Case Study: 0412.2011 Beneath our finger tips

Mysteries of the Bay

History surrounds us all. Some dislike history because they might be dissatisfied with the outcome, the cause that led to its effect. Some do not care for history because it is history, the past which we should not dwell upon. At the same time there are some bits and pieces of history which keeps our mind ticking like a grandfather clock. San Francisco's history is like a grandfather clock. The streets of this city provides us rich histories from corner to corner, blocks to bus stops, and from districts to districts. The streets of San Francisco walks with us and leads us to these historical events. Some of these histories linger on that evolves into stories commuting from one ear to another, one mouth to another.

I am a city boy, consistently stumbling around the streets of San Francisco taking photos with my digital camera and cellular phone. My ultimate goal while stumbling these streets of the city other than taking photos is to walk the historic sites that people can not resist from discussing about. Some of the sites which I will disclose tonight, I would like to suggest, are San Francisco's traces of well known hauntings. There are many well known sites, however some I would agree might just be urban legends, but as always at the end it is your disgresion to believe or not to believe.

Site #1. Golden Gate Park--series of unknown citations...
Golden Gate Park, home for many outdoor lovers, largest playground for many children and adults rain or shine. In the morning especially during the weekends the park is dominated by bicyclists, art lovers, couples, museum fanatics, man's best friends (a.k.a furry four legged pets), joggers, and parents with their babies in strollers. As soon as the mist of fog dawns upon the trees and grass, when the sun sets where darkness fills the sky, and when the crowd is silent; the park is dedicated for the unknown/the unseen..or what some would refer to as GHOSTS. There are several urban legends of the park in which I will disclose one out of those several. It is said that a spirit of a policemen haunts the park at nights.The policemen randomly pulls cars aside and issues the driver a ticket. The ticket is not like the ones we receive today, but rather old in appearence and out dated.

A friend of mine actually once encountered such spirit...It was a late evening, he was driving with a few passengers accompanying him. He was coming from the Sunset district heading towards Richmond, therefore he decided to take the shortcut through the park rather than taking 19th Ave. Ten minutes after he entered the park he was immediately pulled over. A policemen on a motorcycle stops him and approaches his vehicle requesting his license and registration. Obeying the officer's request my friend provided what the officer demanded. The park was awfully dark, despite the illuminating head lights projecting from the motorcycle, my friend could only catch glimpse of the policemen's face. He described that the officer looked rather pale and frail. Shortly after obtaining the license and registration the officer returns to my friend with a ticket. The officer departs from the scene. The ticket placed on the palm of my friend began to decay. The ticket did not look modern, but rather vintage. Shocked, scared, and petrified my friend vanished from the scene as quick as he can. The next day he visited the police station on Taravel St. He approached an officer described and displayed to him the ticket he was issued the previous night. The officer looked at the ticket, removed it from his hands and said, "do not worry, it's just an old commrad of ours." http://www.hauntedbay.com/tomes/urban/ggpark.shtml 
--A law was recently enforced in regards to those who are pulled over in Golden Gate Park during the evening. If a driver is unfortunately pulled over during late hours, the driver must only pull over after he or she departs from the park. --

Site #2. Stow Lake--Woman in white


When you drive through Golden Gate Park coming from 6th. Ave heading north towards California Academy of Sciences you will see many small roads that leads to multiple parts of the park. One of those small roads leads to Stow Lake. There has been many rumors and urban myths about the lake. Neither myself or my friends have yet experienced anything paranormal about that area. But, for a selected few there has been. The myth of Stow Lake travels back to almost 100 years back. The first ever reporting to be printed on the newspaper dtaes back in 1908 in San Francisco Chronicle where a figure of a woman blocks a moving car from departing the park. There has been other urban myths where people has seen a figure of a woman dressed in white appearing in the evenings seeking her lost child that drwoned in that lake. There is a statue of a woman with two chidren near the lake where peole claim to have seen the statue of the children move.

Site #3. Alcatraz--Inmate Mysteriously Strangled to Death


Citizens of San Francisco must have heard and or visited Alcatraz. When somone mentions San Francisco you think of Golden Gate Bridge, well in my opinion Alcatraz should be another visual when mentioning San Francisco. I must announce that for those who has never visited Alcatraz it is a terrible upset because Alcatraz is no longer open to the public. Two weeks ago Alcatraz is offically closed off and the last ferry was removed from the site on a clear blue sky Friday afternoon two weeks ago. Other than its rich history in housing the most vicious and synical prisoners, Alcatraz is also known for housing the spirits. The spirits of the dead prisoners walk the path to their cells which they once spent a good amount of time in. At night the "rock" becomes alive again where many killings, attempts of escapes, and torture reoccurs. One myth of this unforgiving rock was the mysterious death of an inmate found strangled to death in his cell. There were marks of fingerprints surrounding the inmate's throat as well the cell. It is said that a former inmate was found dead in the coldest cell block called "the hole." The hole was dedicated to house prisoners who violated the rules of Alcatraz. The inmate who had passed away in "the hole" haunts the prison. And it was suspected that it was the passed away inmate of "the hole" who had strangeled other inmates to death.
 http://www.yourghoststories.com/famous-ghost-stories/alcatraz-hauntings.php

Site #4. Cameron House--Once home for lost individuals now home for lost souls



Cameron House's history dates back when the early Chinese advanced their way to San Francisco for the hopes of finding gold, building families, and dreams. What was a dream became a nightmare for many especially for women who were tricked and sold to strangers in becoming a prostitute. Donaldina Cameron was one of the few who stood for those women who were abandoned and sold. She risked her life in saving them. She built a house and had a room dedicated for those women when the police and gangs raided her house in searching for them. To better protect the women Donaldina Cameron decided to have the room sealed, therefore she may guarantee their safety. A fire broke out one evening, and since the room was sealed. Unfortunately many of those who dwelled in that sealed room also had their lives sealed away. The house still stands on the hills of Sacramento St in Chinatown. The house has been reconstructioned where it serves as a club for many young Asian teens. The house is still known as Cameron House as well still dwells the lost spirits of the innocent who losted their lives in the flames.                                           
http://www.examiner.com/grandparenting-in-san-francisco/tales-of-san-francisco-ghosts-and-hauntings


There are far more trails of hauntings of San Francisco. It seems as though many disasters, crimes, unsolved mysteries, and wrongful deaths keeps the spirits "alive" revisiting the present when all had occured in the past. On my next blog I will continue to reveal more haunted areas of San Francisco. To be quite honest I have visited some of these areas and to my belief some of these sites seems to have an exsitence of another "energy" I can not describe. However, there is one site in which I am skeptical of. Stow Lake to me seems like an urban legend where the story is so old where it has been passed from one generation to another. When stories are passed down very often the facts are turned or over exaggerated where there are only few parts of it which might be true. The fact that the story was printed in the Chronicle does add some ingredients in validating its story.