz, later recalled that she went nuts and screamed at Travis when he returned "We had a pact! You promised me! There wouldn't be any of that in front of me!" When Getz tried to comfort her she said, "You don't understand! I can't see that! I just can't stand to see that!"

Joplin decided to break from Big Brother in 1969 and she formed a new band to back her up called the Kozmic Blues Band and they were the ones with her at Woodstock. They helped her produce her first solo album "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" with the songs "Kozmic Blues" and covers like "Summertime" and "To Love Somebody." The sound was a shift for Joplin from the psychedelic rock to more R&B and soul. The band appeared on The Dick Cavett Show on the night of July 18, 1969 and they performed "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "To Love Somebody." Joplin had no idea what Woodstock was going to be. She figured it was just another gig and that's how she put it to her band mates. While Woodstock was supposed to be all about peace, love and happiness, it really was a shit show. Organizers had thought they would have around 200,000 people and they had half a million. Roads were blocked by abandoned cars, there weren't enough bathrooms, not enough garbage cans, limited food and water, rain left everything a muddy quagmire with mud and cow manure mixed together and then there was a ton of drugs. The schedule for performers were in a disarray and all the performers had to be flown in by helicopter. So here comes Janis on a helicopter,  with a pregnant Joan Baez sitting next to her, and she looks down and sees this horde of people below. She was really nervous when she saw that. Joplin had to wait for several other groups to play and this would be a downfall for her performance because she proceeded to drink and shoot heroin. The set Janis played was iconic and emotional, but it was hampered by her drunkenness. The performance was so ragged that Joplin made sure that not a single one of her songs was included in the original Woodstock documentary. She did engage the audience and her voice was powerful. She said from the stage, "I don’t mean to be preachy, but we ought to remember, and that means promoters, too, that music is for grooving, man, not for putting yourself through bad changes. You don’t have to take anyone’s shit, man, just to like music, you know what I mean? So if you’re getting more shit than you deserve, you know what to do about it, man? It’s just music, man. Music’s supposed to be different than that." The crowd screamed for an encore and she gave one. Pete Townshend of the Who watched her perform before the Who took the stage and he wrote in his 2012 memoir, "She had been amazing at Monterey, but tonight she wasn't at her best, due, probably, to the long delay, and probably, too, to the amount of booze and heroin she'd consumed while she waited. But even Janis on an off-night was incredible." Janis stayed at Woodstock until it was over.

At about the same time that Janis was with the Kozmic Blues Band, she started asking people to call her Pearl because she was tired of being Janis. Some people said that this was like Janis becomeing a split personality because she was under so much pressure. She really was the first woman to front a band of her own creation. Other women had been guest singers with bands, but this was Janis in charge of her own thing. She started drinking and drugging more  and the group just fell apart barely a year after forming. And Janis still had contract obligations. She met several Canadian musicians and Janis formed what critics say was her best backing band, The Full Tilt Boogie Band. 

Joplin toured Canada with Full Tilt and then they set off on a US tour. They also started recording Janis' next album. It would be while they were working on this that Janis would die. Columbia only liked two of the songs, so they scrapped the album, but Full Tilt wasn't going to give up on Janis. They worked on the songs and mastered them and convinced Columbia to agree to more songs. They also had a recording of Janis singing Mercedes Benz in front of a bunch of friends and they added that to the album. Columbia accepted the album and it was named Pearl for Janis' nickname. This would be the biggest selling album of Joplin's career and featured her biggest hit single, a cover of "Me and Bobby McGee." Before dying, Janis also made two appearances on the Dick Cavett Show. In October of 1970, Janis was living out of the Landmark Motor Hotel while making the album Pearl. The Landmark was popular with rock stars because of its proximity to drugs and the management looked the other way with partying. Today, this is the the Highland Gardens Hotel located at 7047 Franklin Ave. Janis stayed in Room 105. Joplin had stopped her drug use temporarily when she traveled to Brazil in February 1970 and lived there for awhile. She apparently was romanced by an American tourist named David Niehaus and was happy and carefree. David hated drugs and this helped to keep her sober, but when she returned to America, she returned to heroin. David saw her shoot up once and the relationship was over. 

Returning to the heroin again began her rapid spiral towards death. Fellow bandmate Sam Andrew told biographer Ellis Amburn that "She was visibly deteriorating and she looked bloated. She was like a parody of what she was at her best. I put it down to her drinking too much and I felt a tinge of fear for her well-being. Her singing was real flabby, no edge at all." 

The day before her death, Janis visited Sunset Sound Recorders to listen to the instrumental track of a song she planned to record the following day, "Buried Alive in the Blues." That evening, she drove her Porsche to the West Hollywood venue called Barney's Beanery and she met up with Bennett Glotzer, a business partner of Joplin's manager Albert Grossman. Janis ate a bowl of chili and downed several drinks. She left the club after midnight with Ken Pearson, the organist for Full Tilt, and they headed back to the Landmark Motor Hotel. When Janis didn't show up for recording the following day, October 4th, Janis' road manager and friend John Byrne Cook went to the hotel to check on her and he found her dead on the floor of her room. The heroin hit her quickly as she was still clutching the change in her hand from buying cigarettes. She was wearing a nightgown and had been dead for 18 hours. Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi conducted the autopsy on Janis and found that her death was due to a heroin overdose. She had also been drinking, which probably contributed. Several other customers of Janis' dealer also died that same weekend, so it is thought that this batch of heroin was more potent than usual. Joplin was cremated in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Mortuary in Los Angeles. She wanted her ashes scattered and that was done from a plane that flew over the Pacific Ocean and along Stinson Beach. The album Pearl was released six weeks after her death. Janis would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2005, she and was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame came in 2013. Peggy Caserta was a close friend of Janis and there are those who claim the two were lovers. Part of this belief came from a memoir that Caserta wrote in 1973, "Going Down With Janis," in which she wrote via a ghostwriter that the women were lovers. Caserta had owned the boutique Mnasidika in the late 1960s and Joplin shopped there for clothes. The two became fast friends and shared a heroin addiction. Caserta later disavowed the book and denied a romantic relationship. She wrote "I Ran Into Some Trouble" in 2018, to set the record straight. It is probably likely that Joplin was bisexual. 

Janice had a provision in her will that she wanted a party thrown for her in place of a funeral. That wake party was held on October 26, 1970 at The Lion Share, which was a legendary live music club in San Anselmo, California. Joplin had set aside $2,500 in her will for this party and it was a real blowout, with hashish laced brownies being passed around and the Grateful Dead playing. Joplin's closest friends were there, as was her sister Laura.  

Janis had joined her friend Jimi Hendrix in the 27 Club. He had died just 16 days before her. Jim Morrison would join the club a few months later. The 27 Club is an exclusive Rock & Roll club that no one actually wants to be a member of since it means you're dead at 27. What makes this club unique is the level of talent included within it. Robert Johnson is considered the first member. Amy Winehouse is probably the most recent. Brian Jones was a founding member of the Rolling Stones and died from drowning in his pool while under the influence of drugs and alcohol in 1969. Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson was a member of Canned Heat and died of a drug overdose in 1970. Founding member of the Grateful Dead, Ron McKernan, died in 1973 from internal bleeding due to cirrhosis caused by his heavy drinking. Kurt Cobain died in 1994 after shooting himself with a shotgun...maybe. And then Amy Winehouse overdosed in 2011. Was this some kind of curse that felled these 27-year-old musicians. Clearly, they lived hard and fast, but had they made a deal with the Devil? 

Whatever the case may be for Janis - and with her desire to get out of her small Texas town and the mundane life it offered we believe she would be a prime candidate for soul exchange - her spirit still seems to be here, especially at the hotel where she died. Her death was quick and possibly her spirit is confused about what happened and doesn't accept that she is dead. And she might be sticking around because Room 105 has been left mostly as she left it, with guests leaving messages for her on the wall in the closet. Guests and employees have reported unexplained sounds, a very heavy feeling and some have even seen her apparition. The lobby has pictures of all the famous people that have stayed here and it is said that if mention Janis' name in the lobby, some of the pictures go flying. 

Jen Danczak stayed in the room in 2024 and she found the duvet cover completely off the bed. When she reported it to the front desk, they double checked if the room had been cleaned and it had. That was when the person at the front desk told her that they won't go into that room at night. The manager told her, "Sometimes you have to knock [on the door] or she doesn't open the door. The other day these people checked in and then came down and said they couldn't get the door open. I asked if they knocked first and they said "no." I went to the door, knocked and it opened for me." There was a little EMF activity. 

Findadeath post on Reddit, "This guy I was talking to in the lobby, started telling me stories about various incidents that he believe are Janis, but only when someone says something about her. Those 8 by 10’s of celebrities that grace every single business in LA, fly off the walls. Doors slam shut, etc. Nothing too destructive, but again only when someone discusses Janis. One other incident involved the phone lines going nuts at 3 in the morning. Every single phone from every single room started ringing at the switchboard. The guy calls the owner, and the owner is just as dumbfounded. Then the owner says, 'It must be Janis.' Instantly the phones stopped ringing. A little creepy. Then as we’re talking, the phone starts ringing. He says, 'Good evening, Highland Gardens Hotel.' No one there. It happens again, and again, and again. At least 6 times. It wasn’t major creepiness, but it was kinda cool to think it just might be Janis." 

Strange RV Tours stayed there once and the very heavy closet doors opened on their own. They told the night manager that they just had something strange happen and he asked if the closet doors opened on their own and they said "yes." The manager said that this happens nearly every night and that this is Janis. The next morning they heard a knocking right in front of them on a cupboard in the kitchenette. It happened a second time too.

