History, conflict, and drama are all factors that allegedly contribute to paranormal activity. Local city halls fit the bill on all three points, so it’s no surprise that many of them are believed to be haunted by ghosts.
On this Halloween, we are taking a look at five city halls in California where the spirits of the dead are said to roam and occasionally make their presence known.
Los Angeles City Hall
If you thought the living gadflies at L.A. City Hall were something, wait ‘till you get a load of dead ones! As Curbed LA reported back in 2019, there have been numerous reports of a ghost dressed in “old-fashioned” clothing at L.A. City Hall, “who likes to disrupt City Council meetings and bother officials in the bathrooms.”
Earlier this year, a local cosplay group known as Los Angeles Ghostbusters rolled up to the century-old building to do some bustin’.
Hopefully that took care of the problem.
Ventura City Hall
According to WeirdCA.com, there are quite a few ghosts believed to haunt Ventura City Hall.
The first is a ghostly judge, while the second is the notorious Elizabeth "Ma" Duncan who hired two men to kill her own daughter in law, Olga Kupzyck, who also happened to be pregnant at the time she was murdered. Duncan was the last woman to be executed in California. Additionally a phantom lady in a 1940s style blue outfit has been seen near the third floor elevators. The elevators often head to the third floor despite no one actually calling for them.
Azusa City Hall
Azusa Mayor Robert Gonzalez, City Clerk Jeffrey Cornejo, and Executive Assistant to the City Manager Tina Cravens have all reported seeing ghosts at City Hall. They shared their experiences with a team of paranormal investigators, who were invited to tour the building in search of spirits.
Cravens told the team that a former city manager and the city’s finance director had also had encounters with ghosts at work. You can watch the video of the tour, including interviews with city staff, here.
Pasadena City Hall
“Pasadena Ghosts” bills itself as the #1 ghost tour in Pasadena. The tour begins at none other than City Hall, where visitors are told about several anomalies experienced by visitors and staff. These include the elevator moving by itself, unexplained footsteps, and cold spots.
Every good ghost story has a tale behind it. In the case of Pasadena City Hall, the apparitions are attributed to a woman who was reportedly left at the altar on her wedding day. Hell hath no fury like a ghost bride scorned.
San Francisco City Hall
If Poltergeist’s Craig T. Nelson taught us anything, it’s that you don’t mess around with cemeteries. Unfortunately for the superstitious, San Francisco City Hall sits right next to Yerba Buena Cemetery, the city’s first municipal graveyard. Needless to say, the building is a hot spot for alleged paranormal activity. Faucets are said to run on their own and metal detectors sometimes go off in the middle of the night. Rob Spoor, who used to lead ghost tours at City Hall, says a San Francisco deputy sheriff once had an entity whisper in his ear: “Now you know.”
And now you know about some of California’s haunted city halls.
Happy Halloween!