The Horton Grand Hotel, located in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, originally started out as two separate hotels: The Grand Hotel and the Brooklyn, later Brooklyn Kahle Saddlery Hotel. They were both built in 1886. The Grand was the more Victorian of the two. In 1907, the name Horton was added to the Grand Hotel after Alonzo Horton, founder of the 'New Town." In the 1970's, both hotels were scheduled to be demolished. Luckily, a private party bought them for a dollar each from the City of San Diego, and had them taken apart brick by brick, cataloged, and put in storage. In 1986, both hotels were built once again at a new location: the Gaslamp District. They were connected with a New Orleans style atrium. The area where Horton Grand Hotel sits today used to be part of the Red Light District. The Hotel was placed on a spot where Ida Bailey, the most famous madam in San Diego, had her establishement. Like many old hotels, Horton Grand Hotel is also on the haunted hotels list. Room 309 is said to be haunted by Roger Whittaker, a gambler and a pimp. According to one theory, he was caught cheating, but he escaped and hid in the armoire in his room, where he was found and shot to death. Some of the maids refused to clean room 309 due to the strange occurrences in it, such as items being misplaced and moved, bed shaking, apparitions, lights turning on and off by themselves, temperature fluctuations, feelings of being watched, and for some, physical contact by the unseen. Somehow, the empty room got deadbolted from the inside, and the bed had an indentation of someone laying on it when no one had been in the room. The armoire doors are reported to open and close on their own. There are other spirits in this hotel, as well, and Ida Bailey is said to be one of them. The Horton Grand Hotel was added to the National Register of Historical places in 1990. We didn't experience anything out of the ordinary in room 309. We were, however, able to catch female and male voices on our voice recorder. One male voice said, "quiet." Was he telling us to be quiet, so he can't be found? The Horton Grand Hotel is a beautiful place to visit, be it for paranormal reasons or otherwise.
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