So Danny Bodaduce and his wife, Amy, stayed in Janis' room in 2019. Amy has a blog called The Clipboard of Fun and she wrote, "Earlier in the day, I had put a water bottle in the fridge. I went to get it several hours later and it was completely covered in slime. I’ve been in my share of skeezy Hollywood apartments (let’s not discuss my past) but I’ve never seen anything like this. I googled “slime paranormal activity” and it turns out this is a thing. I found a whole bunch of stuff about substances, like slime (ie “Slimer” from the Ghostbusters), denoting a spiritual presence. The other thing. Danny had situated himself in bed in a spot most conducive to watching TV. This left me in the predicament of either sleeping alone in the other bed or in the same bed but right next to the Janis death spot. What’s a girl to do? I was too spooked to sleep by myself but promised I wouldn’t, out of respect, touch or walk on the spot where she passed. So I was shaken when I woke up in the middle of the night with my right arm fully extended, hovering over the sacred spot." 

Janis had an incomparable talent. One can only imagine the heights she would've risen to had she not died so early. She lived life hard and fast and ended up dying alone in a hotel room. That's not how anyone wants to die. Is her spirit still here for that reason? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 618 - The Capitol Building

Moment in Oddity - Claire Sylvia Transplant Recipient (Suggested by: Tammie Burroughs)

In 1988, 47 year old professional dancer Claire Sylvia was dying from primary pulmonary hypertension. She required a heart-lung transplant. Her story gained international interest as she was the first person in New England to be a recipient of the procedure. Her donor was an 18 year old male that had passed away in a motorcycle accident. Post surgery Claire began to experience some unusual and uncharacteristic behaviors. She suddenly craved beer, chicken nuggets and green peppers. These were foods she had never liked before. Her energy levels heightened drastically which could have been due to the younger heart that she had received, but she also became much more assertive. Even her manner of walking changed, becoming heavier and more masculine in nature. Sylvia began having vivid dreams after her transplant. She dreamed of a tall young man whose name was Tim and his last name began with an L. In the dream Claire said,  "we kiss, and as we do I inhale him into me. It feels like the deepest breath I have ever taken. And I know at that moment the two of us, Tim and I, will be together forever. I woke up knowing - really knowing - that Tim L was my donor and that some parts of his spirit and personality were now in me." Eventually Claire was able to track down the family of her donor and Tim's family confirmed his love of the foods that she suddenly craved, as well as other new personality traits. Claire Sylvia chronicled her journey in her 1997 memoir, "A Change of Heart," which was later adapted into the TV movie 'Heart of a Stranger' starring Jane Seymour. Sylvia lived for 21 years after her transplant, becoming a prominent advocate for organ donation before passing away in 2009 at the age of 69. Surprisingly, her experience is not a unique one. There are many stories of transplant recipients taking on the characteristics of their donor's, but one can imagine, experiencing it personally, certainly would be odd.

The Capitol Building

The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. is the heart of our American government. Both houses of Congress meet here to pass the laws of the land. The building is over 200 years old and has changed through the decades. While this just seems to be a standard government building, there is a lot of symbolism connected to the structure and its location. And there were rituals too. Could that be why this is one of the most haunted buildings in Washington, D.C.? Join us for the history and hauntings of the Capitol Building.

The United States Capitol is no longer the geographic center of the national capital, but it is the center of the American government. The location was chosen on what is known today as Capitol Hill, but when Frenchman Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed the capital city, he called this Jenkins Hill. This was named for a man who had owned nearby pasture land, Thomas Jenkins. The tract where the actual Capitol would be built was owned by the Carroll family and they had called it Rome - kinda fitting. Thomas Jefferson would give Capitol Hill its name and was influenced by the Temple of Jupiter on Rome's Capitoline Hill. This was finally an opportunity for the government of the United States to have a set house for making laws or the Legislative Branch. Prior to this, representatives met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Federal Hall in New York City and other places in Maryland and New Jersey. L'Enfant originally called the building the Congress House and he secured quarries in Virginia to get stone for use in the foundation and outer walls of the Capitol. L'Enfant was dismissed from the project in early 1792 and so Thomas Jefferson proposed a design competition and this was won by an amateur architect named William Thornton in January of 1793. Thornton was actually a doctor from the British Virgin Islands. The design was praised for being simplistic, but also grand and beautiful. The architectural design was Neoclassical. 

(Record scratch) And here would be a good time to dig out our conspiratorial hats and talk about the Secret Society elements connected to the Capitol building and Washington, D.C. in general. The Capitol was placed in a very strategic spot. Many of the Founding Fathers were members of various secret societies and the Freemasons in particular. L'Enfant was as well and when he mapped out the future District of Columbia, he incorporated the symbols of masonry into that design. These include the square and compass and various geometric patterns like triangles, squares, circles, pentagrams and hexagrams. The Golden Ratio was used and the Capitol was built to represent a womb. The Washington Monument was the obvious phallic symbol to go with the womb and the structures sit across from each other. President George Washington was a Freemason and he lead a masonic ritual while laying the cornerstone for the Capitol. This ceremony took place on September 18, 1793 Several of the items used during this ceremony still exist today and continue to be used during the placement of foundation stones at other official buildings. Members of the Masonic lodges from Maryland, Virginia, Georgetown and Federal City joined Washington. A silversmith from Georgetown fashinoned a silver plaque and gave it to Washington to lay down on the corner before the cornerstone was placed. The plaque was inscribed with a tribute to Washington and dedication of the building in the "first year, of the second term, of the presidency of George Washington ... and in the year of Masonry 5,793." After the stone was laid, Washington struck it three times with a gavel as the gathered Masons chanted. Three Worshipful Masters presented sacrifices of corn, wine, and oil and a 15-gun salute followed to represent the 15 states at the time. An invocation was given and a 500 pound ox was sacrificed. There is more when we get to the interior of the Capitol.

Thornton served as the first architect of the Capitol, but his original plan was altered by French architect Stephen Hallet who had also sent in a design, but lost because his design was too elaborate. The commissioners brought Hallet onto the project as an act of goodwill, but this turned out to be really stupid. Hallet was jealous and spent most of his time obstructing and altering Thornton's design and the men fought often. This pushed building back and caused many delays and after investigating what was holding things up, Hallet was dismissed. 

White House architect James Hoban was brought on as the new supervisor. Two other architects, Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch, would eventually be brought on to help finish the project. The north wing, which is the Senate's side, was completed first in 1800 and so the House shared that for awhile in an area that was dubbed the "Oven." The south wing would be completed in 1811. The rotunda and dome were not done at that point. Something most people probably don't know is that the Capitol was used for Sunday church services in the early 1800s. The reason why the construction took longer on these wings is because early building was poorly done and within six years, plaster was already peeling, the roof was leaking and the floors were rotting, so everything on the interior had to be demolished and rebuilt. Benjamin Henry Latrobe had been brought in to do this because he had done a great job on the Supreme Court building and his creation of the vaulted, semi-circular ceiling in that building had not been done in America before. Latrobe would be responsible for much of what made up the interior including painting the walls and ceiling in blue and straw yellow, carvings and columns and velvet drapes were placed on the windows. He also shipped in mahogany furniture. Italian sculptors were offered three dollars a day to carve the capitals and frieze, which depicts an enormous eagle and allegorical figures of Liberty, Science, and Art. 

In 1814, the British destroyed all of the beautiful carvings in the Capitol when they fired cannon balls at the public buildings in Washington, DC. Residents' efforts to put out the fires were unsuccessful until the sky opened up with torrential rain. The Library of Congress inside the Capitol had been destroyed along with everything except a few walls that had been left blackened. 

There was a worry that the new government would decide to leave the burned district. President James Madison had also fled the district. Many wealthy people in the area had invested in land speculation around the new capital and they had vested interest in the government staying here, so they dug into their own pockets to begin the rebuild of Washington, D.C. President Madison hoped that the Capitol would be rebuilt in a couple years. The past laughed at his hopes and indeed, the Capitol took decades to come back due to labor disputes and work stoppages. Benjamin Latrobe had been called back for the rebuild and he eventually resigned over criticism after completing the north and south wings. The central part of the Capitol had still never been finished. This was when architect Charles Bulfinch of Boston was brought in and he realized that the President at the time, Monroe, and other politicians didn't understand the blueprints. So he built scale models. One of them had this immense dome over a Rotunda and Bulfinch wasn't crazy about this design. He tried to downplay it, but everybody loved it and even asked to have it enlarged. This was completed in 1830 and was bigger than any of the architects from Thornton to Bulfinch had ever wanted.  

Robert Mills became the Capitol Architect in 1836, while Andrew Jackson was President. Jackson realized that the Capitol was getting too small as more states were added to the country, bringing more representatives to D.C. He developed a plan to increase the size, but was dismissed by the next president, Millard Fillmore, who brought on Thomas U. Walter in 1851 and Walter would triple the size of the Capitol by the time he left in 1865. 

One thing he did was replace the Bulfinch dome with an even bigger one that was made from iron. This took some ingenuity to get in place considering there weren't things like cranes back then. The dome was placed on thirty-six Corinthian columns that represented the 36 states at the time. Interior craftsmanship was done by Italian artisans once again and this included the Chariot of History clock above the entrance of Statuary Hall, the Statue of Liberty in Statuary Hall, figures representing Peace and War at the entrance to the Rotunda and a carved relief of George Washington in the Rotunda. But the grandest artwork was completed by Constantino Brumidi on the interior of the Rotunda dome. Looking up inside the Capitol dome, visitors find the Apotheosis of Washington. It's a weird massive fresco covering the entire interior of the Capitol dome, which measures 4,664 square feet. The word Apotheosis means "raising someone to divine status" and that is what this is doing for President George Washington, raising him to the level of a god. This was completed in 1865 and depicts George Washington, draped in royal purple, ascending to the heavens as he is surrounded by allegorical scenes. These scenes are meant to reflect America's accomplishments in War, Science, Marine, Commerce, Mechanics, and Agriculture. The original 13 colonies are represented by female figures and Washington is flanked by Liberty wearing a Phrygian cap and Victory holding a palm branch. War is represented by the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, and cannons. Science is also represented by Minerva and she is joined by the inventors Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Morse and there is also an electric generator. Marine has Neptune and Venus with a telegraph cable. Commerce is represented by Mercury who is joined by merchants and Robert Morris. Mechanics has Vulcan standing at a forge with workers. Agriculture has Ceres with a cornucopia and a McCormick reaper for harvesting. 

