SAN DIEGO — The Whaley House welcomes families, adults, visitors and San Diego locals to visit one of San Diego's historic attractions. Through the end of February, get half-off admission with a Museum Month pass to tour the iconic house, learn about early San Diego and maybe even interact with the paranormal.
"Every day, there's something that's going on here that we question, and even our guests experience and question if they experienced it," museum manager Jokie Talentino said.
History meets activity at the Whaley House. The historic home was built in 1856 in Old Town and served as a community hub for San Diego for decades.
"It had a lot of great firsts for San Diego, the first county court houses, first commercial theater upstairs and also had an official bilingual general store," Tolentino said. "But, I know that most people are probably more familiar with its haunted reputation."
The eerie legacy of the Whaley House stems from the family's tragic past full of misfortune and early deaths. But some believe it started even before the house was built. Tolentino said the grounds used to be the old execution grounds for San Diego, and Mr. Whaley knew that because he participated in the firing squad.
Jokie Tolentino has worked at the Whaley House for more than 20 years. She's had her fair share of paranormal experiences over the years. She described it as a lot of natural things at unnatural times.
"I've had someone- or something- that has tugged on my clothing, played with my hair, whispers," Tolentino said. "So its not always seeing something, but even when I have seen something, to me they look real they look solid. I didn't realized what I was witnessing until a fraction of a second later."
Clearly, this isn't your typical museum. But aside from a possible paranormal encounter there's a lot to learn about early San Diego.
"We have sort of this kind of living history where we have people dressed up in period clothing, of course, we have the museum decorated as if the Whaley's are still living here, but we also have some exhibit rooms," Tolentino said.
One of these rooms is the archeological dig room. It holds Whaley family items found around the property by San Diego State University's Archeological Field School from 2007 to 2011. Here are pieces of pottery, china and even some old medicine bottles.
One of these bottles has an unidentified liquid still inside of it. Tolentino said it isn't water or alcohol because it would've evaporated and it doesn't appear to be oil based.
But one of the most memorable artifacts in the museum is a doll named Cordelia. Tolentino said they don't know where she came from and don't know where she got the name.
"She came with that name and she's been here, so people love her and they fear her," Tolentino said.
Show your Museum Month pass to an employee at the museum to get half- priced admission for the rest of February. Adult tickets are around $7 with the discount. The tour is self- guided but there will be introductions every 15 minutes and employees dressed in period clothing to answer questions.
You can download a digital Museum Month pass or pick one up at a number of local libraries.