SDSU Professor Seth Mallios leads students on a hunt for the past.

SDSU anthropology professor Seth Mallios and his team of students are spending their summer in a way only they would enjoy – inside a long-buried well at what’s been called the most haunted house in the United States.   

With the support of the County of San Diego and Save Our Heritage Organisation, Mallios is excavating the site of a long-buried cistern and nearby privy, or outhouse, on the property of the historic Whaley House in Old Town San Diego. SDSU’s South Coastal Information Center and students from SDSU’s Department of Anthropology field school are assisting with the dig.

“The Whaley House is an important part of San Diego history and the items being found hold answers to questions about one of San Diego most notable and tragic families,” said Mallios.  “With its central location, public access, and rich heritage, the Whaley House could become one of the premier sites in the country for urban archaeology.”

SDSU archaeology students excavate an area
of the historic Whaley House in Old Town
San Diego.

Digging Among Ghosts?

According to the Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted, the house is the number one most haunted house in the United States. Mallios and his students are excavating areas that could hold some of the those haunted secrets as both the cistern and privy played important roles in a dark chapter of Whaley House history. On July 5, 1885, Thomas Whaley’s 22-year-old daughter Violet attempted suicide by jumping into the cistern. She was rescued by her father. Although her first suicide attempt was unsuccessful, Violet Whaley fatally shot herself with her father’s 32-calibre pistol in the backyard privy several weeks later. At the coroner’s inquest, Thomas Whaley reported raising the lids and seeing the gun barrel “protruding.” It is possible that the weapon is still buried at the site.

The location of the Whaley cistern was pinpointed using Thomas Whaley’s 1872 map of the property on which the cistern was indicated by a circle inside a square approximately 20 feet behind the house. A slight sunken circular indentation in the brick walkway confirmed its location. The privy, or outhouse, was also located using Whaley’s map.

Few houses in San Diego are as historically important as the Whaley House. In addition to being the Whaley Family home, it housed a granary, the County Court House, San Diego's first commercial theater, various businesses including Thomas Whaley's own general store, a ballroom, a billiard hall, school, and polling place. 

Students sift through dirt searching
for artifacts buried beneath the
Whaley House.

One Person's Trash, Another's Treasure

This summer, SDSU students found more than 5,000 artifacts including a stovetop and a porcelain denture tooth. After 1,000 hours of fieldwork last summer, the team discovered more than 30,000 artifacts inside the rainwater cistern including numerous complete bottles, pottery, animal bones, architectural debris and tools, some dating back to the late 19th century.  The field school is expected to continue next summer when Mallios hopes to reach the bottom of the cistern, where the artifacts have been preserved for more than a century.

Following this year's dig, Mallios and his team will return to the lab to analyze, test and catalog their findings. A complete report on last summer's dig is available at http://whaleyhouse.org/archeology.htm.

Related information

• SDSU's South Coastal Information Center
• SDSU Department of Anthropology
• Seth Mallios Homepage
• Whaley House History

Credits

• Story by Gina Speciale
• Graphics by John Signer
• Edited by Coleen Geraghty