New York artist Thomas Crawford created the Statue of Freedom that graces the top of the Capitol dome. The statue is made from bronze and stands nearly 20 feet tall and is a female that resembles Columbia, which is the personification of America. The statue holds a sheathed sword in its right hand and a laurel wreath of victory and the Shield of the United States in her left. Atop her head is a military helmut with stars and an eagle's head crowned with feathers. She faces the rising sun. Crawford also designed the beautiful bronze doors of the House wing and carved the figures on the east pediment of the Senate wing. 

Another piece of artwork added to the Capitol was also dripping in symbolism and very controversial. This was known as Enthroned Washington and was crafted by Horatio Greenough. The controversy came from the fact that President Washington was depicted half-naked seated on a throne. This 12-ton marble statue was inspired by Phidias' great statue of Zeus. The President is wrapped in a toga as if to look like a Roman emperor and he is pointing up the sky. Many people equate this position to depictions of Baphomet, the goat-headed occult icon and it really is quite similar. Washington holds a sheathed sword in his other hand. There was so much negative reaction to the sculpture that it was removed from the Rotunda and now is located at the National Museum of American History as part of the Smithsonian.

In 1961, an extension was added to the Capitol's midsection. A Capitol Visitor Center was built under the Capitol and finished in 2008. The dome was refurbished in 2016. Today, the Capitol building is the second-oldest public structure in D.C. and has 540 rooms throughout two wings. Office buildings were added over time and the entire complex encompasses two hundred acres. Tours are offered six days a week and are free. Exhibition Hall offers interactive exhibits and a virtual tour. The grounds are beautiful and were originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the mid-1870s.

Some interesting factoids about the Capitol include Samuel Morse sending the world's first telegraph message from it. President John Quincy Adams died of a stroke in Statuary Hall in 1848. Preston Brooks was a US representative in 1856 when he attacked Senator Charles Sumner and brutally beat him with his cane. What was the fight over? Slavery. Brooks supported it and Sumner opposed it. President Andrew Jackson was almost assassinated outside the east entrance in 1835. The Capitol has faced violence throughout the decades and has been damaged several times by fires, cannons and bombs. Perhaps that is why there are said to be ghosts here at the Capitol building. And you don't have to take our word for it. The Philadelphia Press wrote in October of 1898 that the Capitol is "the most thoroughly haunted building in the world." One reason for hauntings is connected to a legend about John Lenthall. He served as Benjamin Latrobe's Clerk of the Works. Lenthall was charged with building an archway, but it was a design he was unfamiliar with and when he removed the supports, the arch collapsed on top of him. This story is true. The legend part comes with his dying breath. He is said to have cursed the Capitol building. His spirit is said to hang out near the Old Supreme Court Chamber where that ceiling collapse happened. 

There is a ghost cat here, often referred to as the Demon Cat. The first sighting of it goes all the way back to 1862. Union soldiers were camping out in the Capitol at that time and some of them claimed to see this black cat that would grow to this huge size before pouncing on a victim. There are actual paw prints in the floor of the Capitol and no one knows where they came from and that is perhaps how this legend got started. When the cat appears, it usually signifies that a national tragedy is coming. The cat was seen before President Lincoln was assassinated, before the Stock Market crashed in 1929 and before President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. 

Bishop Sims was a barber who worked at a congressional barber shop located in the Capitol. This shop was eventually moved to the Russell Senate Building, but Sims worked there before that in the 1930s. Bishop was his nickname because he was very involved in his church. Everyone said he gave the best haircuts and President Calvin Coolidge tried to get him to come work at the White House, but Sims liked the Capitol, so he stayed there until his death in 1934. He used to hum hymns as he worked and his ghost is said to carry on humming hymns in the afterlife.

We mentioned earlier that President John Quincy Adams had a stroke in the Capitol and died. Adams had gone back to be a Representative after his term as President came to an end. There was a measure before the House to honor officers who served in the Mexican-American War when Adams died. He had been staunchly against the war because he believed it was an effort to expand slavery with a land grab. As the roll call vote came to Adams, he yelled "NO!", turned white and slumped over from a stroke. He was taken to the Speaker's Room where he died two days later. He was 80. People claim to see his spirit here and to hear his emphatic "NO" echoing through the halls. 

John A. Logan was an Illinois politician who became a Union Major Genera; during the Civil War. People called him the political general. He had key roles at both the battle of Vicksburg and Battle of Atlanta. Logan championed veterans' rights after the war and he issued the order that led to Decoration Day or what we now call Memorial Day. He served as a Senator and ran as a Vice-Presidential candidate with James Blaine in 1884. In 1886, he was stricken with a weird ailment just as Congress opened its session. Logan's arms swelled and his legs hurt and this lasted several days and then went away. It returned a few days later and doctors were stumped. All they could tell him was that he was going to die probably and he did a couple weeks later. Logan's body laid in state in the Capitol. His ghostly figure has been seen in the old Military Affairs Committee room. 

Our final known ghost here is said to belong to Congressman William Taulbee. Taulbee had represented Kentucky, but at the time of his murder, he was working as a lobbyist. A newspaper journalist named Charles Kincaid, wrote for the Louisville Times and he had a strained relationship with Taulbee. Their volatile relationship started in 1887 and for the next three years, the men traded insults with each other. It seems to have started with Kincaid reporting on Taulbee having an affair and this forced Taulbee to not seek re-election. Both worked in the Capitol often and were often heard arguing with each other. On February 28, 1890, the two men were again in a fight and it got so intense, House doorkeepers had to separate them. Taulbee told Kincaid that he better arm himself, basically threatening that he would kill the man. So Kincaid got a gun and when he met up later with Taulbee on the east staircase of the House Wing of the Capitol, he pulled out the gun and shot Taulbee who died a couple weeks later. The papers wrote, "For the first time in the memory of man a gunshot was heard in the National Capitol today, and the marble steps of the staircase leading from the House floor to the restaurant below were stained with human blood." Kincaid was acquitted on self defense. There are still blood stains on the stairs today. The former Congressman's ghost has been seen and people claim he likes to trip reporters, especially on these stairs. 

The Capitol Building has seen a lot of America's history in its time and has not only been witness to strife and victory, but it has been involved in nearly every federal law of the land. It would only make sense that such an important building would have its spirits. Is the Capitol Building haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 617 - Haunted Christmas Markets

This Month in History - The Birth of Fiorello H. LaGuardia

In the month of December, on the 11th, in 1882 future New York City mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia was born. His first name meant, 'the little flower' in Italian, which became his nickname. He was born to Italian immigrant parents in Greenwich Village, NY. Shortly after his birth, Fiorello's father enlisted in the army and the family left for various Army posts. From a young age Fiorello was interested in politics, becoming New York City's 99th mayor in 1934, serving three terms. Prior to that, he had served several terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although LaGuardia was a lifelong Republican, he was a progressive reformer who often ran on 'Fusion' tickets. He was supported by the American Labor Party and other leftist groups. LaGuardia successfully dismantled the powerful Tammany Hall political machine, replacing patronage jobs with a merit-based civil service system. During the Great Depression, Fiorello forged a close partnership with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, securing New Deal funding to revitalize New York City's economy and infrastructure. His massive infrastructure projects included the construction of the airport that bears his name, as well as the Triborough Bridge, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and many parks and playgrounds. LaGuardia also unified the city's transit system, built low-cost public housing and modernized the police force. Fiorello H. LaGuardia is commonly regarded by historians and scholars as the greatest mayor in New York City's history. 

Haunted Christmas Markets 

For those of us that like the creepy, Christmas is a time for ghost stories. This is also a time of markets and Europe is world famous for their Christmas markets. We thought it would be interesting to wander some of these markets and find out if anything is haunting them. While we didn't find any direct hauntings specific to these markets, there are buildings and locations near these markets that have spirits and legends connected to them. On this episode, we explore the history and nearby hauntings of several of the Christmas markets throughout Europe. 

Christmas had been on the brink of extinction due to the zeal of the Puritans and many credit Dickens and A Christmas Carol along with several other works by different authors for saving Christmas. A Christmas Carol reminded people of traditions that had been important to them in the past. Included in this was the tradition during the Victorian Era of telling ghost stories during the Christmas season. The practice actually goes back much further than the Victorian Era, but it was during that era that it became most popular. Dickens edited journals that specialized in ghost stories and while he didn't profess to believe in ghosts, he knew that people were very keen on them. So it made sense that his story of redemption at Christmas would contain the supernatural element of ghosts. And it also makes sense that ghost stories would pop up during the Winter because this is the time of the year when darkness takes over and the veil is thinner. British humorist Jerome K. Jerome wrote, “Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories. Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve, but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about specters.”  

History of Christmas Markets: Christmas Markets in Europe really got their start with open air Winter Markets, usually held in December, that featured meat, bread and things that would be more scarce through the rest of the winter. Duke Albrecht of Vienna authorized these 14-day fairs in 1296. There wasn't anything religious about these fairs. The Striezelmarkt (Street zel market) that started in 1434 is considered the first true Christmas market. This started under Friedrich II in Dresden and was held the Monday before Christmas. This mostly facilitated the sell of meat for the Christmas meal, which would be breaking the fasting period of Advent. This has grown to 240 stands today and most Christmas Markets have more than just food. There are handcrafts and toys and live entertainment with music and dance. When the markets opened in countries like Austria and Germany, they were called Christkindlmarket, which means Christ child market. The first of these was in Nuremburg in 1628. The markets continued to spread with German-speaking people into the countries of France and Italy.

