Ghost Hunting 101

E-Biking Coast Highway’s Mysterious Landmarks

Star Theater

Opened in the 1950s, The Star Theatre is a beautiful, vintage cinema located in downtown Oceanside. Its ornate interiors and grandeur aside, the theater has long been rumored to be haunted. Guests and staff have reported ghostly figures roaming the projection room, cold drafts in inexplicable places, and electrical/camera equipment power issues. There’s even rumored to be a special seat in the house where the apparition of a man is continuously seen, watching as performers grace the stage.

How to get there: Ride North along the Coast Highway. You’ll see the marquee a few blocks North of Mission Ave.

Fire Station No. 1

Built in 1929 and designed by famed architect Irving Gill, Oceanside’s Fire Station No. 1 is not the typical place you’d expect to find ghosts, but those who’ve worked long nights there have stories to tell. Reports include phantom footsteps, doors mysteriously slamming, and the eerie feeling of being watched. The origin of these hauntings may lie in its inception as a dual-purpose fire station and police station. Three locations seem to have the most paranormal activity: jail cell #1, the “drunk tank,” and the women’s holding cell. All three have been converted into bunks where the firemen refuse to sleep.

How to get there: Ride North along the Coast Highway to downtown Oceanside. Fire Station No. 1 is adjacent to City Hall at 714 Pier View Way

Hill House (Le Citron)

The two-story yellow Victorian-style home on the 101 has been a staple of Oceanside for 135 years, but before it was the home to various restaurants, it was home to a woman who still resides there in spirit. According to news reports, workers at the property have seen the ghost of Sarah Weitzel, the home’s original owner, cruising the hallways and sitting on the patio in a Victorian-era blue dress. The Lady in Blue was said to regularly rattle the walls, push open doors, and turn off the lights whenever she was upset that her circa 1888 home was not being well cared for.

How to get there: Ride North along the Coast Highway. The house is at 524 S Coast Hwy in Oceanside, on the East side of the street.

The Buena Vista Cemetery

What haunting lists is complete without a cemetery?

The Buena Vista Cemetery was located right on the edge of Oceanside and Carlsbad, overlooking the Buena Vista Lagoon.

Now the home to Hunter Steakhouse, this was the earliest cemetery in the area, unless you were Catholic, in which case you could be buried at the Mission San Luis Rey.

The first known burial at the cemetery was in 1885 and the last known was in 1906. It’s not known why burials stopped at Buena Vista. Some believe people became disinterred in the location and moved their loved ones to the newer Oceanside Cemetery located a short distance away.

In 1929, Vista Way was being widened which meant that some of the “residents” would need to be relocated. By this time Oceanview Cemetery had been built and the Buena Vista Cemetery was considered abandoned.

The land the cemetery was on was purchased by a schoolteacher in the 1950s. She wanted to preserve the view of Buena Vista Lagoon from her home on Stewart Street. She later sold the land to a developer who wanted to use the site for commercial properties.

In January 1970, 17 graves were relocated to other resting places. During the grading of the site for use, and during the creation of the ramp for the I-5 freeway, construction workers found additional human remains and coffins. The bodies  were reported to be in nearly perfect condition.

In one grave, the near-new condition of a coffin was observed. Another graves  contained a man holding a flower that had kept much of its color. A glass coffin that was unearthed nearby contained a red-haired woman who was in almost perfect condition. She was dressed in 1800’s attire and was extremely well-preserved.

The remarkable preservation was attributed to a mineral component in the soil and these discoveries were quietly ignored by the developers.

In 1991, Texaco was doing some soil testing on their property (the now-closed Bicycle Warehouse) and discovered 5 more bodies. With no way to identify them, their remains were relocated to another Oceanside cemetery.

In the 1990’s the Oceanside Historical Society had a small granite marker placed on the sidewalk in front of the Hunter Steakhouse Restaurant. The plaque has a list of the known people that were buried at the cemetery.

With all this relocation and unknown graves, this cemetery has to be haunbted, right?

