• HAUNTED HOUSE DIRECTORY
  • California
    • address
    20 North Raymong & Colorado Streets
    Pasadena, CA
    United States
    tickets
    $12.50 per person, $18.50 for a VIP pass
    Email:
    Website:
    http://www.oldtownhaunt.com/
    Myspace:
    http://www.myspace.com/oldtownhaunt

      About:

      Travel the same dark path that CalTrans workers John Jackson and Thomas Johnson explored as their shifts ended. Descend into the basement of the historical Union Savings Bank Building where mysterious occurences have taken place in the buildings' deadly 107 year history. In fact, something lives down there in the dark....not some one, but some thing. The basement that was sealed shut for decades is being reopened for your investigation into the unknown.The History of the building is enough to scare most, what will you do when the catacombs and darkness surround you! The men are still listed as missing to this very day.

      History:

      "Welcome to the oldest standing building in Pasadena's Old Town. It was built in the 1880s, but the history of the land goes back even longer than that!” .....California was claimed from Mexico in 1846, during the Bear Flag Revolt, and actually ceded to the US by the treaty of Guadeloupe Hildalgo in 1848, after the Mexican War. California became the 31st state in 1850. When the earliest settlers arrived in this area, they found an old abandon Spanish mission on this site, and even then, it was avoided by the locals. There were rumors that prisoners were kept in the missions catacombs, being used as jails during the war, and that the prisoners mysteriously disappeared or worse, were found literally, crazed, frightened into insanity. The superstitious locals thought evil lived there. .....But, the desirable Pasadena area didn't stop progress, and eventually, the mission was leveled, and this building was constructed. It became the 1st National Bank of Pasadena in the late 1890s, but they only stayed until 1904, where they moved a block away to Fair Oaks and Colorado. It was a costly move, but the bank president claimed “This move was necessary to continue a successful business and to properly serve the citizens of Pasadena”. But most residents knew the bank was trying get away from the stigma of mystery of the “Ghosts of the Bank Robbers”. Story has it, in 1901, 3 bank robbers successfully entered the bank, blew open 2 of the bank’s basement vault safes, but failed to get away. The building was surrounded by local sheriffs, and then ... they just disappeared. Legend has it that their dynamite explosions, not only open the vaults, but they opened the sealed off catacombs, which apparently, they tried to flee thru ... never to be heard of again ... even though every gold piece stolen was recovered! Soon after, the bank experienced strange things. Strange sounds, empty screams, and finally the disappearance of 2 bank employees and a bank customer that started rumors flying about the “Ghosts of the Bank Robbers” getting revenge on the living. This of course was later dismissed as a local myth. June 13, 1919- Union Savings Bank is unable to keep customers coming into the bank and closes. January, 1923 First Trust and Savings Bank of Pasadena opens in the infamous building. February 1929 Pasadena is growing and Colorado Blvd. must endure a massive street widening project. All buidings are to lose approximately 15 feet and the new fronts of the buildings must be redecorated. During the excavation the basement and catacombs must be opened to allow construction workers access. Panic ensues when the remains of 12 Pasadena citizens are found in the catacombs. The bank immediately ceases operation and an investigation finds that the bodies of the deceased were hideously torn apart.. June, 1937- the First National Bank opens on the site. Customers and employees continuously report of a foul odor coming from the basment. The catacombs are not opened, however and the bank operates successfully until 1943. Then, in 1946, after the end of World War 2, when Pasadena started to expand, a new sewer system was needed to handle the growing population. But right at the intersection of Raymond and Colorado, the sewer workers broke into what was later determined to be the old Spanish catacombs, yes, the discovery of human remains of what appeared to be the missing bank robbers. The only thing not explained is that the body parts where found “scattered about, and found spread out over several different areas of the underground”. Then, after several mishaps, collapsing caverns, and even disappearing sewer workers, the city abandoned the sewer plans. They moved to another location, amongst whispers of ancient curses, and the catacombs were again sealed up. August 5, 2005 The basement and catacombs have been purchased by an unknown Kansas resident by the name of Ned Lamper. The new owner has strangely denied access for the police. The Star News reports that his plans are to allow the general public to explore the underground vaults and catacombs, with the high, fast rising real estate prices, with commercial space at a premium, a business tries to rent the basement space for office space, but upon opening of the basement, new areas were discovered, including no fewer than 36 bodily remains were found in various parts of the basement, and catacombs. Tours begin September 29, 2006



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