Prague Christmas Market

Prague has two sites for Christmas markets: Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square, which are a five minute walk from each other. The squares comes alive with lights, traditional music and enormous Christmas trees and one of the specialties that can be found at various booths is trdelnik (Turtudneek), which is a traditional Czech chimney cake. This is also known as a spit cake, which is made from layers of dough wrapped around a stick that is baked and topped with a sugar and walnut mix. And just for a little synchronicity, this is also a traditional Moravian dish. The shopping and food booths are festively decorated wooden huts. Some of the unique foods available are carp fries, grilled klobasa (sausages), ham roasting on spits, smoked meat dumplings, local cheeses and Czech Christmas fish soup made from carp, vegetables, cream and brandy. The Christmas market runs from November 29 to January 6th in 2025. 

(Kelly) The Old Town Hall Tower has the best view of the market. Beneath the Old Town Hall are a bunch of corridors and underground chambers, which used to be used for storage. The Prague astronomical clock or Prague Orloj is here and it is said to carry a curse that dooms anyone who harms the clock or its maker. The Old Town Square itself held public executions, so people claim to see several ghostly figures in the square including a doomed nobleman and a headless knight. 

godhateskatherine an Reddit wrote, "While I was there I initially didn't feel much of anything. I was slightly uncomfortable by the idea of basements or anything underground - as I always have since I was a child. But as we ventured further into the corridors, and were told more information, I started to feel uneasy. More than usual. It felt like I was being watched intently, and closely. That feeling you get when your boss is watching over you. That sense of anxiety of it all. That combined with a sudden taste of metal in my mouth freaked me out. And I nudged one of my professors to see if I was alone in this experience. He simply said that he felt nothing. And told me not to make a fuzz out of it. So, I didn't. I kept quiet and ignored it. This was until we made it to the "dungeon" part of the tour. [In the 17th century, during the reign of the Habsburgs, the underground chambers were used as prison cells. Political prisoners and criminals were incarcerated there, enduring harsh conditions. The most infamous section of the underground is known as the "dungeon," where prisoners were held in cramped and dark cells.] And when I tell you, the instant sense of dread fell over me before the tour guide had even told me what the room was. The air felt heavier than normal, I started to shiver, and my apple watch was telling me that my pulse was getting too high and that I should sit down. And although it might be a mixture of all my prior nervousness, I kept seeing something out the corner of my eye. Not in the “there’s a person there” but in the “there is SOMETHING there”. Suddenly the feeling of uneasiness became a fully fletched panic attack. And I had to leave the tour prematurely. To this day I still don’t know whether or not it was just a reaction to being in the basement or if there was something more to it. It sure didn’t feel like “just a bit of childish panic”, it felt real. Like someone was constantly watching me, observing my every move. Making sure that I wasn’t making any mistakes or treading somewhere I wasn’t supposed to. I don't know if this was "just" me feeling uneasy, or if there was something more to it.

The Kinsky Palace also borders the market. The palace was finished in 1765, but that completion came at a high price, at least according to legend. The builders wanted the palace to be further into the square than the other buildings, which was against code. So the builders put up a wall while they built the foundation to make sure they weren't stopped. They noticed though that the foundation kept cracking. This happened for five days in a row. An old man managed to get past the wall and he was horrified to see the palace further into the square and he told the builders that they were building on the devil's ground and this is why the foundation cracked. He told them that he knew a way to fix the issue. They needed to kill a child and bury it in the foundation to please the Devil. The horrified builders said they would do no such thing, but after a couple more weeks of delay, they decided to get a young girl from an orphanage. She was killed and put in the foundation and it didn't crack anymore. Prague City Adventures wrote, "the first inhabitants moved in. In a very short period of time the first owner moved out and sold the building for a great loss. When the owner was asked why he sold he spoke of nights spent hearing a little girl cry. Little feet running down the hall only to stop if someone investigated. He said the worst night was just a few days before he decided to leave. He woke in the middle of the night to find a little girl in tattered clothing standing at the foot of his bed. He sold the building and moved away." 

Vienna Christmas Market

(Kelly) Vienna hosts dozens of Christmas markets. One is the Rathausplatz at the City Hall Square in front of the neo-Gothic Rathaus Building, which is the largest and most photogenic. There are usually around 150 stalls serving up Austrian crafts and food and the world famous Vienna Christmas punch. Mulled wine is popular too. The markets start mid-November and run through January 6th, except the Rathausplatz one ends December 26th in 2025. 

The other big market, Schonbrunn Palace Market, is in front of the Habsburgs' summer palace, which is also know as the Austrian Versailles. The Habsburgs were a royal dynasty from Switzerland that ruled over most of mainland Europe. They had a family ghost called The White Lady who was seen often in the Schönbrunn Palace. A unique thing about her is that she wears black gloves. The Hasburgs believed that when they saw her, someone was going to die in the family. People who work here claim to hear disembodied voices and they see shadow figures. The White Lady hasn't been seen much since the monarchy ended in 1918. The Schonbrunn Market hosts a New Years Market after Christmas. 

Edinburgh Christmas Market

(Kelly) This is said to be one of the most picturesque winter festivals in the UK and it is so popular that just last week, people were describing it as absolute hell because of the throngs of people there. This market started in 1999 on East Princes Street Gardens. These are two parks that are next to each other and run through the center of Edinburgh and were formed from the draining of Nor Loch. That needed to be drained because it was polluted with sewage on a regular basis. The parks are bordered with some magnificent buildings including the Royal Scottish Academy, National Gallery of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle. During the Christmas market, the parks are transformed not only into an open air market, but an amusement park with rides that include a 108 foot high Ferris Wheel. In more recent years, the market has expanded out onto George Street and there is an ice rink there. This year it runs from November 15, 2025 to January 4, 2026 from 10am to 10pm. 

Many ghost tours in Edinburgh focus on Old Town, where the Christmas Market is centered. People feel unsettled in the area. Just a quarter of a mile away from the park and the George IV Bridge stands the South Bridge. This bridge has a storied history connected to these vaults beneath it with tales of death, disease crime and body snatching. An apparition that seems connected to this is an entity nicknamed The Watcher, who is tall and big. Now, this doesn't mean that The Watcher is haunting the Christmas Market, but clearly there is spiritual residue in this area. To add more fuel to this, just a few feet away is Deacon Brodie's Tavern, which is a pretty haunted location. Apparently, this tavern is named for William Brodie who was the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Brodie was not only a deacon, but also a cabinet maker. And...a burglar. He had to finance his gambling addiction and mistresses after all. So this respected tradesman had a big secret. Brodie was the best locksmith in the town, so he was able to gain knowledge about his customers security measures and to make wax impressions of keys. Then at night he would be a thief. He even recruited people to help him in 1786. he was eventually found out, captured and executed in 1788. it was this facade of a bad guy hiding behind a respectable businessman that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson. This gentleman thief's spirit wanders near the tavern and thus may make appearances in the market. He is seen carrying a lantern and has rope marks on his neck.

Kraków Christmas Market 

(Kelly) The Krakow Christmas Market is known for pierogies and vodka and is one of the largest markets. It is located in Old Town Krakow in a square named Rynek Glowny (Rayneck Goovnee). The market runs from November 28 to January 1, 2026. Specialties at this market are Oscypek (Awsipeck) smoked cheese from Zakopane (Zakowpaanuh) served with cranberry preserves, hot vodka drinks and pretty crystal baubles. The market is ringed with eateries and beautiful architecture. The Town Hall Tower is 700 years old and it is slightly off-kilter. And there is the 1,000 year old stone St. Adalbert’s Church and St. Mary's Basilica. 

The oldest building here though may be the 13th century Gothic cloth center known as Sukiennice (Sookie nitzay). In its eave hangs the Knife of Rynek (Raynek). The knife is connected to St. Mary's, which has two towers that are two different heights. There is a legend as to why the towers have different heights. It has to do with two brothers. They were entrusted to build the towers and they would display their skill with each tower. The younger brother's tower rose faster and the older brother became jealous. He grabbed a knife and killed his brother in a jealous rage. The older brother was haunted at night by visions of his brother and the guilt overwhelmed him. He ended up plunging the same knife into his own heart and then he jumped off his tower. That is the knife that now hangs in the Cloth Hall. St. Mary's Church plays the notes of a trumpet call that ends abruptly in remembrance of the sentry who warned the city of attack, but was shot in the throat while sounding the call to arms. That trumpeter's ghost is said to haunt the church.  

Strasbourg Christmas Market

Strasbourg Cathedral borders the Strasbourg Christmas Market in Alsace (Al sass), France. The cathedral is Romanesque in architecture and construction on it began in 1015. A new effort was launched in 1190 and the cathedral was completed in 1439. Much of it was constructed from reddish-brown sandstone. The Cathedral has been through much upheaval, revolutions, religious fights and war damage. Much of the war damage wouldn't be fixed until the early 1990s. We would be remiss if we didn't mention that the Cathedral had an al-Qaeda bomb plot against it in 2000 and that there was a shooting at the Christmas market in 2018 that killed five people. Obviously, that is scary, but there are also hauntings here. It isn't surprising that their are spirits connected to the Cathedral since the place can be quite chilling. The Cathedral has some creepy visuals. The stained-glass windows feature scary monsters and demonic looking creatures. There are demons shown tempting saints, dancing around sinners who are burning and some creatures are even dancing from men's mouths. Obviously, churches were going with the same idea here as parents with their children at Christmas: scare them into being good, so they get good stuff. So imagine the priest up at the pulpit giving a fiery sermon and you glance over to the window and see this nightmare frozen in glass and boom! You are going to be a good person. Imagine this time with the Black Death, witch hunts and then the church is telling you and showing you all about hell. It's no wonder this Cathedral is haunted and this pours out over into the market area nearby. 

(Kelly) And speaking of those witch hunts. There is a legend that claims a woman accused of witchcraft was burned at the stake here and she haunts the Cathedral and this might possibly spill over into the market area. Visitors feel cold spots and hear disembodied whispers and screaming. But she isn't alone. The Devil is said to have been trapped here. There is an astronomical clock and the story goes that a sculptor lured the Devil into the Cathedral and trapped him in the clock. When the winds storm outside, it is said that this is the Devil struggling to escape. So if it gets a bit breezy at the market, maybe you should head home. There are also tales that the Cathedral's architect haunts the place with his apparition being seen. 

