The Haunted Adobe- Long Beach, CA

The day was a perfect Southern CA autumn day- cool and a little windy. An ideal day to embark on a grand adventure. I was making my way to Long Beach, CA to meet a group of ghost hunters that were going to explore a haunted adobe. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was heading over there with an open mind and my camera in hand.

To better understand this California historic site let me give you a little background. The haunted adobe, better known as the Rancho Los Cerritos adobe, was built in 1844 and is an important part of early California history. In 1784 Manuel Nieto received a grant from the Spanish government giving him 300,000 acres of California land and in 1834 his daughter, Manuela Cota, received 27,000 acres of his huge estate. With her husband and twelve children she built two adobes on this land and they raised a large herd of cattle. When Cota died her children sold the land to John Temple, who was a successful cattle rancher from Massachusetts and was the builder of the two-story Rancho Los Cerritos adobe. After an economic downturn in the California cattle industry Temple sold his property in 1866 to Thomas and Benjamin Flint and their cousin Lewellyn Bixby, who were all sheep ranchers. During this prosperous time, 1866 to 1881, many Flint and Bixby family members were born, lived, and died in the adobe. From 1890 to 1927, the adobe housed a number of different tenants and finally fell into disrepair before being renovated in 1930 and then given to the city of Long Beach in 1955. Needless to say between the Native American tribes and all the families that lived on this land there was a varied and rich past. Circumstances ripe for a ghostly encounter.

The ghost hunting group had visited this site before and were sure there would be some activity. We had a docent that took us around the adobe as many photos were snapped and voice recorders utilized to capture EVP. For those that aren’t familiar with EVP it stands for electronic voice phenomenon and is the communication of ghosts through tape recorders or other electronic devices. Three people in the group, myself included, had never done this before, but the other seven people had.

There were a number of rooms downstairs, but none seemed to have anything unusual in them to me. However, when I entered one room upstairs I got a little dizzy and felt strange, but I wasn’t if was due to a presence in the house or the Starbuck’s hot chocolate I’d powered down 20 minutes before. I noticed one girl in the group linger outside of a particular room and one man looked a little ill at one point. When the hour long tour was over we thanked the docent and the group reconvened outside to share their experiences.

The man who looked ill had gotten something on his voice recorder. He said it was the voice of a female who was saying some shocking things. He didn’t elaborate as to what was being said though. One girl in the group was a psychic that was used to seeing and communicating with ghosts. She confirmed there was definitely a presence in the house and it belonged to a young girl who was not a friendly spirit. I can’t say when I walked through the house I felt or saw anything out the ordinary and when I got home I looked through the many photos I took, but didn’t capture anything beyond what I saw when I was there.

It was definitely a fun adventure and I really enjoyed meeting the people in the group. I can say that I can’t wait for my next ghost hunting adventure. The next time you are in Southern California I’d recommend a visit to the Rancho Los Cerritos adobe, which is located at 4600 Virginia Road in Long Beach, CA. Who knows maybe you’ll be the one to hear a whisper in your ear or photograph a ghostly face in an orb.