Fullerton Ghosts

The oldest commercial building in Fullerton, how could a building with this much history not be home to a spirit or two? According to those that who have used the building, numerous unexplained events have taken place. From cold drafts to unknown voices, it’s a small building that packs a big paranormal punch. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

In 2001, psychic researchers captured some interesting anomalies on film as they photographed the west stairway into the balcony landing. The pictures revealed a faint blur in the outline of a gowned woman moving up the stairs. The figure bears a remarkable resemblance to a figure depicted in the Kassler mural “Pastoral California” painted on the west-facing exterior wall. Or is it perhaps the spirit of a departed theatergoer in elegant dress, enjoying an evening of music as she did in life? Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

Since 1930, the depot has been the first building people see when they arrive in Fullerton by train. Based on reports from those who have worked there, a phantom gentleman, often described as a porter or conductor from the 1900s has been spotted just outside the ticket office holding an old-fashioned lantern. Occasionally at night, only the lantern can be seen swinging back and forth. There are also rapidly manifesting cold spots and the strong smell of tobacco wafting through the historic landmark. When you come to the station to purchase a ticket, keep a close eye out for the otherworldly guests who keep to a strict supernatural schedule. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

In December 2000, an investigation was conducted on the Brownstone Café by the Orange County Society for Psychic Research. The investigation produced the name of a young girl who is waiting for her parents inside, two women, an angry man, and others who float freely between Café Hidalgo and the Cellar Restaurant. In fact, the entire building is believed to be psychically charged with spirits from several time periods beginning just before the turn of the century. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

This building was the site of the tragic suicide of one of Fullerton’s early business leaders. Employees of longtime-occupant Roy’s Photo Service have had many “visitations” from a ghost believed to be the late Mr. Schumacher. Workers in the darkroom would often encounter an eerie specter. The visitor would stand silent, with his arms folded, watch for a few moments then disappear into thin air. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

During excavation for the foundation of the building, workers came upon the bones of a human. Construction was halted until it was determined that the remains were most likely of prehistoric origin and not evidence of an unsolved crime. Perhaps the disturbance of “Fullerton Man” is responsible for some of the strange but steady and urgent footsteps reported by officers in the building over its 60-year history. Here, the dead and living work side-by-side with the occasional confrontation that usually ends in the living giving up their space to the unseen. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

According to psychics who have visited the building, the theater is home to at least eleven spirits; several phantom children, a mournful mother, a former stage manager, and two wannabe actresses. The building is virtually alive with the dead and the ghost stories have become an integral part of local lore. The spirits are everyday people who either loved the building in life and chose to remain behind as guardians, or have associated the building with loss or tragedy that has brought them back. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.

Local Historians claim that a portion of the third floor served as a speakeasy during the Prohibition years, but it’s the spacious ballrooms on the buildings second and third floors that house many of the buildings “long-term” guests. Employees and visitors have reported hearing footsteps, opening doors, and jangling keys in the unused dance halls above. A psychic who visited the building in the 1980s confirmed that the building was indeed inhabited by “positive” energies, perhaps spirits of people with happy memories of dances and socials of a more elegant age. Click for a FULL SIZE IMAGE.