Boyle Heights Walking Ghost Tour

Join (), Boyle Heights Historian & Community Organizer, on this historic walking tour of the amazing ghost stories no one has dared to tell! Learn the fascinating history of one of the most historically diverse neighborhoods in Los Angeles, as well as how to embrace our local haunted history so you’re not scared to sleep at night after our tour. You’ll get so much information and scary stories to share around the campfire. With real facts and humor Shmuel will give you an entertaining tour that will give you goosebumps, but empower you to not be afraid of the dark.

This is a real walking tour, and so you must be able to walk and stand for most of the evening. People in wheelchairs and canes are welcomed, and we will do our best to make modifications to our route and format to accommodate disabled people according to their needs.

We will be meeting at Mariachi Plaza – 1817 E 1st Street, Los Angeles 90033, near the corner of Boyle Ave – congregating at the steps of the gazebo-like kiosko at 5:45pm, to start our tour promptly at noon. Note: location of meeting is subject to change in the case of a special event in the plaza; our meeting location will be confirmed prior to our event by email.

These are the topics and sites we are going to be visiting on our haunted history walking tour for this evening:

• Indigenous history of Los Angeles and Boyle Heights - the locations of our local indigenous villages, as well as worship and burial sites.
• The Hotel Mariachi/Mariachi Plaza – where some of the famed locals from the Spanish/Mexican-eras, as well as some interesting characters who married into these clans are still said to be seen in apparition form surveying the community from above the roof of the antique hotel.
• The Bagues Mortuary – we will talk about the historic discrimination against many ethnic minorities even in death, and those who have dedicated themselves to serving our community with dignity for generations. We will also discuss the interesting reactions local paranormal practitioners have to this historic building.
• Pentrolli’s Ballroom/Leon de Oro-Salon de la Plaza – urban legend and dance site of the Disappearing Girl haunting; it was also one of the barrio locations of the turbulent Zoot Suit Riots. This site has long been associated with visual apparitions seen on the dance floor.
• The Old Masonic Hall/Boyle Heights City Hall – one of the most haunted sites in the neighborhood, as confirmed by current workers and even former high-ranking officials of city council.
• LAPD Hollenbeck Police Station – this precinct is often associated with the antics of mobsters such as Mickey Cohen; its holding cells are said to still attract the souls of some these sites most notorious guests, including a most notorious mass M**der who was captured in our community, the infamous Richard Ramirez known as “The Night Stalker.”
• The Japanese Quarter of Boyle Heights – introduction to Japanese haunted history. Are the disturbed spirits of Japanese elders trying to reveal the location of their most precious belongings they buried before being sent to concentration camps during WWII? We will dig into this fascinating history.
• The Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged – Boyle Heights had many homes for senior citizens, caring for the neediest of our society who would have been destitute otherwise. Many senior citizens lived out their final years at local charity homes in Boyle Heights. We will go to the location of the only remaining piece of this old home for the elderly run by the nuns; the bell tower which now sits in the middle of a parking lot of a shopping center. We will give everyone a chance to feel the vibes and see if they pick up on anything!
• The Los Angeles County Coroner’s crematorium and burial ground – the final resting place of the unclaimed dead of Los Angeles County, which are both cremated and buried at this location; each year some 1,200 to 1,500 unclaimed dead are buried here each year, making this site their final resting place of the most poor and unrecognized people of our city. We will talk about how each year locals hold a memorial for those being collectively buried each winter, to try to bring ultimate peace to these souls.
• Evergreen Cemetery – One of the oldest cemeteries is Los Angeles, this historic burial site and the street that it is named after is one of the spookiest locations in the barrio. Indeed, this very street and cemetery is actually associated with the most famous ghost story in American folklore – the Disappearing Girl. We will also learn about the foundational history of the local modern-day Chicano celebration of Día de los Muertos, founded at this cemetery site just 50 years ago.

The walking tour is expected to last about 3-hours, going down First Street in Boyle Heights, with Mariachi Plaza as our starting location and the gates of Evergreen Cemetery as our destination.

Tickets for this in-depth tour are $25 + Eventbrite fees. Children 13 and under are free, please contact me to add them to my guest list. For current Boyle Heights residents, educators, and community activists, I will be offering a few spots on my guest list once again; please contact me at [email protected], as spaces are limited.

​We will be limiting this group to a maximum of 20 participants and is expected to fill up quickly. So please sign up today!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mariachi Plaza, at the kiosko, 1817 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, United States