Queen Anne Hotel, San Francisco
San Francisco is saturated with Victorian buildings, yet few are quite as glorious as the Queen Anne Hotel. This historic building has graced the Pacific Heights area since 1890 and was, fortunately, able to survive the destruction caused by the 1906 Earthquake, which devasted San Francisco.
The original purpose of this building was actually not to house hotel guests. This spectacular place was originally an elite boarding school for girls within the city of San Francisco. The Mary Lake School for Girls was one that was shrouded in controversy. It was built by Senator James Fair, supposedly for his mistress, Mary Lake.
Mary was a proud headmistress, looking after up to 100 young girls at a time. Her establishment was recognized within the community and a place that saw upper-class youth molded into polite, socially acceptable women of the time. Yet, the school’s operation was to be short-lived. Financial strain saw the closure of the school in 1896. Since then, the building has been used for many differing purposes, before eventually being converted into a hotel in the 1980s.
Hauntings of the Queen Anne Hotel
The Queen Anne Hotel is commonly thought to be one of the most haunted places in the city of San Francisco. There have been many claims of the paranormal to center around this stunning Victorian building made from both staff and hotel guests.
The main ghost said to haunt the Queen Anne Hotel is that of its former headmistress, Mary Lake! Mary’s former school was a place she loved dearly and it is believed she has returned to her former abode since her death. She has been sighted by countless people within the hotel, being described as a mist-like woman wearing period clothing. Not only has she been seen, but her presence has been felt and reported by many.
Guests need not worry about this additional house guest, for Mary is a kind spirit. She is thought to genuinely look out for visitors to her home and has even been known to unpack guests belongings from their travel bags. Paranormal activity caused by Mary is most commonly reported in Room 410. This is the location of Mary’s former office and the place where her spirit is thought to spend the majority of its time.
Visiting the Haunted Queen Anne Hotel
The Queen Anne Hotel exists in the affluent suburb of Pacific Heights in San Francisco. It is open to the public daily with boutique hotel rooms for rent available for purchase online.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to learn about some other nearby haunted houses in San Francisco.
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