Zagreb Christmas Market 

The Zagreb Christmas Market is in Croatia and is another one known for its beauty and usually referred to as Advent Zagreb. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia. The main market is based in Ban Jelačić Square. This square is in the center of Zagreb and was founded as a marketplace in 1641 in a plain that was near a spring. The buildings around the square date back to the 18th century. Goods were brought in by carts and sold here until 1858. Shortly before that, the square was renamed Ban Jelačić (Bahn Yeh lah chich) Square in honor of Ban Josip Jelačić (Bahn Yosip Yeh lah chich). A sculpture of him on a horse was placed in the square in 1866. This was contrvertial to some and particularly to Hungarians, who saw Jelačić (Yeh lah chich) as a traitor. For a time it was removed and the square was called Republic Square, but in the 1990s, the square was returned to its earlier name and the statue was returned to the square as well. During Advent, the square is adorned with Christmas trees and lights. It won “Best Christmas Market in Europe” three years in a row. Like other cities with markets, there are several in Zagreb, at least seven. These kicked off on November 29th. The Stone Gate is near the Christmas markets in Upper Town and there are legends connected to them. There have been times when the city has tried to tear down the gates, but anyone who makes an attempt to do that dies. And usually in an unexplainable way. While that might lead some to call it cursed, this has become a place of prayer. People will light candles and pray at the gate. 

(Kelly) There is a real reason for that though. In 1731, nearly everything in Zagreb was destroyed in a huge fire which burnt down almost everything except the gate and the image of the Mother of God, which was owned by the Modlar widow. Believers dubbed the gates the Shrine of Our Lady of the Stone Gate and people believe these gates protect the city in a supernatural way. Also, not far from Ban Josip Jelačić (Bahn Yosip Yeh lah chich) is Park Gric (Greetch). The park was built over a graveyard and has been prone to sightings of shadowy figures. 

Bruges Christmas Market

The Bruges (Broozh) Christmas Market in Belgium is part of the Winter Glow festival and runs from Nov. 21 to Jan. 4th in 2025. This is hosted in the Market Square and features an ice rink, a light trail through illuminated streets, festive chalets and booths with handcrafts and food treats like hot chocolate and Belgian waffles. The market today is a revived festival that originally dates back to the 19th century. This had been a mighty city during medieval times, but lost its prominence so much that it was dubbed the dead city or Bruges-la-morte. The most famous ghost story shared about the market is about a monk who had fallen in love with a nun during the 15th century, The nun loved him, but she refused to turn on her vows of celibacy and to leave her work as a nun. After repeated attempts to get her to marry him, the monk flew into a rage and killed the nun. He buried her body in the tunnels of Bruges. And now a ghostly nun is seen walking through the Market area. 

Tallinn Christmas Market 

(Kelly) The Tallinn Christmas Market is located in Estonia and it is truly a magical market. A lit up little train, tours people around the booths that encircle the center piece of a giant Christmas tree. The market has been held in Town Hall Square since 1441. The town claims that their Christmas tree was the first one to be put on display in Europe. Food offerings include black pudding, sour cabbage, gingerbread cookies and hot Christmas drinks. The Town Square is part of Tallinn's Old Town and this area is considered very haunted. 

Just a short walk from the Square is Rataskaevu 16, which hosts the most famous legendary story in Tallinn. The owner of this house had fallen on hard times and he was desperate. A stranger came to his door and asked if he could host a party in the upper left room of the house. He told the owner that he would give him a bag of gold in return. The owner agreed and when the stranger said he needed privacy, the owner agreed to that as well. The invited guests all came and went up to the little rented room. This was a lot of people. The owner of the house began to wonder how it was possible that all these people could fit into the room. His curiosity got the best of him and he forgot about honoring privacy. He snuck up to the room and looked through the keyhole of the door. The owner was shocked to see that a wedding was going on, but he was even more shocked by what he saw when looking at the feet of everyone. They had hooves rather than feet. His hair turned shock white from fear. The guests all had horns too. The Devil himself was the groom. The owner ran downstairs and hid until the next morning. When the rooster crowed, all the guests rushed out of the house and disappeared into the early morning fog. The owner continued to hide, but by noon, he had worked up his courage to go to the room. He found his bag of gold left behind, but when he opened it, the contents turned to dung. This room is now said to be the Devil's Room and he continued to visit it. Some other owners eventually walled up the room. 

Bratislava Christmas Market 

The Bratislava (Bra tus lava) Christmas Market is hosted in Slovakia's Old Town in the Main Square. There are wooden stalls offering food and crafts, festive lights, local singers and music. The market runs from Nov. 27th to Jan. 6th in 2025. Michael's Gate is the only remaining medieval gate in the town and right at the edge of Bratislava's Old Town and a short walk from the Main Square. A small building next to the gate had been the home of the executioner who was said to be a very cruel man. His victim's spirits seem to have been trapped at the executioner's house. Strange noises have been reported coming from the house and lights flicker. A shadow figure has been seen in an upstairs window. Also right near the Main Square is the Primate's Palace. This is home to the Screaming Well. This old well has been beautifully restored and during the restoration, a worker fell into the well and died. His spirit is still in the well and his screams are heard coming from it on occasion. This usually happens around dawn. 

Salzburg Christkindlmarkt 

The Salzburg Christkindlmarkt is probably the wildest Christmas market in Europe. Two of the reasons for this are the Krampus Runs and these weird figures that join the Christ Child parade through the streets. They wear scary masks, carry thick rods and ring bells. It's all pretty scary, especially for kids. This Christmas Market dates back to the late 15th century and was originally called the “Tandlmarkt” offering goods through the Advent season. In the 17th century, this became the St. Nicholas Market or “Nikolaimarkt.” Today, the markets are located in several parts of the city of Salzburg, but the main market is at Residenzplatz (Reh-zee-DENTS-plahtz) and Domplatz (DOHM-plahts) in the historic center near the Salzburg Cathedral and features baked goods, mulled wine and handcrafted items. The market begins mid-November and runs through to New Years Day. There is a legend of a witch that haunts the area near a Salzburg Christmas Market that is located by the Hohenwerfen (Hoe when verfen) Castle. She is seeking vengeance and this is because she was executed at the castle. And indeed, the castle hosted witch trials and executions. Catholic and Protestant communities were holding witch hunts and pogroms for several centuries, ending in the early part of the 18th century. Most of those who ended up tortured and killed were young men. The most famous of those who were sought in Salzburg was Sorcerer Jackl. Jackl was Jakob Koller, the 20-year-old son of a woman named Barbara Koller. She was a butcher of animals, which was not the most popular job in town. She was arrested in 1675 after being accused of stealing from an offertory box from a church in Golling. Barbara was then accused of practicing withcraft and under torture she said her son Jakob was also a witch. She was executed, but Jakob ran and was never apprehended and legends claimed that this was because he turned himself into a wolf when he needed too and that he had formed a protective circle of child beggars to protect him. This fired off more witch hunts and when this particular time ended, 167 people had died. 

(Kelly) And since we are talking witches, we have to mention Frau Perchta (Frow (like ow) Pair shta). She is a very popular legend in Salzburg and people costumed as her are seen at the market. Perchta is described as looking like a decrepit old crone, who wanders Salzburg in the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany? Frau Perchta likes to disembowel people and fill them with stones. 

Nothing oozes the Christmas spirit more than a Christmas Market. These have been a tradition for centuries. They are hosted in cities with centuries of history. It's no wonder that many of them have ghost stories that are near them. Are these Christmas Markets haunt adjacent? That is for you to decide. 

HGB Ep. 616 - Heceta Head Lighthouse

Moment in Oddity - Book Wheel (Suggested by: Michael Rogers)

Many of us love nothing more than snuggling up with a good book, especially in the fall when there is a bit of a chill in the air. With the busy, chaotic world that we currently live in, having that time to delve into a novel can be difficult to come by. Back in 1588, there was a unique invention created by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli. His invention was the book wheel. The book wheel consisted of a large rotating wooden wheel with individual stands upon which books could be placed. A person sitting in front of the wheel had the ability to rotate it to locate the next book they wished to read without ever leaving their chair. The book wheel looked very similar to a water wheel. Often, the book wheel was used when a reader was studying a particular subject and wished to reference multiple books on the same topic. To keep the rotating books at a consistent angle, gears were installed on each shelf to counter rotate at the same rate as the entire wheel. The book wheel weighed in at a whopping 600lbs and could hold approximately 8 books. Although the mechanics behind the book wheel were quite impressive, a 600lb rotating bookcase, certainly is odd.

Heceta (Ha see tah) Head Lighthouse

Lighthouses are literally a light in the darkness. Many have been located in remote places and all of them are located in areas that have suffered shipwrecks. Families living at lighthouses faced struggles and sometimes death. The Heceta Head Lighthouse is no different. Today, it has been turned into a bed and breakfast with beautiful views and at least one ghost. A legend claims that a young girl drowned here and her mother has returned in the afterlife, looking to find her. Join us for the history and hauntings of the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

The human history for Florence, Oregon begins with the Siuslaw (sigh you slaw) people who settled here more than 9,000 years ago. European settlers would arrive in the 1800s and they would fish and log and eventually set this up as a maritime port. Florence was incorporated in 1893 and there are two stories about how it got its name. One is that it was named for a shipwreck that occurred nearby and the other is that it was named for state senator A.B. Florence. One of Florence's odd claims to fame, we covered as a Moment in Oddity in 2020: the Exploding Whale Park. A large dead sperm whale was found putrefying on the beach in 1970 and this posed a real health issue. Officials needed to move it, but the whale was too large to be moved. Officials came up with a great idea that proved to be a poorly thought out solution. Why not dynamite the thing? And that is just what they did on November 12, 1970. The whole town came out to watch. And many of them probably wished that they hadn't because when the dynamite blew, bits of whale were everywhere. It slammed into the local laundromat and other buildings in the area, a large chunk of blubber crushed a car roof and everyone in attendance got a gory shower of blood and blubber. One would think a city would not want to commemorate this moment in history, but Florence did. On June 13, 2020, a new park was dedicated with a name that residents voted for in huge numbers. That name was Exploding Whale Memorial Park. Something else that Florence is known for are Rhododendrons. They grow along Highway 101 and throughout the town. The science fiction book and movie Dune were inspired by the majestic dunes of Florence. And apparently there was an accidental ban on sex in the town back in 1977. The Florence City Council approved a poorly-worded ordinance on November 26, 1977 that stated that it was illegal to have sex "while in or in view of a public or private place." They really just wanted to prevent public, you know...and eventually amended the ordinance. 

