San Diego Gaslamp Ghosts and True Crime Walking Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Horton Plaza Park

  Meet your guide at Horton Plaza Park in downtown San Diego, beside the 1910 Broadway Fountain. The plaza sits at the north edge of the Gaslamp Quarter and is easy to reach from the trolley and nearby parking. We start with how this neighborhood went from a frontier town to the Stingaree, San Diego’s old red-light district.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 2
  Balboa Theatre

  The Balboa Theatre opened in 1924 and is one of the Gaslamp Quarter’s grand old landmarks, and it still hosts shows today. People who work there at night talk about voices in the basement dressing rooms when nobody is down there, and a few crew members have refused to go back. We stop outside to hear their stories.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 3
  Yuma Building

  The Yuma Building went up in 1888. It’s one of the oldest brick buildings in the Gaslamp, and it once ran as a brothel in the heart of the Stingaree. Here we cover the 1912 police raid that put the district’s women on a train out of town. We also get into the crooked cops, politicians and madams who kept the place running for decades.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 4

  From the sidewalk, Prohibition Lounge looks like a law office, but behind the unmarked door is one of the best speakeasy bars in the Gaslamp Quarter. Local lore says this spot was San Diego’s city morgue in the 1860s, and bartenders closing up late say they never feel alone. We stop outside. Drinks aren’t included, but it’s a great place to come back to after the tour.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 5
  Horton Grand Hotel

  The Horton Grand is a Victorian hotel from the 1880s and one of the most haunted places in San Diego. Most of the activity is in Room 309, where guests report shaking beds, wardrobe doors swinging open and lights turning on by themselves. The ghost is said to be Roger Whittaker, a gambler killed in the 1800s, and we’ll tell you why he never checked out.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 6
  Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House

  The tour ends outside the Davis-Horton House, the oldest surviving building in downtown San Diego. It was built in 1850, became the county’s first hospital and is now the Gaslamp Museum. Many locals call it the most haunted building in the Gaslamp Quarter.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket not included

Additional info

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible

Tags

Rating