Garnier House. (Wikimedia)
That’s the question raised by this March 2 Los Angeles Daily News article. (Well, the article doesn’t actually mention the “haunted” angle, but we’ll get to that below.)
It would be a shame if budget cuts force Los Encinos State Historic Park to close. For those lucky enough to stumble across it, the place offers a tranquil escape back in time from the hustle and bustle of modern Ventura Blvd. Plus, the 5-acre park boasts a diverse history. Fed by a natural spring, the site was originally a Tongva Indian village, then a Basque ranch and, eventually, a Butterfield stagecoach stop.
Nowadays it’s a popular field-trip destination for hundreds of schoolchildren. What the Daily News article doesn’t tell you, however, is that Los Encinos is also a favorite haunt of several ghosts.
In his book, The Haunted Southland, ghost hunter Richard Senate describes the park as a hotbed of paranormal activity, with a spectral monk and blacksmith haunting the grounds. The site’s De la Osa Adobe also apparently harbors a female spirit. But the spookiest wraiths inhabit the Garnier house, built in the 1870s:
“For years the house has been closed to the public, but in that time visitors have seen faces in the windows on the second floor… A visiting psychic saw three children at a window; two girls and a boy. “They are trapped here for some reason,” the psychic said. “They are waiting for someone to come for them.”
There are no clues as to the spirits’ lifetime identities, let alone why they remain at Los Encinos. Some people theorize they have been abandoned to time, awaiting a stagecoach that never arrived. Perhaps they stare out the windows wondering which of the park’s visitors will finally help them find their way home.
Whatever the case, let’s all hope Los Encinos can be saved — for the sake of the children and the children ghosts.