It is said that the location of the Heceta Head Lighthouse was a magical place, sitting 150 feet above the sea on a bluff. The name Heceta comes from Don Bruno Heceta who was part of the Royal Spanish Navy and he was sailing from Mexico to the Arctic Circle. The ship made it as far as Oregon when Heceta decided to turn around because his men were suffering from scurvy. He mapped out the headland before leaving Oregon and it was named for him. There was a dark gap between the Umpqua River and Heceta Head, so the Lighthouse Board commissioned building the lighthouse in 1888. 

A seven-mile wagon road was built between the site of the lighthouse and the public highway. Construction began in 1892 and rock was quarried from the Clackamas River near Oregon City. Lumber was provided by local mills and masonry came from San Francisco. Along with the 56-foot tall lighthouse, a barn, oil houses and dwellings were built. The light was lit for the first time on March 30, 1894. The first-order Fresnel lens was made in Birmingham, England, which was unusual since most were made in France. The Heceta Head lens has 640, two-inch-thick prisms, arranged in eight bull’s-eye panels, and revolves to produce brilliant white flashes. The first head keeper was named Andrew P.C. Hald and he had served previously at the Cape Mears Lighthouse. Hald had been born in Denmark in 1856. When he was fourteen, he took to the sea as a cabin boy aboard a full-rigged sailing ship. When he grew tired of being on the sea, he decided he would like to join the Lighthouse Service. His first job came in 1888 and he served as third assistant keeper of Cape Flattery Lighthouse. The following year he became the first assistant. He also lost his nine-year-old son that year when he drowned at the island station. Then Hald was sent to Cape Meares and then on to Heceta Head Lighthouse. He served five years at Heceta Head. 

The crews changed often at Heceta Head. A one-room schoolhouse was built for the children of the keepers in 1896. One of the keepers named Frank DeRoy told his son that students used kerosene cans to store their books, so that rats wouldn't eat them. 

In 1896, a Norwegian man named Olaf Hansen came to Heceta Head as first assistant keeper. Just like Hald, he left home at 14-years-old for the sea. His wife Annie joined him and the couple had six children and homesteaded. Olaf was promoted and sent to another lighthouse in 1903, but Annie chose to stat at their homestead. He would come back to Heceta Head the following year and would remain there until 1920. One of the Hansen daughters later recalled an incident with Thomas E. Alexander, who was appointed second assistant in 1912. She said, "There was one weirdo came in as an assistant here, Mr. Alexander. Mr. Alexander had a horse and one time he lassoed and threw that horse, tied his four legs together and sat on the hillside and threw rocks at that horse. We went and told our Dad, of course, what he had done. He reported it to headquarters, but he had to wait a week for the mail to go back and forth. Many times during that week, my dad and the other assistant would not go to the tower alone. They went up together because they were afraid of that man." 

When it came to the houses, the head keeper had the house closest to the lighthouse. The other house was duplex with the higher ranking assistant keeper being the next closest to the lighthouse. The chandeliers in the duplex reflected status as well with the first assistant having five bulbs in the chandelier and the second assistant had four bulbs. The head keeper had six bulbs in his chandelier. 

The keepers were responsible for manually winding the clockworks that powered the revolving lens every four hours. First shift began at sunset and ended at midnight. Second shift was from midnight to sunrise. The other keeper would be off. The keepers got every third night off. The watch room had a wood stove and a leather arm chair for comfort. Days were spent cleaning the lantern glass, polishing brass fittings, trimming wicks and filling the lamp reservoir. The npshistory website had this tidbit about the keeper's wives, "The Heceta Head women were fanatical window washers and cupboard cleaners, for the constant threat of a visit from lighthouse inspectors hung over their heads. These inspectors paid a surprise visit to the station once a year. They not only toured the tower and inspected lighthouse machinery, they also entered the houses and eyed cupboards, window sills and wood work. The more fastidious inspectors donned white gloves and ran their fingers atop sills and doors. Despite such stringent checks, few women were reprimanded for their housekeeping, although one was "cited" for a dirty laundry room because she had been sorting clothes into piles when the inspector came in, unannounced."
 
There was an accident near the lighthouse on the evening of March 25, 1927. A man named Frederick Huntington fell from an eighty-foot cliff above Sea Lion Caves to the rocks below and broke his leg. Head keeper Clifford B. Hermann and second assistant keeper Charles F. Walters hiked two miles to the spot and Hermann rappeled down a rope and set the man's leg, lashed him to a board and helped haul him up the cliff. All the keepers were commended for their work.

A garage and power plant was added to the station in 1934 and this electrified it. A 500-watt bulb replaced the incandescent-oil-vapor lamp and changed the light from a white flash every minute to a white flash every ten seconds. Electricity was added to the keeper's houses too. The addition of the electricity lead to the second assistant keeper position being eliminated. The bigger single dwelling house was razed and only the duplex was left. A coastal patrol was stationed at Heceta Head during World War II. Barracks were erected for the seventy-five coastguardsmen. The commanders stayed in the duplex. Clifford Hermann would be the station’s last civilian keeper and he retired in 1950. Full automation came in 1963. When the lens developed a bad lean, the Coast Guard proposed deactivating the lens, but the public shared their dissatisfaction with that so the Coast Guard opted to repair it. The lens eventually stopped in 2000 and was removed and replaced and reactivated in 2001. With automation, keepers were no longer needed, so the duplex was leased by Lane Community College. In 1995, the duplex became a Bed and Breakfast that serves up a seven-course gourmet breakfast. There are six rooms for rent. The house is a Queen Anne style house with a red roof and a white picket fence. The interior is themed turn-of-the-twentieth-century and there are black-and-white photos of former lighthouse keepers and their families. The people chosen to be the first innkeepers in 1995 were Mike and Carol Korgan. They started the restoration. When they retired, their daughter Michelle took over everything. 

There were two nearby natural structures of interest that no longer exist. The Heceta Head State Scenic Viewpoint used to be called Devils Elbow State Park. Within this area was Conical Rock or Parrot Rock. There was a divide here that people had to cross, by walking onto a rock next to Conical Rock. During low tide, this wasn't usually a problem, but at high tide, the tidal action was unpredictable. Currents could change up without warning. From the 1970s to the 1980s, seven people drowned here trying to get over the divide. This could be a reason for hauntings. Anyway, the Oregon State Parks Division and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife made a plan to blow up a six feet by six feet section of rock. These people clearly like blowing up stuff. Now there is a big gap there, but no more drownings. The other natural structure was called the Eye of the Needle and was a rock arch at the southern end of the Devils Elbow Beach. It seems to have just disappeared in the 1930s from natural erosion. 

You really can't talk about lighthouses without talking about shipwrecks. These could be another reason for hauntings at a lighthouse. Clearly, the point of a lighthouse is to prevent the shipwreck. Many times, it was the amount of shipwrecks that decided what locations needed a lighthouse. And unfortunately, even after these lighthouses were built, there were still shipwrecks. One of the deadliest wrecks in this area, happened on November 4, 1875. This was the S.S. Pacific with 250 people on board and 600 tons of cargo. Some of that cargo was gold worth millions of dollars. The ship was doomed from the beginning of its voyage having left late from San Francisco and there weren't enough lifeboats on board. The cargo was loaded poorly too and the ship was tilting to the right side. So the crew filled the left side with water to even everything out. Eventually the ship tilted the other way and the water was removed. And we should probably mention that the Pacific had sunk once before and been repaired and was definitely past her prime. So on November 4th at 4pm, the Pacific had passed the Cape Flattery Lighthouse on Washington’s Tatoosh Island and was headed south into the Pacific Ocean. Several hours later, at 10pm, the Quartermaster, Neil Henley, was awakened by a loud crash and he saw water rushing into the ship. The Pacific had struck an 1,100 ton square-rigger named the Orpheus. Charles Sawyer was the captain of the Orpheus and he had just retired for the evening when he felt the ship turn dramatically to the port bow, so he went up to see what was going on. His first officer told him that he had seen a beam of light that he assumed was coming from the lighthouse and he turned according. The light wasn't from the lighthouse, but from the Pacific. Captain Sawyer stopped his ship and assumed the Pacific would change course, but it didn't. The Pacific blew her whistle and gave the Orpheus a glancing blow. But that strike was enough to leave the Pacific in grave danger as it wasn't structurally sound. The lifeboats couldn't be launched fast enough and the Pacific split in two. She sunk quickly killing everybody aboard the Pacific, except for two people. 

The nps history site wrote, "Despite the inclusion on the National Register, Heceta House gained public recognition not as a historic site, but as a 'ghost house.'" Henry and Anne Tammen became caretakers in 1973 and they were the first to report strange things. It started with noises they couldn't explain and they figured that this is an old house, there are strong winds outside, there are explanations for the noises. But the haunting ramped up. One night, the couple had another couple over to play cards. The game was interrupted by a high pitched scream. Some mornings, the Tammens would enter the kitchen to find several cupboard open. And then this really weird thing happened. They had put rat poison in the attic and one day they found it gone and in its place was a single silk stocking. 

