Joshua Dowidat

Haunted Places: Hotel San Carlos

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I have been slacking on getting these out on Mondays as usual but I have been busy. Once again we will be going over another haunted place in Arizona as this segment continues forward. This time we will discuss the Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hotel San Carlos:

The hotel opened its doors in 1928. Located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona the hotel has left its classic look of its original era and has attracted many guests by doing so. The look of the roaring twenties and the sign that bares its name stretching down five-stories of the building show the greatness that the hotel once and still boasts.

To me it eerily resemble the hotel from one of the seasons of “American Horror Story.”

Many famous guests stayed here during the rise of the silver screen days. Marilyn Monroe was a frequent ad well as Carol Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Yuma Territorial Prison

Hello Everyone,

I might have forgotten to mention that the haunted places I am currently doing all reside in Arizona. Maybe after a few more you might have guessed it for any of you who are locals. This week we are going to discuss another place that I have had the pleasure of visiting. The Yuma Territorial Prison.

A Good Location for a Prison:

Many of you familiar with the cities in Arizona, have most likely heard of Yuma. Bordering California it sits as far west as one can almost go in Arizona. Although many think of the sand dunes immediately when the think of Yuma there is other ecosystems there as well. Lush tributaries break off from the Colorado River providing good soil and water resources for farming.

Because of this water in the middle of such an arid climate the area could sustain life. And what better place Continue reading →

Haunted Places: The Birdcage Theater

Hello Everyone,

It is time for me to start a new set of blogs on here and this one happens to be more haunted places. Or at least places that have some eerie history that gives them the potential to be haunted. However, most of them have some sort of story and are considered to be haunted. To start it out we are going to hear a little about one of my favorites that happens to be only an hour away. It’s a little building in the famous town of Tombstone called The Birdcage Theater.

The Birdcage Theater:

The Birdcage Theater as mentioned, resides in the town to tough to die, Tombstone. Many of us have seen the movies or movies that are filmed in Tombstone. Most of them concentrate around the “Shoot-out at the OK Corral” or the Earp brothers and their stories.

Yet, nestled there on the main Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Valley of the Kings

Hello Everyone,

Because the last haunted place was somewhere other than the United States or Europe I decided to keep it out of those two places again. At least for now. So we are going to discuss the Valley of the Kings today.

What I like about this haunted location is that often times people forget that it is in fact a form of a cemetery but more so a different type of burial ground. Still, it is a place where those who were deceased were laid to rest.

Often times we do not view these locations that have a high historical significance or and archaeological significance to be a form of graveyard. When in fact that is exactly what they are. We just forget that sometimes with the hype of the new discoveries and the claims to fame from those that discover it.

Valley of the Kings:

The thing Continue reading →

Haunted Places: La Recoleta

Hello Everyone,

Well another haunted place is here and once again it is a cemetery. Wanted to change it up a little bit so that’s why I chose to do one outside of America and Europe where it seems that many of the haunted places have been. La Recoleta is found in a little place called South America.

La Recoleta:

First off I know that South America is by no means small, just a little humor.

La Recoleta is more precisely situated in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once again, not a small place at all. Buenos Aires is home to more than 2.9 million people and has a growing economy with tourism, industrial and commercial factors contributing. However, that is not what we are concentrating on. We want to hear about the cemetery, don’t we?

La Recoleta Cemetery is named for the neighborhood by the same name that it is located Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Boot Hill

Hello Everyone,

As many of my southeastern Arizona followers know, Boot Hill is the famous cemetery just outside of Tombstone, Arizona. This cemetery is famous for its notable tombstones that share both humorous messages and also some eerie pasts.

What Boot Hill?

Well as it turns out, there are numerous “Boot Hill” cemeteries across the western parts of the United States of America. This is because it was a common saying for the burial grounds of gunfighters that were more prone to be living in these parts.

The term basically means that they died with their boots on.

Tombstone’s Boot Hill, a little History:

First off, the cemetery was not always in the location that we know it to be today. The cemetery was relocated to the current area in 1884 and is the resting place of over 250 people. This included everyone at the time. It could be the Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Howard Street Cemetery

Hello Everyone,

Because the holidays are rapidly approaching and Halloween is behind us it seems that there may be nothing eerie left to talk about. Don’t worry, I have some good topics that are relevant. Until then I am going to discuss some other topics but also concentrate on another segment. A segment that will include the Howard Street Cemetery.

What, where, why?

Well, I hope you can all tell that Howard Street Cemetery is in fact a cemetery because it is in the name. The “why” should also be fairly predictable by now, because it’s haunted. Now a very interesting and eerie fact about the cemetery is the location. A location that resides in the United States of America and is famous for its eerie past. That place my dear friends is Salem, Massachusetts.

Howard Street Cemetery Eerie Past:

So many of us know about the Salem Witch Trials Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Hudson River State Hospital

Hello Everyone,

Yes I know I drifted away a little from the haunted places over the last month but that was to concentrate on the Halloween Holiday. So once again here we are and the haunted place today is the Hudson River State Hospital.

Hudson River State Hospital:

The hospital was opened in 1871 and served its purpose as a hospital for the purposes of psychiatric care. It first 40 patients were admitted then but the construction was far from complete as the hospital grew over the next 25 years. The hospital seemed to slow down gradually with its treatments over the next century because new means of care were introduced and thus eliminated the larger buildings such as the Hudson River State Hospital.

The hospital which still stands in New York was sold to an unnamed buyer when the hospital closed its doors. The gothic design of the hospital Continue reading →

Haunted Place: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Hospital

Hello Everyone,

So here it is. Another haunted place and what do you know? It’s a hospital. A hospital for the insane but also other people as well. For some reason the fact that it held the mentally insane, just like the previous posts, makes you move a little more into the eerie realm. I think, and I am sure many agree, that the tortured souls of this world seem to have a better grasp on inheriting a place in the afterlife amongst us. At least that’s what it seems like most people believe.

The Haunted Place, the Hospital:

It took almost thirty years to construct and was originally started in 1864 and completed, at least for the most part, in 1881. It was in operation in 1864 and was originally designed to house 250 patients. The hospital did not close its doors until 1994. I know, it seems Continue reading →

Haunted Places: Utica State Hospital

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my new segment of blogs, haunted places. This segment will consist of many different types of haunted places such as; graveyards, asylums, hospitals, ghost towns, hotels, and more. Ranging anywhere from the well-developed stories to the more forgotten that I can get my hands on, they will be the focus for some time now.

Utica State Hospital:

As one of the first places in the great country of America to care for the mentally ill, Utica opened January 16, 1843 in, obviously, Utica, New York. Utica is one of the highest populated cities in New York where this Hospital was once originally called, “New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica.” Probably changed the name due to people not wanting to live so close by. What do you think?

It is actually a very beautifully built hospital resembling the designs of building in Washington D.C. that mimic Continue reading →