William Heath Davis house ghost haunt spirit

Share

William Heath Davis house ghost haunt spirit:
Located in the heart of San Diego California’s historic Gaslamp quarter lies the William Heath Davis house. It is believed to be the oldest surviving wooden structure in historic downtown San Diego. Prior to the modernization and development of San Diego, locating trees suitable for lumber proved difficult. It is suspected that this factor led Davis to purchase a 8 salt-box style homes (preframed lumber) shipped around Cape Horn and assembled in San Diego in 1850. Originally, the Davis home was at State and Market Street however, it was never their home. Davis instead resided in a duplicate salt-box styled home at State and F Street. While, building their own home Alonzo and Sarah Horton’s lived in the Davis House (1868-1869). Davis had come to San Diego to found “New Town”. His idea was to drive trade and business via the waterfront of San Diego. Unfortunately an economic depression in 1851 ended his plans. By 1853 most of the houses constructed by Davis were either moved to old town San Diego or used for firewood. The Davis house also found use as a pre-Civil War military officer’s barracks and make-shift hospital.
The Davis house was originally at State and Market Street in 1850. Davis sold the house to Alonzo Horton in circa? 1867. Between December 9, 1872 and June 27, 1873 The Davis house was moved to 227 Eleventh Street, between K and L. This is known because the land value for that lot jumped from $350.00 to $1500.00 in that time frame. So the house passed from Margaret Mountain to Mrs. Anna Scheper. Mrs. Anna Scheper (later Mrs. Amos P. Knowles) had acquired the property at 227 Eleventh Street on June 27, only a few days before she was directed by the Board of Supervisors to board the sick in her hospital at the rate of $1.00 per day each. The property sold to Mary T. Jones and James P. Jones on February 1, 1881. Eventually the house is Purchased by the City of San Diego in the 1970’s and moved to its current location at the corner of Island and Fourth Avenues (1984).
It is unknown if and when any persons died in the William Heath Davis during its stint as a hospital. Paranormal claims have been made that the house may in fact be haunted. It is believed that the spirit, apparition, or ghost of a Victorian woman inhabits the house. In a 1977 San Diego Newspaper article occupants of the house reported strange behavior of (gas, coal, or oil) lamps self extinguishing and reigniting. The Davis house joined the power grid c. 1984. It is claimed that some members of The Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation still witness odd lighting issues. It is also noted that a Victorian Dressed female has been witnessed by museum visitors near the 2nd floor landing. It is hard to decipher who and how exactly the house may be haunted by. The house is now a museum full of artifacts that may have belonged to many persons.
Update:
San Diego Haunted, visited this house in December 2011. We were informed by the docent on duty that the William Heath Davis House will be featured in a future episode of a (well known) paranormal T.V. show. The docent also informed us that only one person currently on staff has claimed anything paranormal (sensations near stairs). The docent we spoke with seemed unmoved by an orb photo captured from S D G H (no affiliation), I don’t buy into the kind of stuff too much…
Personal note, of all the haunted suspected locations we have visited in San Diego The William Heath Davis definitely has an odd vibe. I was definitely on edge almost expecting something to happen (nothing did of course). I attribute this to the odd architecture, unevenness of floors, slanted ceilings, and decor. It is an amazing place to spend a couple of hours just witnessing histories past. If your in the area I highly suggest spending the very reasonable 6 dollar ticket to the past.

One thought on “William Heath Davis house ghost haunt spirit

  1. I was part of the team who investigated teh WHD House in Sept 2011 and
    yes it was used on an episode of a well known paranormal TV show.
    We encountered the spirt of a young girl named Lillian. I for one do not believe it was Lillian Davis as she grew up and lived in Hayward CA in Northern CA And she died at the age of 83. So who is the young girl that calls herself Lillian? We do not know.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.