prospect park redlands haunted

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El Chicano, Colton Courier, Rialto Record

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Haunted Redlands – fact or fiction?

• Inland Empire Weekly

IECN photo Kaytlin Gretzner: The Barton Mansion was built in the 1800s and paranormal investigators have reported apparitions of a demon inside the property.

The city of Redlands is allegedly one of the most haunted towns in America.

From apparitions of a boy swinging on a swing at Mariposa Elementary School, to hearing footsteps run across the stage at Prospect Park to an even more frightening demonic face that appears inside Barton Mansion. There is no doubt that Redlands is the ultimate city to ghost hunt.

Redlands’ Mariposa Elementary School is filled with happy students by day, but at night it’s known to be extremely quiet, dark and eerie.

In the 1950s a boy named Billy was happily riding a bike and was suddenly hit by a bus in front of the school.

Although Billy later died at a nearby hospital, many claim that he still wanders the school grounds.

It has been reported in several different cases that if you knock on the nurse’s office door, someone will knock back. There have also been reports of Billy rocking the swings back and forth, from time to time.

“I visited Mariposa Elementary School with my older sister and her boyfriend when I was about 15 years old,” said Arnie Lopez, San Bernardino resident. “It was a Friday night and we went to knock on the nurse’s door and sure enough, something knocked back. I never ran so fast in my life.”

School officials say that there is no paranormal activity going on whatsoever, which is understandable when you do not want the public trespassing the school grounds in the wee hours of the night.

“I have been to Mariposa Elementary and knocked on the nurse’s door at midnight, and the AC clicks on and the door is vacuumed in and knocks back,” said Yucaipa resident, Rob Thorpe.

“I used to run around Kimberly Crest and Prospect Park making the security guards chase my friends and me, while running from the guard, someone reached out from one of the orange trees as I passed and grabbed a hold of me, and it was not one of the people I was with. Scared the living poo out of me,” continued Thorpe.

Prospect Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in California, located on the hillside of Redlands, also known by locals as ‘Sunny-side Redlands.’

In 2013, a man was arrested for raping and murdering a woman, and afterward, her dead body was discovered in the park.

It has also been a popular hangout and sleeping spot for the homeless; with even more dead bodies have been reported from time to time.

Prospect Park is also thought to be a prime location for Satan worshipers to gather at night according to aboutredlands.com.

The most popular tale in regards to this park is about an 11-year-old girl named Lee Ann who was walking home from Kingsbury Elementary School and was abducted while taking a short cut through the rugged orange groves.

She was later found dead, naked, and thrown under the stage in the middle of Prospect Park.

“I had an eerie experience at Prospect Park. The street lights were all flickering and I heard footsteps and items falling or banging from backstage of the theater,” said Elizabeth Dillon, Redlands resident.

Although many people claim to experience supernatural activity at this park, others do not seem to have the same luck.

“My friends and I visited the park last year and nothing happened, it’s just really creepy at night. You can easily trick yourself into hearing or seeing a thing,” said Redlands resident, Joel Morris.

Although some people’s experiences are a laughing matter, when multiple people spot the same demonic face throughout an old Victorian mansion, that is a totally different story.

Barton Mansion is also known to have been a popular rendezvous up spot for Satan worshipers.

There are also claims that this home was built on top of ancient Native American burial grounds.

Additionally, the home once served as an insane asylum and a prison. Today Barton Mansion serves as a law office.

The Mansion was built in the 1860s and became a hot spot after paranormal investigators posted a video of their findings online in the early 2000s.

The video investigation can be found on YouTube, by simply typing, ‘Barton Mansion’ in the search bar.

In the video, the group of paranormal investigators is investigating the home, when moments later they encounter and capture an apparition of a demon.

There has been much debate as to whether the video is real or not.

“People have reported an intense feeling of being watched by a very unwelcoming source. Disembodied voices have been heard and shadowy figures have been seen darting up and down the staircase,” according to hauntedplaces.org.

Now, whether you believe in the unknown and you are looking to encounter the paranormal, or if you feel that all of these reported incidents are totally bogus, dig deeper, do your research, and maybe visit one of our top three haunted Redlands locations: if you dare.

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The ultimate ghost town

Manny Sandoval

The City of Redlands is deemed to be one of the most haunted towns in America.

From apparitions of a boy swinging on a swing at Mariposa Elementary School, to hearing footsteps run across the stage at Prospect Park to an even more frightening demonic face that appears inside The Barton Mansion. There is no doubt that Redlands is the ultimate city to ghost hunt.