The Tammens were caretakers when the school rented the buildings and so students were often on the property. Two students were on the porch one day when they claimed to see something gray ascend the porch steps. This gray thing was like a puff of smoke that floated, but it was long, like a human form. Most people attribute the paranormal at the bed and breakfast to one spirit, a spirit they have called Rue. There is no proof that there was ever a Rue at the lighthouse, but the legend goes that she was a former lighthouse keeper's wife and the couple lost their daughter to drowning at the lighthouse. We're not sure how Rue passed away, but because she is still broken-hearted, she has returned to the lighthouse to find her daughter. She mainly haunts the duplex where she supposedly had once lived. Her apparition has been seen floating in the halls, she takes guests belongings, rearranges furniture in the attic and knocks on the walls. Some students from Lane Community College are credited with coming up with Rue's name and this came from them using a Ouija board. Guests at the bed and breakfast are invited to record their experiences in journals in each room. Some stories talk about the weird knocking on the walls and another claimed to see the ghost of Rue sitting in a chair. 

One story claims that a worker named Jim Anderson was cleaning a window in the attic in 1975 when Rue appeared to him. It scared him so bad that he fled the house. He did come back a couple days later, but he refused to go into the attic again. He later was working outside the attic and broke a window and he repaired it from the outside, leaving the broken glass in the attic because he was that afraid to enter. When someone went up to clean up the glass, they found it swept into a neat pile. Other workmen had experiences too. Their tools would go missing and then they would reappear later where they were supposed to be. Things locked with padlocks would be found unlocked. 

Jessi Bunch wrote for PDX Monthly in August of 2024, "We also swapped Rue reports. The young woman staying next to us said she’d heard furniture moving. An older man mentioned the bang of a door downstairs. His wife said she’d had to take a Tylenol PM and was ready to leave. As we packed our bags in our room, the bathroom lights started to strobe. My dubious husband blamed old wiring. I’m not so sure." LordXenu23 wrote on Reddit, "My parents lived in the keepers house for a year in the mid 70's, before I was born. My brother told me he saw the ghost on a couple of occasions." The general manager in 2019, Misty Anderson, told KVAL13, "We make the beds, and then someone sits on it and there's an indentation like she's sitting there looking out the window. There was one lady that sat here in the middle of the day, and I was here, and said she watched the woman just float down this hall way like she was going to go out the front door, but there was not really anyone there." There are those who claim to hear conversations so is there more than one ghost here?

The lighthouse protected ships for years from danger. Does the property now harbor a ghost? Is the Heceta Head Lighthouse haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 615 - Haunted Placerville, California

This Month in History - Chunnel Breakthrough

In the month of December, on the 1st in 1990, the chunnel breakthrough occurred. Soon after 11am on that date, 132 feet below the English Channel, a hole was drilled through sedimentary rock, large enough to drive a vehicle through. This hole was a link between two ends of an underwater railway tunnel. For the first time the Chunnel linked Great Britain with the European mainland. It took nearly four years and 13,000 workers to dig 95 miles, approximately 150 feet below the seafloor. Once the project was to be completed, the Chunnel would consist of 2 rail tracks going in opposite directions, as well as a service tunnel. The Chunnel connected Folkestone, England to Calais, France.  After the connection was made in December of 1990, the completion of the tunnel took an additional four years, first opening for passenger travel on May 6th, 1994. Of the 31 miles that the shuttle train runs, 23 of them are underwater, taking approximately 20 minutes from point to point.  As of 2025, the Chunnel remains the longest undersea railway in the world.  

Haunted Placerville, (Pla like plaster) California

Placerville is one of these California towns that got its start during the Gold Rush. This was a rough and tumble Wild West place also known as Hang Town. The Cary House Hotel was built to accommodate people coming in for the Gold Rush and was the jewel of Placerville. The hotel is believed to be quite haunted and there could be several reasons why. The Odd Fellows were strong in this town and met at the hotel. And there were two deaths there. But it isn't the only haunted location. Several buildings have spirits. Join us for the history and hauntings of Placerville, California.

Gold was found in Sutter's Mill, California in 1848. Placerville would grow up near it after gold was found there as well. The name was Dry Diggin's at first because miners moved cartloads of soil through water to separate out the gold. Like all gold mining towns, this one was rough and tumble. Murders and robberies were common in the camps and strikes were stolen. A year later, it was more commonly known as Hangtown because three men, two Mexicans and a white man, were hanged for robbery without a trial. Placerville would become the new official name in 1854 and was inspired by placer gold deposits. Placerville quickly filled with stores, banks and lodging and was considered a central hub for the Mother Lode region. An early branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad helped with the growth. A wooden hotel was built in the 1840s where the Cary House Hotel would stand and it was called the El Dorado. The hotel also sold supplies and was a Gold Exchange. This burned down in 1849. The town of Placerville would actually burn three times by 1856. They put up a fire bell on a tower in 1878 to help with warning people and this bell still stands today. The builder of the Cary House Hotel was an East Coast businessman named William Cary. This was his first venture into business on the West Coast. Because of the fires, Cary made sure to construct his hotel out of red brick and it was completed in 1857. This was three-stories and done in the Italianate and Second Empire architectural styles and the interior featured 77 rooms, bathrooms on every floor with hot and cold running water and stained-glass artwork in the lobby. But there was no heat. A few wood stoves were all that the hotel had.  In 1911, the Raffeto family purchased the hotel and owned it for 68 years. They decided to add a basement to the hotel and as they were digging, they found a cache of gold dust and gold nuggets. This gave them the opportunity to add a fourth floor and they added steam heat. The hotel was renamed The Raffles Hotel during this time. In 1926, an elevator was added and this is the second oldest running elevator west of the Mississippi. The family sold the hotel in 1979 and the name went back to the Cary House Hotel.

When the rich and famous came to California to visit, they stayed at the Cary Hotel. These people included President Ulyssess S. Grant - who was an Odd Fellow and that may have attracted him to Placerville - John Studebaker, Mark Twain - who used to write for the Mountain Democrat in Placerville - Bette Davis, Elvis Presley, Levi Strauss, Horace Greeley, Brooke Shields and Lou Diamond Phillips. Phillips' film Route 666 from 2001 was filmed at the hotel. Placerville has had quite a few movies filmed there - particularly horror. The Invited was filmed there in 2010. The Cary House Hotel still features its original 1850s woodwork and bricks. The interior was renovated with expansion of rooms and adding of bathrooms, so now there are only 40 rooms available and many of them are suites with kitchenettes. The lobby also has display cases with artifacts from the hotel. This is wine country, so the theming is very much centered on that. But the third floor rooms are named for famous guests like the Studebaker Room and Mark Twain Room. The current owner is Vijay Patel and the hotel is part of the Lexington Collection.

The Cary House Hotel is said to be haunted and it gets so bad with the activity that employees have quit because of it. One year, the hotel had 11 employees quit because they couldn't take the activity anymore. The hotel rooms all have journals for guests to record their experiences. One housekeeper claimed that shortly after she started working there, she was poked really hard from behind when in a room on the second floor and when she turned around, no one was there. Many people have complained about being poked or grabbed by something unseen. The General Manager Josh claimed that he wasn't really a believer in the paranormal, but he had heard enough stories from guests and employees that he became a believer. He said, "These guests came down and told us that they were pulled out of their bed and that's actually been a common occurrence here. People freak out and decide not to stay here. When people get pulled out of bed, it is always the same room on the second floor. That's where most of the haunted activity actually takes place." 

There are several spirits here, but two of them are the most prominent: Stan the bellhop and Irish Dick. Now it seems that Stan was a flirty guy, which could get him in trouble and it actually lead to his death. One day, he flirted with the fiance of a guest and that guest had a knife. He stabbed Stan to death on the stairs and Stan toppled all the way to the bottom, where a pool of blood formed beneath him. 

Irish Dick's real name was Richard Crone and he was a gambler. He liked to gamble at the hotel that stood before the Cary House Hotel and one night, he had a dispute over a monte game. It was about 2am and he stabbed to death the man with whom he had the disagreement. He ran off to a bar where he was captured at 8am. The Mountain Democrat reported, "The news of the murder spread like wildfire in the neighboring canyons, ravines and flats, and by 1 p.m. there were in Hangtown, fully 2,000 angry men, everyone armed with something that would hurt, from a pick-handle to a rifle. The farce of a preliminary examination was allowed to be gone through with before Justice of the Peace Humphreys in the middle of the street. The evidence was brief, and the Judge ordered Dick committed to the custody of the Sheriff (Uncle Billy Rogers) [William Rogers], and Alexander Hunter and John Clark, Constables, to be placed in the county jail at Coloma, the then county seat of El Dorado county. The Judge had scarcely made the order when a lariat was thrown over Dick's head, and he was literally dragged along Main street and up Coloma street to an oak tree. The loose end of the lariat was thrown over a limb of a tree and Dick was pulled up and strangled to death. One of the principal leaders of the move was a large, powerful man, who bore the sobriquet of “Dutch Ben.” 

Stan likes the ladies still in the afterlife and occasionally touches them. One woman claimed that she entered her room and locked the door. Then she decided to go out on the balcony and after she stepped out, she heard the door close and lock from the inside. When she turned, she saw the apparition of a bell hop who waved at her. She was locked out, so had to call down to people on the street for help. There was no employee in the hotel who matched the description of the bell hop. Stan likes to crank the stereo too down at the bar. The stereo will shutoff when the bartender yells for Stan to knock it off. Even though Irish Dick had never been in this actual hotel, he seems to be haunting the ballroom. And a female ghost that smells like lavender has been experienced.

Katrina and Jack visited the hotel and stayed overnight during Season 2 of Portals to Hell. They decided to set up some trigger objects in the ballroom. They put cards on the table and an empty bottle of alcohol. They had a GeoPort and when they asked if Irish Dick wanted a drink, they got a "no." They took the bottle cap half off the whiskey and were hoping that it would get tossed because they had been told by the manager that this had happened once to him. Then they felt something under their feet like a bang coming from under the floor. This would be in the basement, so they went down there. Jack went down and asked if he could join the Odd fellows. Then he felt an extreme cold chill around him. he actually shivered because of it. Katrina and Jack invited Psychic Medium Michelle Belanger to join them and she walked through blindfolded, picking up on a distinguished looking gentleman in what she thought was a ballroom (maybe Irish Dick), rituals in the basement and blood at the bottom of the main stairs. Michelle said that they would have practiced some kind of ritual, they would have been practicing some sort of magic and what they were doing might have gotten out of hand. There might have been some things that happened here that weren't supposed to happen here in regards to the types of rituals they did and if that's the case, what doors did they open?" Katrina asked if she thought there was a portal there and Michelle thought the basement had one. She said, "I can tell you that over time if you were doing things like that, it changes the fabric of the space and makes it more conducive for spirit activity. One of the purposes of running rituals is to thin the veil, which is basically making a portal. 

