Haunted Redlands – fact or fiction?

The city of Redlands is allegedly one of the most haunted towns in America.

From apparitions of a boy swinging on a swing at Mariposa Elementary School, to hearing footsteps run across the stage at Prospect Park to an even more frightening demonic face that appears inside Barton Mansion. There is no doubt that Redlands is the ultimate city to ghost hunt.

Redlands’ Mariposa Elementary School is filled with happy students by day, but at night it’s known to be extremely quiet, dark and eerie.

In the 1950s a boy named Billy was happily riding a bike and was suddenly hit by a bus in front of the school.

Although Billy later died at a nearby hospital, many claim that he still wanders the school grounds.

It has been reported in several different cases that if you knock on the nurse’s office door, someone will knock back. There have also been reports of Billy rocking the swings back and forth, from time to time.

“I visited Mariposa Elementary School with my older sister and her boyfriend when I was about 15 years old,” said Arnie Lopez, San Bernardino resident. “It was a Friday night and we went to knock on the nurse’s door and sure enough, something knocked back. I never ran so fast in my life.”

School officials say that there is no paranormal activity going on whatsoever, which is understandable when you do not want the public trespassing the school grounds in the wee hours of the night.

“I have been to Mariposa Elementary and knocked on the nurse’s door at midnight, and the AC clicks on and the door is vacuumed in and knocks back,” said Yucaipa resident, Rob Thorpe.

“I used to run around Kimberly Crest and Prospect Park making the security guards chase my friends and me, while running from the guard, someone reached out from one of the orange trees as I passed and grabbed a hold of me, and it was not one of the people I was with. Scared the living poo out of me,” continued Thorpe.

Prospect Park is one of the oldest and largest parks in California, located on the hillside of Redlands, also known by locals as ‘Sunny-side Redlands.’

In 2013, a man was arrested for raping and murdering a woman, and afterward, her dead body was discovered in the park.

It has also been a popular hangout and sleeping spot for the homeless; with even more dead bodies have been reported from time to time.

Prospect Park is also thought to be a prime location for Satan worshipers to gather at night according to aboutredlands.com.

The most popular tale in regards to this park is about an 11-year-old girl named Lee Ann who was walking home from Kingsbury Elementary School and was abducted while taking a short cut through the rugged orange groves.

She was later found dead, naked, and thrown under the stage in the middle of Prospect Park.

“I had an eerie experience at Prospect Park. The street lights were all flickering and I heard footsteps and items falling or banging from backstage of the theater,” said Elizabeth Dillon, Redlands resident.

Although many people claim to experience supernatural activity at this park, others do not seem to have the same luck.

“My friends and I visited the park last year and nothing happened, it’s just really creepy at night. You can easily trick yourself into hearing or seeing a thing,” said Redlands resident, Joel Morris.

Although some people’s experiences are a laughing matter, when multiple people spot the same demonic face throughout an old Victorian mansion, that is a totally different story.

Barton Mansion is also known to have been a popular rendezvous up spot for Satan worshipers.

There are also claims that this home was built on top of ancient Native American burial grounds.

Additionally, the home once served as an insane asylum and a prison. Today Barton Mansion serves as a law office.

The Mansion was built in the 1860s and became a hot spot after paranormal investigators posted a video of their findings online in the early 2000s.

The video investigation can be found on YouTube, by simply typing, ‘Barton Mansion’ in the search bar.

In the video, the group of paranormal investigators is investigating the home, when moments later they encounter and capture an apparition of a demon.

There has been much debate as to whether the video is real or not.

“People have reported an intense feeling of being watched by a very unwelcoming source. Disembodied voices have been heard and shadowy figures have been seen darting up and down the staircase,” according to hauntedplaces.org.

Now, whether you believe in the unknown and you are looking to encounter the paranormal, or if you feel that all of these reported incidents are totally bogus, dig deeper, do your research, and maybe visit one of our top three haunted Redlands locations: if you dare.