The Barton Mansion was built in the 1800s and paranormal investigators have reported apparitions of a demon inside the property.

Redland’s Mariposa Elementary school is filled with happy students by day, but at night its known to be extremely quiet, dark and eerie.

In the 1950’s, a boy named Billy was happily riding a bike and was suddenly hit by a bus in front of the school.

Although Billy later died at a nearby hospital, many claim that he still wanders the school grounds.

It has been reported in several different cases that if you knock on the nurse’s office door, someone will knock back. There have also been reports of Billy rocking the swings back and forth, from time to time.

“I visited Mariposa Elementary school with my older sister and her boyfriend when I was about 15 years old,” said Arnie Lopez, San Bernardino resident. “It was a Friday night and we went to knock on the office door/nurses door and sure enough, something knocked back. I never ran so fast in my life.”

School officials claim that there is no paranormal activity going on whatsoever, which is understandable when you do not want the public trespassing the school grounds in the wee hours of the night.

“I have been to Mariposa Elementary and knocked on the nurse’s door at midnight, and the AC clicks on and the door is vacuumed in and knocks back,” said Yucaipa resident, Rob Thorpe.

“I use to run around Kimberly Crest and Prospect Park making the security guards chase my friends and me, while running from the guard, someone reached out one of the orange trees as I passed and grabbed a hold of me, and it was not one of the people I was with. Scared the living poo out of me,” continued Thorpe.

Prospect Park is beautiful by day, but sketchy, dark, and eerie by night.

Speaking of Prospect Park, this is also another blood-curdling location that ghosts’ often tend to be seen or heard at.

Prospect Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in California, located on the hillside of Redlands, also known by locals as “Sunny-side Redlands.”

In 2013, a man was arrested for raping and murdering a woman, and afterward, her dead body was discovered in the park.

It has also been a popular hangout and sleeping spot for the homeless; which even more dead bodies have been reported from time to time.

Prospect Park is also thought to be a prime location for Satan worshipers to gather at night according to aboutredlands.com.

The most popular tale in regards to this park is about an 11-year-old girl named Lee Ann who was walking home from Kingsbury Elementary school and was abducted while taking a short cut through the rugged orange groves.

These are the exact orange groves that 11-year-old Lee Ann was abducted from in the 1950’s.

She was later found dead, naked, and thrown under the theater stage in the middle of Prospect Park.

“I had an eerie experience at Prospect Park. The street lights were all flickering and I heard footsteps and items falling or banging from backstage of the theater,” said Elizabeth Dillon, Redlands resident.

Although many people claim to experience supernatural activity at this park, others do not seem to have the same luck.

“My friends and I visited the park last year and nothing happened, it’s just really creepy at night. You can easily trick yourself into hearing or seeing something,” said Los Angeles resident Joel Morris.

The Barton Mansion was once used as an insane asylum and a prison; today it’s used as a law office.

Although some people’s experiences are a laughing matter, when multiple people spot the same demonic face throughout an old Victorian mansion, that is a totally different story.

The Barton Mansion is also known to have been a popular meet up spot for Satan worshipers. There are also claims that this home was built on top of ancient Native American burial grounds. Also, the home once served as an insane asylum and a prison.

Today, the Barton Mansion serves as a law office.

The Mansion was built in the 1860’s and became a hot spot after paranormal investigators posted a video of their findings online in the early 2000’s. The video investigation can be found on YouTube.

In the video, the group of paranormal investigators is investigating the home, when moments later they encounter and capture an apparition of a demon.

There has been much debate as to whether the video is real or not.

“People have reported an intense feeling of being watched by a very unwelcoming source. Disembodied voices have been heard and shadowy figures have been seen darting up and down the staircase,” according to hauntedplaces.org.

Now, whether you believe in the unknown and you are looking to encounter the paranormal, or if you feel that all of these reported incidents are totally bogus, dig deeper, do your research, and maybe visit one of our top three Haunted Redlands locations: if you dare.

The writer and photographer anticipated going deeper into Prospect Park to capture a photo of the theater, which is in the middle of the park, but they were frightened by the darkness and noises coming from the unknown.

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The Ultimate Guide to Haunted Houses in Redlands

Travel Guides Last updated Aug. 08, 2023

• Written by: About Redlands
• Published: 09/28/18

Redlands is one of the oldest cities in California. And despite all its small-town charm, it’s well-known for being haunted. In fact, Redlands is considered by many to be the ultimate Ghost Town.

