Most Haunted Places in Santa Fe, NM

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Beautiful vistas, incredible food, and lots of ghosts. That’s what you’ll find when you visit Santa Fe. At the heart of this charming city is the Santa Fe Plaza, a historic site that began as a Spanish military outpost. Today, it buzzes with lively shops, diverse restaurants, and intriguing museums, all while maintaining a mysterious ambiance that intensifies after dark.

 

Spooky Facts About Santa Fe, NM

  • Santa Fe is the second-oldest city in America, founded in 1609-1610.
  • Pueblo tribes inhabited modern-day Santa Fe as far back as 1050. It’s believed that the entire city is built upon old burial grounds. 
  • Santa Fe has a very strong Catholic heritage, and locals strongly believe in mysticism and the afterlife. 

 

There’s no avoiding the otherworldly ambiance of the City Different. Book a ghost tour with Santa Fe Ghosts, and we’ll take you to all of the best haunted locations in Santa Fe.

La Fonda Historic Hotel

La Fonda stands on the site of the first hotel established by the Spaniards in 1607. Its current structure was built in 1922, and it has hosted everyone from Hollywood starlets to criminals and politicians. Today, La Fonda offers a luxurious stay with a rich history. It is part of the extended Santa Fe Plaza, and that residual energy gives it a certain atmosphere that attracts ghostly explorers. 

 

Ghostly Guests at La Fonda

 

There are many ghosts at La Fonda, including one salesman who haunts the hotel restaurant, La Plazuela. The salesman gambled away his payday and died jumping into a well. Today, diners sometimes see a quick movement out of the corner of their eye, believed to be the salesman diving into the well that once stood in the restaurant.

 

There’s also a married couple that haunts La Fonda. The groom got in a fight with the hotel’s bartender, who shot the guest in the back. Sometimes, visitors see a woman in white hovering near the staircase, her hand placed over her broken heart. 

The Loretto Chapel

With stunning architecture and a rich Catholic tradition, the Loretto Chapel is as much of a must-see for history buffs as it is for the devout. The Chapel was commissioned in 1873 to be a girls’ school, which it operated until 1968. Now, it is a museum and events space. 

 

The Loretto Chapel is famous for its “Miraculous Staircase.” Legend holds that, after nine days of intense prayer by the chapel’s nuns, a carpenter appeared at the church to construct this gravity-defying staircase. Then, he mysteriously disappeared. The nuns believe that the unknown man may have been St. Joseph.

 

Who Haunts the Loretto Chapel?

 

The Loretto Chapel is said to be haunted by a nun who used to work at the school. This nun had a penchant for cigars and had been seen smoking around the chapel. She also favors the gift shop and sometimes slips extra money in the register. The “smoking nun” also loves to talk to children, like she did when she was actively teaching. A family at Loretto Chapel experienced this when their young daughter suddenly left to “talk to the woman” in black in the corner. 

La Posada Hotel

La Posada Hotel, just minutes from the Plaza, is set in a historically rich area once home to ancient pueblos and later colonized by the Spanish. As European settlers arrived, the region grew significantly. Located on East Palace Avenue, the hotel’s origins trace back to the 1880s, marking the birthplace of Santa Fe.

 

Julia Staab: La Posada’s Resident Ghost

 

Julia Staab is La Posada’s famous ghost. Her story begins in 1865 in Germany when she married Abraham Staab. He brought his bride to Santa Fe, and the two settled into a grand home, running the local social and political circuit. Julia died in 1896 at just 52 years old. 

 

Today, Julia is tethered to La Posada, which was built around the Staabs’ grand home in the 1930s. Visitors see her roaming the common areas, and housekeepers see her face reflected in the mirrors. La Posada loves to celebrate its benevolent spirit with special ghost tours and a signature margarita: the Juliarita. 

Alto Street

Alto Street is several blocks from Santa Fe’s famous Oldest House Museum, but to understand the street’s history, you must also understand the Oldest House’s history. Between the 1600s and 1800s, the Oldest House was home to two sisters believed to be witches. Though often tried as criminals, they had the favor of local politicians who sought their potions for success. One night, a young man named Juan Espinoza came seeking a powerful love potion, leading to events that spiraled out of control.

