Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Visit Haunted Sites in Santa Fe


Santa Fe is a city located in New Mexico unlike any other in the United States. Visitors new to the city feel as if they have taken a step back to a simpler time. Set upon a desert backdrop, this city has taken its natural surroundings to heart. If you are planning a visit to Santa Fe, be sure to spend your mornings shopping and dining at some of the finest cuisine this country has to offer. If you have a spirit for some spooky adventures, save your nights for exploring some of Santa Fe’s more “haunted” sites.
A building that was erected in 1905, called the Grant Corner Inn is considered by locals to be haunted by ghosts. The owners, a judge and his wife, gave birth to a very ill child that suffered from many afflictions, causing the wife to devote all her time to the child's care. Despite her constant attention, the child would continually cry when the mother took time out of her schedule to visit with friends in the parlor downstairs. He died a few years later and it is said that his presence lingers on and is responsible for turning the lights on and off in the room he once occupied. Visitors have heard doors slamming, despite the fact that the rooms being completely vacant. It has been said that most of the paranormal activity occurs in Room 4 and Room 8. Some employees and guests have also reported seeing the apparition of a woman (supposedly the judge’s tormented wife) in the hallway of the second floor.
Remember the movie “Poltergeist” where an entire new subdivision was built on top of an old graveyard, unbeknownst to the new owners? Now, imagine that an entire office building was built atop an old cemetery. This is what happened when the PERA (Public Employees Retirement Association) decided to build its structure on top of an old Spanish/American graveyard. Employees of PERA are quick to point out that the building is quite haunted and that these spirits make it a point to make their presence known. There have been unexplained noises like loud moans, as well as actual apparitions of a female figure that lingers on the third floor. Employees also report that when climbing up or down the stairwell, it often feels as if hands are coming out of the ground in an attempt to make them trip and fall.
Now a luxurious spa and hotel in the midst of downtown Santa Fe, La Posada Hotel offers many a weary traveler a home away from home. It is also known to be the final resting place of the wife of the original owner who adored her gorgeous home so much she decided to stay, even after her death. Built in 1882 by a rich merchant named Abraham Staab and his wife Julia, this three story mansion was soon filled with their six children; however, when their seventh child died soon after he was born, Julia slowly began to withdraw from her friends and her family, eventually confining herself to her room (Room 101 now) and dying at the age of 52 a lonely and very depressed woman. Guests of the hotel often hear cabinet doors slamming and some have even left their hotel rooms in a hurry claiming to have seen a ghostly female apparition staring at them from the foot of their beds. Employees find the spirit to be a bit of a prankster, flinging things off the shelves along with cold shivering drafts coming about the room. No reported injuries have occurred, however.
It is suggested when visiting these haunted sites in Sante Fe that you never do so alone.

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