Featured in an episode of TV’s Ghost Hunters, the motion-picture studios built in 1917 by Charlie Chaplin (now Jim Henson Studio) is rumored to be haunted. An apparition has been seen on the roof wearing a top had and coat, and a woman’s form was seen walking through a door. A man in a handlebar mustache has been seen on the soundstage along with voices from the catwalk. Also a door has opened and closed by itself. The Ghost Hunters also uncovered some EVPs and whispers during their investigation.
Charlie Chaplin Studios - Jim Henson Studio
Rochester Public Library
Rochester Public Library, according to witnesses, has spooks in its stacks. Rumor has it that it’s haunted by a young woman who drowned when she fell in to an aqueduct (her body was wedged into a tunnel under the library) and by a former librarian named Frank, who had a heart attack and died on the job. Witnesses have reported unexplained noises, moans, footsteps, shadowy figures and heads peeking out from the stacks. When security cameras caught a heavy door opening and closing with no one around, they called in TV’s Ghost Hunters. The library was featured in an episode.
Rose Hill Cemetery
Rose Hill Cemetery was in use from around 1865 to 1954 and it suffered from rampant vandalism between the 1950s and 1970s. Folks ran over the graves with their vehicles and stole gravestones or knocked them off their bases. The cemetery is in the process of being restored, and headstones discovered throughout the area are being replaced in their proper spots. The cemetery is said to be haunted by town founder Noah Norton’s wife Sarah, a midwife who was thrown from her buggy on the way to a birth. She appears as a glowing, floating female form, and some locals have inexplicably dubbed her the White Witch. A phantom old-time, horse-drawn hearse also has been seen coming up the road to the cemetery. Other eeriness reported by witnesses includes floating crosses, 13 ghost children, bells, laughter, cries, and wind noises even when there is no wind.
Bessie Love's Cabin
The Bessie Love Cabin was part of a development of cabins or bungalows built in this area in the early 1900s. It was screen actress Bessie Love’s first home. But it was built over a site where, in the mid-1800s, two robbers were caught and killed while trying to steal from Mexican Robin Hood Tiburcio Vasquez’s gold stash hidden in nearby caves. Bessie Love discovered in 1918 that her cabin was haunted. She heard men’s voices and moaning, felt cold spots, and had strange electrical anomalies. Also, a houseguest saw the apparition of a man in a cowboy hat in the living room. Subsequent owners have experienced similar phenomena, and the cabin is said to still be haunted.
Stepp Cemetery
Small Stepp Cemetery has about 25 graves and features in many local legends, from its founding by cult members to a grieving mother who committed suicide here after losing her baby. Her apparition, according to witnesses, appears dressed in black and crying over the baby’s grave.
Rialto Square Theatre
The Rialto Square Theatre was built as a movie palace and vaudeville venue in 1926. Today, it is said to be haunted by a woman believed to be a former actress. Employees, construction workers and visitors have seen the female form floating throughout the theater. There are also a male and a female wearing period clothing who haunt the theater’s balcony; some surmise this couple fell to their deaths sometime in the theater’s past.
Leland Stanford Mansion
The 1800s Leland Stanford Mansion is 19,000 square feet in four stories, and was fully restored in 2005. It is a state park and a venue for upscale legislative functions. It is said to be haunted by Leland Stanford’s 15-year-old son, Leland Stanford Jr., who died of typhoid fever while studying in Italy. The teen’s ghost appeared to his father and asked him to build a university for men; hence Stanford University’s founding in 1891.
Stanley Ranch Museum
The 1891 Stanley House at Stanley Ranch Museum in Heritage Park is said to be haunted. A former live-in caretaker woke up to a frank-speaking apparition of an older man next to his bed, who advised him “Don’t take any bullsh–!” The caretaker also saw the ghost of an older man in period costume seated at the Heritage Barn Theater, watching rehearsals. Sounds of phantom baby cries and haunted artwork are also known about among Stanley House visitors and staff. One portrait is said to smile, and another bleeds from the throat.
Rengstorff House
Rengstorff House was originally built by German immigrant Henry Rengstorff on Stierlin Road in the 1860s, but was moved to its current location to be restored and turned into a museum. The 16-room mansion with beautiful period furnishings, a widow’s walk and a garden was occupied by the Rengstorff family until 1959, but subsequent owners were often scared away by its ghost. Witnesses say the apparition of a sad a young lady, perhaps a teen, looks out an upstairs bedroom window and occasionally cries. Unexplained noises and cold spots also bothered owners in the night; the identity of the ghost girl is unknown.
Sand Canyon Road
The legend told about Sand Canyon Road involves some teens who crashed their car in the mid-1980s near the intersection of Warm Springs Road and Sand Canyon Road on their prom night. A female ghost teen has been seen, trying to rustle up assistance for her injured friends.
