Sitting in Old Town San Diego is the Whaley House, which has a huge sign in front stating that it is “America’s Most Haunted House.” If you’ve ever watched any paranormal shows, you will have definitely come across this house as it is a favorite amongst ghost hunters. It has been on our bucket list for quite a while so we were happy to finally see it in person.
Date: April 2, 2026
Location: San Diego, California
Investigators: Chris, Matt
Location History
The house was built in 1857 and held a surprising number of functions over the years. Thomas Whaley and his family lived in the home, but the space also served as a General Store, a Courtroom, and even a Theater.
The general store
The house has been site to a number of tragedies including the botched hanging of a tall man “Yankee Jim” Robinson (on the property before the house was built) who suffered a slow suffocation instead of a quick neck break, and then to add insult, was too big for a casket, so his legs were broken to fit inside. The Whaley family also lost an 18 month old son to scarlet fever, suffered a fire in the general store, and lost their daughter Violet to suicide by gunshot to her own chest when she learned she’d married a con artist.
When Thomas rented out a room in the house to a theater troupe, he was hopeful to bring new joy into the space, but after only 17 days, the operator of the theater died, leading to the disbanding of the troupe shortly after. Surprisingly, the tiny room was said to hold up to 150 people (standing room only) when my guestimation would be about 20 people should fit comfortably!
View from the stage into the audience area
Our Experience
We normally like to investigate places on our own, but due to the limited time of our vacation in California, we opted to join a small group investigation. There were about 10 people onsite for a short 2 hour investigation. After a brief tour of the home and the history, Matt and I started our investigation in the main bedroom. We tried some EVPs but due to the other people in the house, we weren’t able to get quality audio.
Our next space was the theater room on the 2nd floor next to the master. We noticed as we walked around the room, that the Mel Meter was measuring spikes of EMF. Our experience with this device is that it does not spike often. We tried to debunk by checking out areas close to power sources or electricity but really couldn’t find any source of EMF.
Matt getting EMF spikes near the front of the house in the upstairs theater room
We could find no logical reason why the EMF was spiking
As people moved into the room to investigate, we went downstairs to the front parlor room. Now this is where it got interesting. Our REM pod (a proximity detector) was going bonkers. Being the skeptics that we are, we first fiddled with the device and put in brand new batteries to see if there was a mechanical reason. Nope. The device kept alerting.
So Matt started investigating the area with the Mel Meter and found essentially a point in space that would deliver super high EMF spikes. When we moved the REM pod out of that area just a couple feet away, it quieted. When we moved the Mel Meter up, down, or to the sides, the spikes would stop. We also verified with our K2 and it was also getting EMF readings at that spot. It was an isolated area about 4 feet off the ground.
This was new for us. We don’t typically get a spot like that setting off 3 devices. There was certainly something giving off EMF and breaking the REM Pod proximity but we could not find a logical reason. Not sure if it’s related but the theater room that we were getting spikes in previously was just above this space.
The active spot was right by this little table near the front window in the parlor. Mel Meter, REM Pod, and K2 were all going nuts.
Alas, our 2 short hours were up. The taste of the investigation really whetted our appetites. Right when we were on to something with the devices, it was time to pack up and go. We’d definitely like to go back out to the site sometime to have more time and investigate on our own!
Did we capture Paranormal Evidence?
We caught an isolated spot that was making the REM Pod, Mel Meter, and K2 go crazy. When the devices were moved even 1 foot away, they’d go silent. It was weird!