 

Unlucky in Love: The Ghost of Juan Espinoza

 

Juan Espinoza came to the sisters for a love potion to feed his paramour, but the woman fell in love with Juan’s brother instead. Furious, Juan demanded a refund. The interaction turned hostile, and the sisters sliced his head off with Juan’s sword. Today, a headless horseman travels along Alto Street, several blocks from the Oldest House. This mysterious traveler is believed to be Juan Espinoza, still seeking revenge. 

Grant Corner Inn

The home at 122 Grant Avenue is unassuming compared to the historic adobes surrounding the Plaza. But the story hidden within its walls is an excellent reminder that you should never judge a book by its cover.

 

The Grant Corner Inn was built in 1905 for a judge’s family. The married couple had a son together, who was bound to a wheelchair and had difficulty controlling his emotions, leading to countless outbursts. His story is one that has haunted the Grant Corner Inn ever since. 

 

Chaos and Terror at the Grant Corner Inn  

 

The judge and his wife raised the troubled boy together until the judge died unexpectedly, leaving the mother to fend for herself. To get his mother’s attention, the boy would roll his wheelchair to the edge of the staircase below his room. Sometimes, he would tumble down the stairs, wheelchair and all.

 

One day, he fell and never woke up. 

 

In the years that followed, the home on Grant Avenue became many different businesses, including an art gallery and a bed and breakfast called the Grant Corner Inn. But even during good times, the Inn had a dark undercurrent. Loud noises would dart through the home at all hours of the night. A stray cat relentlessly hissed at the upstairs bedroom where the sickly boy once lived. Later, the cat was found alive but chilled in a refrigerator, possibly placed there by the boy’s ghost after he grew tired of the hissing.

La Residencia

If you visit the Drury Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, you might not initially believe it could be a hotbed of otherworldly activity. However, the building was once home to New Mexico’s oldest hospital, St. Vincent Hospital, and then a nursing home, La Residencia. 

 

St. Vincent was established in 1865 and eventually relocated in 1977 after joining the Christus health network. La Residencia sprang up in the old hospital’s absence and continued to serve the area until the Drury Hotel assumed the building and all but erased its haunted past. 

 

One Location, Endless Haunts

 

The old St. Vincent Hospital helped many people, but it also creeped out countless others. Everyone, from the townspeople to the hospital staff, believed St. Vincent was haunted. Former employees remember going into the dark crevices of the hospital as a “rite of passage.” More than one eyewitness account says that the basement walls oozed blood. 

 

Room 311 was the most infamous room at La Residencia. According to legend, a young boy was brought into the hospital on Christmas Eve after surviving a severe car crash. All night long, he would gasp for air and cry out for his deceased father. Hospital workers have heard the little boy’s gasps ever since.

Mission of San Miguel

Mission of San Miguel, or San Miguel Chapel, is the oldest church in the continental United States, built between 1610 and 1626. Though partially destroyed and rebuilt over the years, including during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, the chapel retains its original adobe walls and an altar built by Tlaxcalan Indians.

 

Given its rich Catholic tradition, it’s no surprise that the Mission is haunted. Some visitors report divine miracles or ghostly encounters that make them question life beyond the living.

 

Hauntings at the San Miguel Chapel 

 

There are many strange events associated with the San Miguel Chapel. One legend claims a blind man regained his sight while praying at the chapel during the bell’s toll, only to lose it again once the bells stopped. A little boy haunts the Chapel’s gift shop and likes to play with children who come by. The ghost of a friar also lurks on the Chapel’s grounds. 

 

Even those who do not see ghosts feel something undoubtedly otherworldly here. With hundreds of people confirmed to be buried underneath the church, visitors often feel a sense of unease and even hear voices coming from beyond the grave.

Haunted Santa Fe

Santa Fe’s rich history and vibrant culture create a perfect backdrop for its intriguing ghost stories and haunted locations. From the storied halls of La Fonda to the mysterious aura of the Loretto Chapel, each site offers a unique glimpse into the city’s past and its spectral inhabitants. 

 

Whether you’re a history buff, a ghostly enthusiast, or simply curious about the unknown, visit Santa Fe’s haunted locations with Santa Fe Ghosts. Keep reading our blog for more tales of the macabre, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

 

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