Fast forward to today and guest and employees at Hunter Steakhouse claim to have had supernatural experiences. The restaurant is believed to be extremely haunted, especially in the downstairs bar. Are you brave enough to have a drink and find out for yourself? The food here is heavenly… the ghosts are your call.

How to get there: Hunter Steakhouse is located on the South West corner of Vista Way and the intersection of Interstate 5. You can safely ride there from the 101 along Vista Way.

Buena Vista Lagoon

The Buena Vista Lagoon is located within the cities of Oceanside and Carlsbad. It encompasses approximately 220 acres, extending to the coastline from just east of I-5. The Buena Vista Lagoon is the only freshwater lagoon in Southern California. Aside from the phenomenal bird watching, there just might be other beings in flight here.

The houses and apartment complexes that surround the lagoon have reported many cases of ghostly activity. This is probably because the land across the lagoon was once Oceanside’s Buena Vista Cemetery.

The residents in the area report seeing ghostly apparitions in their backyards and along the lagoon, some even report hearing voices in their houses and apartments.

Dare a ride along this area? There’s a 0.3-mile loop trail that’s good for biking, hiking, walking, and ghost hunting. It starts at the Buena Vista Audubon Nature Center. It’s open year-round and is dog-friendly.

How to get there: Head North on Coast Highway to 2202 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA. This is on the East side of the street, just North of the traffic circle and lagoon.

by the Arizona Eastern Railway,he spring was similar to the world-famous Well No. 9 in Karlsbad, Bohemia (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). The area was named Carlsbad in its honor.

D.D. Wadsworth, a partner in Carlsbad Land and Mineral Water Co, built his house as the mirror image to Schutte’s; they were beachfront homes at the time. At one point, they were operated as inns, serving wealthy clientele with mineral waters and bootleg alcohol during prohibition. The Wadsworth house was torn down in 1950, but Schutte’s home remains standing.

For decades the mansion was the hub of Carlsbad Village and now stands watch over the paranormal. There have always been rumors that the Twin Inns were haunted, and stories about trap-door towers and secret rooms abound.

Tenants in the building say there are multiple spirits in and around the property. Strange unexplained noises are heard at all hours of the day.

It was even reported that a delivery driver walking up the stairs to an office on the top floor passed an oddly dressed little girl sitting near the top of the stairs who smiled at him. When he delivered the package he said, “cute kid” to the two people in the office. They replied that there were no kids around. The driver described the young girl dressed in old-fashioned clothing. They looked at each other and told him that he had seen one of the resident ghosts.

Other apparitions include an adult woman seen looking out of the very top windows of the building, and a group of transparent little girls playing games near the courtyard fountain in the early mornings.

How to get there: The Carlsbad Mansion is located at the intersection of Coast Highway and Carlsbad Village Drive, on the North East corner.

Carlsbad’s Haunted Train Station

Carlsbad’s old Santa Fe Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places. The depot was built in 1907by the Arizona Eastern Railway, replacing the first one that was built in 1887. Santa Fe Depot served as a telegraph office, a Post Office, a Wells Fargo Express Office, and a general store. In its later years it was a shipping point for local fruit (our famous Carlsbad strawberries), vegetables, and flowers.

Closed as a depot in 1960, it was then the home of Carlsbad Visitor’s Information Center. The Visitor’s Center is no longer operating here, but some claim a variety of spirits walk the grounds and the nearby train tracks.

How to get there: Do not confuse this with the actual train station. The Old Santa Fe station is located at 400 Carlsbad Village Drive.

Spooktacular Ride

Wherever your ghost-hunting plans take you, don’t forget to have plenty of lights if you go at night (visibility is critical for night riding), and fully charge your e-bike before you start. It’s rumored that spirits like to drain batteries.

As always, if you need anything to make your ride more comfortable (lights, extra batteries, a loud bell to ward off mean spirits) stop in and see us before you go. Our shop is stocked with accessories and maybe a spirit or two. We are in the basement of the Twin Inn…

Happy hunting!