Most Haunted Places In Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California, has come a long way from the reed-covered marshlands that early settlers pioneered with their log cabins back in 1860. Kern County, as Bakersfield was originally known, bore witness to some of the West Coast’s most shining times. Bakersfield, however, has a far spookier and murkier side that is there to explore for those daring enough to peer behind the curtain.
What Is The Most Haunted Place In Bakersfield?
Many say that the Padre Hotel is the most haunted place In Bakersfield. The hotel’s tumultuous past and a devastating fire are responsible for its number of spirits. But many other haunted locations are scattered in Kern County’s largest city.
Spooky Facts About Bakersfield
- Their haunted post office once served as a headquarters for federal agents during prohibition.
- The Bakersfield Californian building is home to the oldest newspaper in the city and the spirit of its former owner!
- Numerous ghosts, including former janitors and students, haunt Bakersfield High School.
For the aspiring ghost hunter, Bakersfield has a surprising litany of spooks and spectacles to explore. Take a ghost tour with US Ghost Adventures to experience them for yourself!
The Padre Hotel
This eight-story landmark has been a fixture of the Bakersfield skyline since 1928 and California the Oil Rush. The money and madness of the times brought a host of grandiose and colorful characters to the city. In 1954, the hotel would bring perhaps the most colorful of them all: owner Milton ‘Spartacus’ Miller. He purchased the premises and promptly entered an escalating conflict with the authorities of Bakersfield for 45 years. In protest of numerous issues, Miller erected a fake missile on the roof of the Padre and aimed it directly at City Hall.
An oft-repeated tale tells of a fire that broke out on the 7th floor in 1950, killing several people, including children. The hotel has seen its fair share of death. Many jumped from its towering roof as it slowly fell into decay. However, a 2010 renovation breathed new and sparkling life back into this grand old fixture of Bakersfield nightlife.
FIGURES FROM THE FIRE
Some say the fire was a made-up tool of owner Milton Miller’s then ongoing battle with City Hall, while others claim that there was indeed a tragic event that echoes through time even today. Regardless, the Travel Channel’s ‘Portal’s To Hell’ featured the modernized Padrel Jack Osbourne and his team captured what appears to be a ghostly figure on film. Staff speak of objects moving by themselves and catching fleeting glimpses of dark human shapes disappearing out of view in otherwise unoccupied spaces.
The Nile Theater
The Nile opened in 1906 and was originally named the Bakersfield Opera House. The Nile Theatre was birthed in 1927 after modernizing to meet the emerging age of cinema. Swirling taste and times have seen the premises switch purpose, serving as a bar, grill, and church. The Nile has settled into a slightly more familiar role once again as a live performance venue since 2017.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON….FOR SOME
The Niles days as a showcase for the golden age of celluloid was a high point for many. It is said, however, that during the building’s early years as an Opera House, an actor suffered a fatal heart attack during a live performance of ‘Don Giovanni. This thespian ghost still roams the theater. Staff have reported a spectral singing voice eerily floating in the air at night. Others claim to have seen the actor’s vaporous figure entombed within the theater.
Downtown Post Office
The Bakersfield Post Office was officially opened on 18th Street four and a half years during Prohibition. The Mission-style structure served a dual purpose as a Post Office and the home of Federal Agents responsible for enforcing the booze ban. This testing time of turmoil gave birth to bootlegging in Bakersfield, and all that rode with it.
THE PARTY’S OVER
It was allegedly behind the basement door that a dark and sinister event took place. The Post Office is haunted by the soul of a bootlegger who died under rigorous interrogation in the most torturous of circumstances. In a final act of infamy, the man’s body was moved into an adjacent room and left there till it could be ushered out. Postal workers still claim to feel a presence in the dark, and many are convinced that the unfortunate rum runner is still trapped in the basement.
Bakersfield Californian Building
This historic office building was originally constructed to house the Bakersfield Californian newspaper during the golden age of print. Opened in 1926, the late 19th-century revivalist structure was entered into the National Historic Register of Places in 1983. The newspaper was a direct descendant of the area’s first-ever publication, dating back to 1866.
