What are SLO County’s most haunted places? Check out these 7 spooky spots
Have you ever felt a strange chill in the air? Heard a floorboard creak when no one is home? Caught a glimpse of something otherworldly?
It’s that time of the year when darkness falls earlier and unexplained sights abound.
If you’re looking for a few ghost stories to keep you up at night, look no further than San Luis Obispo County.
The area is filled with haunted locations and local legends dating back to the 1800s.
Just in time for Halloween, The Tribune has collected seven scary stories of alleged paranormal activity in SLO County.
Gruesome murders at Mission San Miguel
A grisly mass murder occurred at Mission San Miguel in northern San Luis Obispo County on Dec. 5, 1848.
On that day, six men entered the church and killed William Reed, his family, his servants and the family’s guests.
Before their untimely deaths, the Reed family ran the mission as an inn and raised sheep on the property, according to late author and historian Wally Ohles.
One day, Reed took a flock to his father-in-law, Mexican General Mariano Vallejo, to sell to gold miners.
Reed bragged about his new riches and captured the attention of two miners, Peter Raymond and Joseph Lynch. They descended upon the mission and slaughtered its occupants.
A total of 11 people, including an unborn baby, were slashed to death with a knife, an ax and a cutlass, Ohles wrote in his book “The Murders in the Old Mission.”
Visitors to the mission have reported seeing the ghost of Walter Reed wearing a navy peacoat near the rooms where the murders happened, Ohles told The Tribune in 2015.
Other accounts speak of a bloody handprint on a wall that wouldn’t wash off and machinery and tools moving on their own.
How to visit: Mission San Miguel, 775 Mission St. in San Miguel, is an active church that hosts daily masses. The mission’s museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Admission is $8, or $5 for children ages 6 to 17; kids ages 5 or under are free. Call 805-467-3256 or visit missionsanmiguel.org for more information.
Pink Lady spotted at Adelaida Cemetery
The cemetery off Chimney Rock Road west of Paso Robles dates back to the 1800s. Weathered tombstones are surrounded by tall grass, gnarled oaks and twisty roads.
Once the sun sets and darkness falls on the cemetery, people have reported seeing the ghost known as the Pink Lady.
In life, the Pink Lady was a woman named Charlotte Sitton whose child died and was buried at Adelaida Cemetary, according to Evie Ybarra’s book “California’s Haunted Central Coast.”
Grief-ridden, Sitton took her own life at age 19 in 1890, The Tribune reported in 2015.
She reportedly can be seen wandering the cemetery in a pink or white dress after dark, weeping for her deceased child — or children, depending on which version of the story you hear.
How to visit: Adelaida Cemetery is located near the intersection of Adelaida Road and Chimney Rock Road in Adelaida. The graveyard is open from sunrise to sunset, with no entry allowed after dark.
Freaky phone calls at Paso Robles Inn
Spooky, unexplained calls have plagued the historic Paso Robles Inn for decades. The dialings usually occur after dark, and always from Room 1007.
According to local legend, the phantom caller is J.H. Emsley, the man who discovered a fire at the original El Paso de Robles Hotel.
In December 1940, a major blaze swept through the inn, burning everything except the ballroom. Emsley was the first person to warn guests about the rising flames, saving everyone in the building.
As soon as he left the hotel that night, legend says, Emsley had a heart attack and died.
“We have weird phone calls because we don’t think he realizes that it’s over,” said Erika Fryburger, the inn’s general manager. “(The ghost) will randomly call different extensions, and it’s called 911 a few times.”
That’s not the only phantom roaming around the inn.
Fryburger said others have spotted a ghostly little girl in the ballroom who plays with marbles and a doll.
Some hotel employees have also complained about a phantom woman who locks the wine room and brushes against the backs of their heads.
How to visit: Paso Robles Inn, 1103 Spring St. in Paso Robles, features a grand ballroom, gardens, meeting rooms and a steakhouse. Call 805-238-2660 or visit pasoroblesinn.com for more information.
A haunted theater at Cuesta College
In the 1970s, cast and crew members participating in productions at Cuesta College’s Interact Theater were frequently annoyed by a pair of ghosts.
The community college apparitions were the ghosts of a married couple who once resided in the back of the building housing the theater, The Tribune reported in 1998.
Nella Girolo, chair of the Performing Arts Department at Cuesta College at the time, said she felt the ghosts when she began direct plays there in 1973.
“Things would happen,” Girolo told The Tribune. “Mirrors would fall over when there was no one near them. Lights would drop.”
Set builders and maintenance crews were often frustrated by the ghosts’ sense of humor. Occasionally, the couple would flick on stage lights and steal theater props.
Eventually, enough staff grew annoyed by the spirits’ shenanigans that they completed an amateur exorcism in the 1980s. Local lore says the ghostly pair hasn’t been seen since.
How to visit: Cuesta College is off Highway 1 north of San Luis Obispo. For more information., call 805-546-3100 or visit cuesta.edu.
Ghost sightings at Cambria’s Bluebird Inn
A historic motel in Cambria’s East Village business district is home to one of the area’s most prominent ghosts.
George Lull built the Bluebird Inn in 1880 as a home for his second wife, Mary Inman Lull.
While she lived there, Mary had a baby who died and was buried by the property, according to Kylee Delgadillo, the Bluebird Inn’s general manager.
“That’s why she stays around to protect the property,” Delgadillo said. “Her baby is still here.”
Hotel guests have described Mary’s ghost as a long-haired woman wearing a white nightgown.
People have reportedly seen the phantom through the window of a second-story room, as well as floating through the parking lot and garden late at night.
One housekeeper got spooked when a shower turned on by itself while she was cleaning a room, Delgadillo said.
Delgadillo lives at the Bluebird Inn, but said she has never personally encountered the ghost during her tenure.
“We’re here to take care of the property and protect it and keep it going, if you will,” Delgadillo said. “So I feel like she’s benevolent.”
How to visit: The Bluebird Inn is at 1880 Main St. in Cambria. Call 805-927-4634 or visit bluebirdinncambria.com for more information.
Headless Halloran haunts local campground
According to local lore, the Halloran family met with midaventure while driving their wagon to a new homestead along the Nacimiento River in the spring of 1898.
While Michael, Alice Halloran and their baby, Clara, were stopped in the ranch town of Jolon, Native American tribal members warned the family that the river was too high to cross.
Michael Halloran decided to ford the riven even as his wife insisted they wait.
The current was so strong it eventually dragged the wagon underwater. Alice became caught in the reins and was decapitated. Her baby also drowned in the raging waters.
Locals say Alice haunts the area that’s now near Fort Hunter Liggett, looking for her head and her baby.
How to visit: Fort Hunter Liggett Campground is off an unnamed road near Jolon. The campground is open to the public year-round; learn more by calling 831-386-2406.
Ghost girl spotted at Arroyo Grande home
The Victorian Pitkin Conrow Estate in Arroyo Grande was built by the Pitkin family in 1890 and is now used as a wedding and event venue.
The old Victorian house is reportedly haunted by a young girl named Alice who died during the 1915 influenza epidemic. Local legend says she stayed at the house because she’s still waiting for her mother to return.
The friendly ghost has been spotted in the tower room window, The Tribune reported in 2015.
Over the years, visitors have allegedly heard her laughing and felt her trying to climb on their bed in the middle of the night.
How to visit: The Victorian Pitkin Conrow Estate is at 789 Valley Road in Arroyo Grande. Call 805-710-3271 to schedule a visit or go to thevictorianestate.wixsite.com/newsite for more information.