Romero was a longtime worker at the hotel and he told YouTuber Jack Devan in October of this year, some of his experiences. He said, "One time, I think it was probably like 9:00, 9:30 or 10 the most. I was coming down from the third floor and as soon as I step out of the elevator, I heard this loud scream. It was loud like those horror movies when they're chasing the girl and they're going to stab her...so I looked through the window. No one was there. And then I heard like big steps running from this room right here, all the way towards the front. So followed that sound and there was a lady and her daughter standing there and I asked them, 'What's going on back there?' And the mom goes, 'Did you hear that?' And I go, 'Oh, yeah, of course. I heard it all the way to the front.' They verified that it was really loud. And the daughter was shaking with fear." He told the girl not to be afraid because the ghosts at the hotel weren't bad. Romero said that the ghosts like to turn the lights out on him in the basement. 

There are other haunted hotels in the area. Just three miles south of the Cary House Hotel stands the Diamond Springs Hotel. The hotel is named for the small town where it is located and this was built up around some clear water springs. This was a stop on the Carson Emigrant Trail and a Pony Express stop. The hotel was built in 1916 by Anton Meyer and is the only hotel and boarding house to still survive. In 2004, Moon and Amy Shim bought the hotel from Dan Dammett and it runs as a restaurant now. The list of ghosts here include a little girl in a yellow dress, a dog that likes Table 19 in the restaurant, the first owner of the hotel - Anton Meyer and a woman named Rosa. Many people have heard the sound of children running around upstairs. Customers in the restaurant have claimed to smell cigar smoke and watched as chairs have moved at nearby tables. A cheap perfume has also been smelled when it's early morning and staff is starting to set-up. Celebrity Psychic Nancy Bradley claimed that a corner of the dining room had a vortex for spirits. Kevin Schultz had been a chef at the hotel since 1997 and he had his share of experiences. He told the Mountain Democrat in 2010, "They’re around. This [referring to investigations] will probably stir them up again and they’ll be back in the dining room." Another longtime cook at the hotel named Leonard Landers told the paper, "I took the garbage out to the dumpster one night and locked the gate closed when I came out. The next morning, Dan was yelling because I had left the gate open." Landers maintained he had locked the gate, so the men checked the security cameras and sure enough, Leonard had locked the gate. They then watched it slowly open on its own at 3am. Both cooks had seen an apparition in a bone-colored shirt going around a corner in the kitchen. The article also shares about the owners at the time, "Amy didn’t believe in ghosts anyway — until things started to happen that couldn’t be explained away. First it was the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs when she and Moon were alone in the hotel upstairs doing paperwork. Another time, after picking up her two sons from summer camp, Amy brought them back to the hotel. As her boys walked ahead into the hotel, Amy stopped to greet a couple of regular customers, sitting on the patio having lunch. During the course of the conversation, the wife in the couple referred to Amy’s three children. Amy corrected her by holding up two fingers and saying, “Only two, not three.” The woman stared at Amy and then said, “But you just brought them home, your little boy, a little girl and a bigger boy.” The woman had seen three children walking together from the parking lot into the hotel with Amy, one of them being a little girl with long hair wearing a yellow sundress — a little girl whose presence has also been seen and heard by paranormal investigators."

El Dorado Chamber of Commerce is located at 542 Main Street in Placerville. And this place is haunted because, well, you know how Placerville was called Hang Town? Well, this is where the hangman’s site was. The first building here was the Kossuth House, which was built in 1852 by Phillip L. Platt. This was a log building that catered to miners as a hotel. Dr. Platt died in 1853 and his widow sold the property to Anna W. Clark for $200 in 1856. She owned it for a couple decades. 

When the building was bought by the County of El Dorado in 1923, Marcus P. Bennett was the owner. He was a highly respected Superior Court Judge. The county demolished the hotel and built in its place a building to serve as the American Legion Hall for Post No.119. The El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce occupied this building beginning in 1972 after the Legion had moved to Veterans Memorial Hall. The reports of hauntings include feeling cold spots and pictures falling off the wall. Toilets flush on their own and EVPs have recorded voices speaking French, Russian, and English with a Scottish accent. There are sightings of a full-bodied apparition believed to be named Darrel, who is a bearded man dressed in black. He likes to peer over the staircase and stares down the street at night. A spirit wearing green overalls has also been seen.

The Sequoia Wedgewood Mansion is also known as the Bee-Bennett House and is located at 643 Bee Street in Placerville. The Sequoia Mansion sits atop a wooded knoll and is a glorious Victorian mansion built in 1853 by entrepreneur Colonel Frederick Bee. The house features a multi-gabled roof and wraparound porch. Bee was a protector of the immigrant Chinese workers and he built a tunnel from his house to Placerville's Chinatown to help protect them. 

Bee lost his two-year-old son to the croup in 1855. The Conklin and Duncan families lived in the house next. Judge Marcus Bennett and his wife Mary would be the next owners and they expanded the house in 1889to have 16 rooms and they added a tin ceiling to the verandah. Two of the Bennetts' children died in the house. Marie was only a few months old when she passed and Marcus Jr. passed when he was three. He tumbled down the stairs apparently. The Elks Club owned the house from the 1970s to the 1980s. Today, this is a wedding venue with the Nello Olivo Winery tasting room in the basemen. Here Comes the Guide writes of the location, "The upstairs Get-Ready Room, decorated with gilded mirrors and rich red velvet, affords a peek out the window to watch as guests arrive. A graceful dual staircase descends to the main floor, to a choice of three ceremony sites. The first is a glass-enclosed, light-filled stone Veranda, a cozy space that recalls a bygone era and overlooks a charming garden lawn. Next is the sprawling lawn itself, which enjoys a backdrop of the mansion's quaint façade and the snow-dusted mountains in the distance. Lastly, there's a lush forest retreat around the corner, where towering sequoias, pines, and a lily pond seem right out of a fairy tale." Sightings of the apparitions of Mary Bennett and her children have been reported, as were cold spots. A cook who worked at the Elks Club arrived one afternoon to prepare the meal for an event that evening. When she got to the porch, she saw a man and woman sitting on the porch swing. Then she noticed they were in Victorian era clothing. But then she thought that perhaps they were dressed to go with the house for the event. She passed them and said, "Hello." The couple nodded cordially to her. The cook made her way to the kitchen at the back of the house and as she started to get out equipment, it hit her that the porch didn't have a swing on it. And then she thought more about the clothes the couple were wearing. She suddenly became afraid remembering stories that others had told her about weird stuff at the house. The cook ran out to the porch, saw no swing, and kept going until she got to her car. She got in it and never returned to the Elks Club.

Mary was also called Molly and her favorite place to haunt is the second floor and the room she particularly likes has been called Molly's Parlor. Brides getting ready in this room have claimed to see the spirit of a women in period dress who is smaller in stature. Linda J. Boojer writes in her 2014 book "Gold Rush Ghost of Placerville, Coloma and Georgetown" of Molly, "She materializes regularly to staff members of Camino Flower Shop, whose floral designs regularly grace weddings. In 2014, Molly, dead for over sixty years, was seen on the sweeping staircase by the shop's owner, Dottie Cole McKenzie, and a mother of a bride. A few weeks earlier, her entity appeared in the form of a fast-moving mist to McKenzie's daughter, Matti." 

Seasons Bed and Breakfast is located at 2934 Bedford Avenue in Placerville. This site originally held a gold stamp mill before 1859. A merchant, undertaker, and sexton named Abraham Vedder built a home on the property in the Gothic Revival style, using tombstones for the foundation. Apparently, they had engraving mistakes. He sold this to Henry Ollis in 1862 for $100. Ollis once employed John “Wheelbarrow Johnny” Studebaker - yep, the guy who invented the Studebaker. In 1874, Ollis sold the home to a Canadian named Francis Plumado for $600 in gold. The Plumado family would keep it for 75 years. A chicken coop on the property was refurbished into a home for Miss Jo, a local seamstress. Ann Gladwill owned the property and named the establishment after a series of paintings she did featuring life in El Dorado County at different times of the year. Robyn Rawers is the current owner. Staff and guests have claimed to see an apparition named Martha who likes to rearrange the furniture.

Cuppa Coffee and More is located at 442 Main Street. The brick structure that houses it was built in 1855 in the Gothic Revival style by Caspar Hart. This was their private residence for five years and then they sold it. The building went through a variety of owners and tenants. There was the Piedmont Cafe and a pool hall before being the printing shop, "The Line & Letter Shop." Cuppa Coffee and More opened in 2010 under Jill Barnes and chef Melissa Arcona. 

They were the first ones to talk about the ghosts. Apparently there are two, named Tom and Amy. Tom is around twenty years of age and a prankster. Amy is a ten-year-old. People have claimed to see a vapor hovering near the ceiling and some believe that this is from a gun that was used to shoot Tom on the street in front of the shop. Amy likes to play with the radio and kitchen equipment. She also likes to pinch people. Paper towels in the bathroom have also gone flying and completely unrolling in piles. Haunted Hangtown Ghost Tours said of the place in 2018, "I can substantiate that when we were in here that Tom can be smelled. He likes to move the chairs. We've had our REM pods going off and we caught an EVP when we were leaving telling us to come back.

Linda J. Boojer writes in "Gold Rush Ghost of Placerville, Coloma and Georgetown," 

 

Placerville has some interesting Gold Rush history and very old buildings. Is it possible that ghosts from that earlier era are here? Is Placerville haunted? That is for you to decide!