THE NEWS NEVER SLEEPS
This paper’s prestigious headquarters is said to be haunted by the ghost of Alfred Harrel, who purchased the Newspaper in 1907 and whose descendants still run the paper today. Some say you can catch a glimpse of the deceased owner still feverishly pacing the halls of the newsroom, forever watching over the heartbeat of his enterprise. Others claimed to have seen a spectral canine in the building before it dashes out of view. Perhaps a long-gone reporter’s dog still pines for his master?
The Hopkins Building
The summer of 1952 would irrevocably change the face of Bakersfield, California. The Bakersfield earthquake claimed the lives of 14 people, injured hundreds more, and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. However, there were survivors. The Hopkins Building, a 4-story office building, still houses businesses today. But only on the ground floor. The top 3 floors were deemed unfit for purpose, and a historical ghost building was created. This fascinating time capsule still has the fixtures and fittings of the period from businesses such as a doctor’s office, a lawyer’s office, and an ad agency.
FROZEN IN TIME
It has been claimed that this ghostly structure, perfectly entombed with the hustle and bustle of 1950s office life, may hold something far spookier within its fading decor and crumbling walls. Office chatter and old rotary telephones can still be heard coming from this now desolate place, echoing the human cacophony that played out inside. The old building is not quite as empty as some believe.
Bakersfield High School
The High School, built in 1893, has a collection of ghostly tales attached to its life. Both pupils and coaches claim to have seen a ghostly couple that appears on the bleachers, often sporting hideous injuries, having lost their lives in a car crash the night of prom. The ghost of a long-dead janitor, who tragically fell from the rafters, now returns to the auditorium where his life was cut short. Initially, the school lot had a hospital on the property dating back to 1875. Stories say that a nurse, having a secret affair with a doctor at the hospital, confronted the physician to tell him she was pregnant with his illegitimate child. The doctor spurned her advances, disowning both her and the child. In a state of shock and grief, the nurse flung herself from the hospital roof. Students believe that this heartbroken nurse haunts the school’s Warren Hall today.
THE DEAD NEVER LEARN
Before the school’s construction, Kern General Hospital was founded on the land. It is said that the hospital used the land, now occupied by Bakersfield High School’s Quad, as an unofficial graveyard. Particularly for poorer patients whose families lacked the means for proper burial. Despite the relocation of these improper graves, students and even coaches claim to have been shocked to see floating spirits in this area where the dead were laid to rest.
Gaslight Melodrama Theater
The Gaslight Melodrama Theater is the first privately owned performing arts venue in Bakersfield that was planned and built for its purpose. Opening in 2005, its red-painted rustic exterior belies the grand dramas that play out nightly on the stage.
THE TOYMAKERS TALE
This quite appropriately named venue holds a dramatic and tragic tale from the locations past close within. Owner Michael Prince will often find himself the only soul in the venue at evening’s end and has experienced spine-chilling moments. “Oftentimes, I’ll hear doors opening and closing, thinking people have walked in, and no one is around. I’m constantly jumping up and going, “Hello? Who is it?” and nobody’s there”. This malevolent spirit further tormented Prince as he witnessed a costume rack bolted to the wall fly off, scattering costumes across the floor.
Many years before the construction of the old-timey theater, it is believed that a toyshop stood on the land. Sadly, the owner had seen hard times, with the shop going bankrupt and the owner tragically hanging himself inside. It has been suggested that this very owner simply couldn’t let go of his dream, even in the afterlife.
Haunted Bakersfield
From an ad agency frozen in time by an earthquake to ghosts in search of free education, Bakersfield often surprises. You’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d succumbed to the California heat when hearing the details of what makes Bakersfield such a haunting hotspot. Find out what goes bump in Bakersfield and book a tour with US Ghost Adventures
Sources:
Weird California
Bakersfield High School – Weird California
KGET News
https://youtu.be/Q3Pu2xUq-Dw?si=Utt9uuC-kjI82hE2
Courthouse News Service
https://www.courthousenews.com/the-haunting-tale-of-bakersfields-padre-hotel/
Travel Channel -’Portals To Hell’
https://youtu.be/FS2YwlOV6f0?si=c7gcFMcfiTMxiQ3y
Bakerfield.com
My least favorite shift of all | Entertainment | bakersfield.com
23ABC
https://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/hobmanns-haunts-gaslight-melodrama-theater
