Dateline>City of Angels

With the change in weather, it’s already feeling like October, the month when this blogger’s attention traditionally turns to L.A.’s fascinating body of ghostlore. To help set the mood early, I recently snapped this eerie night shot of an old Victorian in Angelino Heights.

Now a historic overlay zone popular with tourists, Angelino Heights was among the first L.A. suburbs to spring up during Southern California’s late-1800s land boom. Originally, cable cars connected the hillside residences to nearby downtown. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, the district now boasts more than 50 Victorian homes and the highest concentration of Queen Anne-Eastlake specimens in the City of Angels.

This particular home on Carroll Ave. was built in 1887 for Michael Sanders, a storage warehouse operator. It was declared a city Historic-Cultural Landmark in 1971. Five years later, the entire 1300 block of Carroll Ave. made the National Register of Historic Places.

Despite Angelino Heights’ haunting atmosphere, there are surprisingly few ghost stories floating about. (At least that I’ve been able to uncover.) If anyone out there knows of any good ones, by all means, please share. But in the meantime, don’t worry, there will be plenty of other spooky sites to explore in coming weeks.