The majority of the houses are very old, featuring Victorian architecture. The town itself has a long rich history that is the substance of many a ghost story. This is a self-guided tour. All homes are privately owned, with the exception of Kimberly Crest. Please be respectful as you explore. 

BONUS: How to make tombstones on a budget after Kimberly Crest's information.

A Self-Guided Tour of Redlands Haunted Houses

1. morey mansion.

The story of the mansion goes that David and Sarah Morey built the house for $20,000 in 1890 from their profits in the citrus industry. The house, which cost about 20 times more than other houses in the area, was built by shipbuilders who also worked for David Morey in one of his other ventures.

About one year after David and Sarah moved into the house, Sarah died of a sudden illness. Grief-stricken, David Morey never stepped back into the house. He fell into a deep alcoholism and moved into the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Within a year he had committed suicide and was found hanging in his room.

Many guests have reported paranormal activity from hearing objects falling to loud bangs in other rooms, without finding any reason. Door knobs have also been heard rattling in the middle of the night. And, there have been reports that doors will open and close. That you can hear the sound of children can be heard playing, when no children are playing.

This lovely mansion was once a bed and breakfast, but it is now under private ownership. Apparently, for good reason, many of the guests to the Bed and Breakfast complained to the then owners of several apparitions including a little girl, an old man (who was once a caretaker for the mansion), and a young boy have been seen. Although most sightings seemed friendly in nature they still scarred off a lot of the clientele.

Morey Mansion is located at 190 Terracina Blvd. Private resident. Drive by only.

2. Barton Mansion

One of the more famous Haunted Houses in Redlands is the Barton Mansion built by Dr. Benjamin Barton. Originally a ranch and vineyard, the Barton house is one of the oldest buildings in the Inland Empire. It has recently been refurbished, but for many years it was an extremely sinister-looking, run-down mansion.

It is made of brick, an uncommon site in Southern California due to earthquakes, and it is completely square with few features. During its run-down years, it was a challenge among many teenagers to find a way onto the roof, where they would put their name on a certain stone. Part of the challenge was figuring out how to get up there. The other half was being brave enough to actually enter the intimidating house. 

The inside of the house was filled with rotting wood and weak staircases, while the floor was covered with a layer of newspaper pages. A scary-looking place with a sinister prescience, usually on the third and fourth floors seems to be where most activity occurs. Closet doors push open, cold temps wash over you, and when exiting the Mansion, a figure can be seen watching you walk downstairs from the third floor. 

Some visitors have witnessed a demonic face watching them and can be seen coming from a closet that suddenly opens. At certain points inside the Barton Road Mansion, you feel watched, and definitely not welcome. The house was notorious for attracting squatters, hobos, and — of course — this generated rumors of devil worshipers. It has been a prime location for ghost stories to take root.

BARTON MANSION 20 Nevada St. Private resident. Drive by only.

3. Mariposa Elementary School

Redlands’ Mariposa Elementary School is filled with happy students by day, but at night it's known to be extremely quiet, dark, and eerie. (It’s located at 30800 Palo Alto Dr.)

In the 1960s, a boy named Billy was happily riding a bike and was suddenly hit by a bus in front of the school. Although Billy later died at a nearby hospital, many claim he still wanders the school grounds. It has been reported in several different cases that if you knock on the nurse’s office door, someone will knock back.

There have also been reports of Billy rocking the swings back and forth from time to time.

I visited Mariposa Elementary school with my older sister and her boyfriend when I was about 15 years old. It was a Friday night and we went to knock on the office door/nurses door and sure enough, something knocked back. I never ran so fast in my life. Arnie Lopez, San Bernardino Resident

School officials claim that there is no paranormal activity going on whatsoever. This is an understandable stance when you do not want the public trespassing on the school grounds in the wee hours of the night. Yet, the testimonials persist.

I have been to Mariposa Elementary and knocked on the nurse’s door at midnight, and the AC clicks on and the door is vacuumed in and knocks back. Yucaipa resident, Rob Thorpe. SOURCE: CSUSB Manny Boy Sandoval

4. Kimberly Crest

Kimberly Crest is reportedly haunted by a previous owner named Mary Kimberly Shirk. Tours of Kimberly Crest are docent-guided and include the first two floors of the house plus the Carriage House Museum. Docent-guided tours are the only way to gain access to the interior of the house. Tickets may be purchased in the Carriage House Gift Shop.

