Whaley House

Thomas Whaley made the bricks himself, in his own kiln, and then finished the walls with plaster ground from seashells.

The Whaley House stands at 2482 San Diego Avenue in Old Town, San Diego. It is a Greek Revival residence and museum, built in 1857, and it is the oldest brick structure in Southern California. California registered it as Historical Landmark 65 on 6 December 1932, and the state's landmark description is admirably specific: the first brick building erected in San Diego County, bricks from Whaley's own kiln in Old Town in 1856, walls finished with plaster made from ground seashells, and five generations of the family living in it.

Whaley himself was born in New York City on 5 October 1823, of Scots-Irish descent, the seventh child of ten. He took over his father's business, left New York on 1 January 1849, and went to San Francisco during the California gold rush to trade. He reached San Diego in September 1851. Two years later he returned east to marry Anna Eloise Delaunay, on 14 August 1853, and the couple arrived back in San Diego that December. They moved into the new house on 22 August 1857 and had six children.

The building did a great deal more than house a family. At various times it held Whaley's general store, San Diego's second county courthouse, and the first commercial theatre in the city. The county court sat here for about twenty years. It has been said to have witnessed more history than any other building in San Diego, and given that list it is hard to argue.

It is maintained today by Historic Tours of America and open as a museum. It also carries a reputation as one of the most famous haunted houses in the United States, which tends to be the reason people arrive and the least interesting thing about the place once they are inside.