Gold Rush fortunes, earthquakes, fires, duels and one of the most famous prisons in the world: San Francisco’s history is packed into 49 square miles, and so are its ghost stories. Here are the haunted places in San Francisco with the deepest history and the most persistent reports, from hotel suites you can book tonight to a lake in Golden Gate Park with a legend more than a century old.
Some of these are open to the public and some are private property. Please visit respectfully and stay within public areas.
1. Alcatraz Island
San Francisco Bay, by ferry from Pier 33
Alcatraz was a military fort and prison before it became a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, holding inmates like Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America comes from decades of reports by guards, rangers and visitors: clanging cell doors, voices and cold spots in the solitary confinement cells of D Block, and a legend that Capone can still be heard playing his banjo.
The National Park Service runs daytime and night tours. The night tour is the closest most people get to experiencing the island after dark.
2. Queen Anne Hotel
1590 Sutter Street, Lower Pacific Heights
This 1890 Victorian opened as Miss Mary Lake’s School for Girls and became a hotel in 1980. Miss Lake is said never to have left. Guests in Room 410, once her office, have described feeling a presence, finding their belongings neatly rearranged, and waking to the sense of someone tucking in their blankets. It’s one of the gentler hauntings in the city, and you can book the room.
3. The Westin St. Francis
335 Powell Street, Union Square
The St. Francis has watched over Union Square since 1904, and its twelfth floor carries much of its ghost lore. In 1921, actress Virginia Rappe fell ill at a party in suite 1219 hosted by silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and died days later; Arbuckle was eventually acquitted. In 1950, entertainer Al Jolson died of a heart attack during a card game at the hotel. Reports describe a figure seated at a card table, studying his hand, before he fades away.
4. Haskell House, Fort Mason
Foot of Franklin Street, Fort Mason
On September 13, 1859, U.S. Senator David Broderick, an opponent of slavery’s expansion, fought a duel near Lake Merced with California Chief Justice David Terry. Broderick’s pistol misfired, and Terry shot him in the chest. He was carried to his friend Leonidas Haskell’s home at Black Point and died there three days later. Military residents of the house later reported a man in a long coat pacing the rooms, believed to be Broderick.
The house still stands, but it’s a private residence. You can see it from Franklin Street.
5. Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, near Strawberry Hill
San Francisco’s most famous urban legend first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in January 1908. In most versions, a young mother looked away while her baby’s carriage rolled into the lake, and she drowned searching for the child. Ever since, people have described a woman in a wet white dress at the water’s edge asking, “Have you seen my baby?” Stories say she’ll appear if you call “White Lady” at the lake at night. We don’t recommend testing it.
6. The Presidio
Northern tip of San Francisco
The Presidio served as a military post under Spain, Mexico and the United States for more than two centuries. Stories here include footsteps and voices around the old army hospital and activity at the Officers’ Club, whose adobe walls date back to the Spanish era. With so much history packed into one place, it’s a favorite stop on local ghost tours.
7. San Francisco Columbarium
One Loraine Court, Inner Richmond
This domed 1898 building is one of the last remnants of the Odd Fellows Cemetery, from the era before San Francisco moved most of its dead south to Colma. Caretakers and visitors have described the sound of a child’s laughter and a little girl seen among the urns. It’s open to visitors on many days, and the architecture alone is worth the trip.
8. Sutro Baths
Lands End, near the Cliff House
Adolph Sutro’s enormous glass-roofed bathhouse opened in 1896 and burned in 1966. Today only concrete ruins remain at the edge of the Pacific, and fog rolling over the old pools makes it one of the eeriest places in the city at dusk. Visitors describe shapes in the mist and an uneasy feeling of being watched. Take care on the rocks: the surf here is dangerous.
9. Cameron House
920 Sacramento Street, Chinatown
Cameron House is named for Donaldina Cameron, who spent decades rescuing young Chinese women and girls from trafficking in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A local legend says that some of the girls hidden in the building died in a fire, and that their voices are still heard. Historians debate the details, but the building’s remarkable history makes it a stop on many Chinatown ghost walks. It’s still an active community organization, so please be respectful.
Ghost Tours and Night Visits
- Book the Alcatraz night tour well in advance; it sells out
- Guided ghost walks run year-round in Union Square, Nob Hill and Chinatown, with more in October
- Stay within park hours at Stow Lake and Lands End
- Bring a recorder and a notebook. A written log is more useful than you’d think
Unexplained Activity in Your San Francisco Home?
San Francisco’s old Victorians, Edwardians and flats generate a lot of calls to our team. Many turn out to have ordinary causes like old plumbing, drafts or sound traveling between units, but some don’t. If you’re not sure what you’re dealing with, read Is My House Haunted? 12 Signs to Look For, then get in touch.
Exploring further? See our guides to haunted places in San Jose and haunted places across the Bay Area.
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