The three-story, 7,000-square-foot estate was originally built in 1897 for a wealthy New York widow named Cornelia Hill. It was designed in the style of a French chateau by architects Oliver Perry Dennis and Lyman Farwell. In December 1905, the residence was purchased by John Alfred Kimberly, one of the founders of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, whose family used it as a winter residence. The Kimberlys transformed the property’s 6.25-acre grounds into elaborate Italianate gardens.

When the Kimberlys passed away, the residence was inherited by their youngest daughter, Mary Kimberly Shirk, a philanthropist. In the late 1960s, a developer threatened to demolish Prospect Park, a 39-acre site located adjacent to the Kimberly Crest House, and turn it into a mobile home community. 

The City of Redlands wanted to thwart the plans, but came up $60,000 short in the funds needed to do so. To encourage citizens to donate to the cause, Mary promised to deed her famous home to the city if enough money was raised to save the park. The funds came through and upon her death in 1979, the historic property was bequeathed to the people of Redlands.

Today the site serves as a special events venue and is also open for tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays .

The movie Hell Night (exterior filmed at Kimberly Crest) may have added to the rumors of the mansion being haunted.

Kimberly Crest 1325 Prospect Dr. in Redlands, Ca.

Bonus: Victorian House Enthusiasts

Originally Redlands Community Hospital in 1903-1904, now a medical office for Mission Pediatrics. In 1903 a group of Redlands physicians remodeled this home at 114 W Vine Street and converted it into a temporary clinic hospital. 

Physicians and the Community soon raised $15,000 to build Redlands’ first official hospital at 302 Nordina Street, Construction was completed in November 1904. In 1929 the Hospital moved to its current site at 350 Terracina Boulevard.

Mission Pediatrics Inc. is recognized in the community for its quality, excellence, ethics, compassion, and caring service. They provide this by maintaining a culture of teamwork and conscientiousness and by strongly emphasizing teaching both to promote health and to prevent illness & disease.

How to make Halloween tombstones on a budget with Dr. Tim Watson.

Our staff dresses in costumes incorporating whimsy and humor with every patient experience. The cure for the common clinic. Dr. Watson

Mission Pediatrics Inc.

Specializing in full-service pediatric care with 24-hour on-call hospital care, our board certified pediatricians provide quality and accessible healthcare in the California cities of Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Perris.

Redlands Hospital 1903-1904.

Mission Pediatrics, Inc. 2018.

Victorian themed rooms.

Dr. Watson and his team dress up daily.

Every child can view the wall art no matter how talk. See the magnifying glass?

The staff dresses in Victorian clothing every day.

Our staff dresses in costumes incorporating whimsy and humor with every patient experience. The cure for the common clinic.

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Prospect Park

Hello everyone! This is a friendly reminder that any of these fun places we may visit, we are a guest at. Please treat both businesses and trails with the utmost respect. We here at Hidden California follow the 'Leave no Trace' mantra, meaning whatever you bring with you comes back with you. If you see trash on a trail, please do your part to help remove it. Remember, we are not picking up trash from another person but instead cleaning up for Mother Nature. Happy adventures!

1352 Prospect Dr.

Redlands, ca 92373.

34.0392619697, -117.1723763464

Dog-Friendly: Yes     Kid-Friendly:  Yes

Hours:  5am-9pm daily

About Prospect Park

Prospect Park is an 11.4 nature park located in Redlands.  This is an excellent spot for picnics and photoshoots with endless scenic nooks and crannies.  The park holds the outdoor-seating Avice Meeker Sewall Theater for 400+ people which is where the Redlands Summer Theater Festival is held.

Before it became Prospect Park, the land was originally purchased from the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1881.  The land cost $1.25 per acre! The area was originally used as a boarding house for laborers which later become the first hotel in Redlands.  Guests paid $1 for a night at the hotel.

In 1888 the hotel closed as competitors built other hotels closer to the railroad.  In 1891 wallpaper businessman John Breed purchased the Prospect House as his personal home. Breed went on to become a prominent man in Redlands. He became the director of the Redlands Orange Grove and Water Co. and served as a library trustee with Alfred Smiley.

While you’re in the area, make sure to visit the Mission Inn Hotel!

Sadly the Prospect House was destroyed by fire sometime before 1927.  The carriage section of his barn was salvaged though and is still on the grounds today which is used for both public and private events.

Breed had also planted orange trees on his property and had 15 teams grading Prospect Hill in 1893.  In 1896, Breed sold the property to Thomas Y. England who added more fruit trees and unique plants, a pond with goldfish, walls adorned with rose bushes and so much more!  When the park was finished it even had a few presidential visits, including William McKinley in 1901 and later Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.

Their is also a gorgeous Victorian home on the grounds called the Kimberly Crest . It was closed due to Covid when we visited, but trust me,  will be back!

Haunted? Sadly, during our research of Prospect Park, we learned that there have been some very disturbing murders over the years.  The most prominent murder is probably that of a young girl whose body was found above the amphitheater.

You can learn more about it here as I’ll leave the details out.  People have reported seeing apparitions of a young girl wearing the same clothes the victim was wearing the night she was murdered.

One person recounts “I used to run around Prospect Park making the security guards chase my friends and me, while running from the guard, someone reached out from one of the orange trees as I passed and grabbed a hold of me, and it was not one of the people I was with. Scared the living poo out of me.”

Personal Experience

This is definitely a very beautiful park, and for that reason, also very popular.  Plan on not being the only one here and most likely dodging people being photographed.  This spot is very photogenic afterall!

The bamboo forest was my favorite part.  Although not a super complex grove to navigate through, it was long enough to feel like a mini-adventure and made for some cool photos!

We made sure to have lunch at Tios Tacos on our way up here, but there are plenty of other great food spots even closer.

Make sure to follow our other website too!

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One response.

No one was ever murdered above or below the amphitheater. Just an urban legend that lingers around because some people want to believe it’s true and therefore keep on sharing it. Check the facts people.

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Redlands rife with stories of hauntings

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REDLANDS – Leonard Smith wants to believe he is among friends when he works his way around the grounds of the Burrage Mansion.

Smith, the groundskeeper at the mansion for the past five years, has a handful of stories that can be described only as paranormal in nature – doors slamming, objects moving on their own, strange noises and voices.

And if these moments had been unfriendly, perhaps Smith wouldn’t return.

“I knew there was a presence there,” Smith said of one of the first “moments” he experienced at the mansion. “It seemed like a good presence. It didn’t seem like a troublemaker.”

Redlands has become somewhat of a hotbed for these types of stories – tales of haunted houses, haunted mansions and haunted parks are scattered across the Internet.

Some of these tales go back years and years. There are traditional ghost stories set at the University of Redlands and at Mariposa Elementary School. And there are more graphic tales, many of them associated with Prospect Park.

The Morey Mansion has own apparitions – two young children and the mansion’s former caretaker supposedly roam the grounds.

“Some people believe in ghosts, some people don’t,” said Ellen Timothy, executive director at the Burrage Mansion. “No one has ever been hurt by a ghost here.”

The ghost stories at the University of Redlands have been so captivating that it led one former student to write a book about it.

Roberta Smith’s “Chapel Playhouse” is loosely based on the tales surrounding the school’s “Little Theatre.” The theater was eventually torn down, in its place at the moment is the school’s Gannet Center.

The story, which dates back at least four decades, focuses around a female drama student. She performed in an opening night performance as the lead in a play but disappeared for the second night and a search ensued. As the story goes, that student was killed several days prior to the opening night and it was her ghost, a “White Lady,” that received the rave reviews.

The stories of a little boy haunting Mariposa Elementary School spread so quickly – it drew hundreds of visitors to the campus after hours – that the Redlands Police Department was forced to install surveillance equipment not only to monitor the trespassers but also to dispel the story.

“We were wasting so much manpower on making trips up there that we had to do something,” city public information officer Carl Baker said.

There are various versions of this story, which center around the death of a young boy named Billy. One version has the boy playing with a ball at night – only the ball is visible. Another version has the boy inside an office in the administration building – knock on that room door after hours and someone knocks back.

“As far as the Mariposa story, there is no truth behind it,” Baker said. “No child has been killed, there has been no such incident.”

Google “Prospect Park” and “haunted” and an assortment of stories and videos provide details of strange happenings at the popular community park.

The park, rumors say, has been frequented by Satan worshippers and was the site of what is an unconfirmed murder.

Smith said the encounters at the Burrage Mansion have subsided. The encounters he experienced occurred within the first year of joining the staff there – some mild, others very creepy.

“We were new there,” Smith said. “Maybe they didn’t want us there and tried to get us to go. Who knows? Maybe they were just playing with us. No one knows.”

Contact Ed via email , by phone at 909-259-9320, or on Twitter @TheFactsEd .

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