Ocean Street (The White Lady)

Ocean Street in Santa Cruz has been home to sightings of the infamous White Lady since the 1870s. This apparition is tied to a tragic tale of domestic abuse from the early days of California settlement. The ghost is one of Santa Cruz County's most persistent legends.

The White Lady of Santa Cruz is one of the most enduring ghost legends in the region, her spectral form haunting Ocean Street Extension and the nearby Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery since at least the 1870s.

The origin story tells of a German man who sent for a mail-order bride from Massachusetts around 1870. Shortly after her arrival, they married and settled into a stone cottage on Ocean Street Extension. But the marriage was a nightmare. He was a cruel husband who would force her to wear her white wedding dress while he got drunk and beat her. When she finally decided to leave, he discovered her plans before she could escape.

In a fit of rage, he beat her to death, decapitated her, and set the house on fire with her body inside. Some versions say he drugged her first and left her unconscious in the flames. Either way, she never left that cottage—even after death.

The White Lady appears as a ghostly figure in a bloody white gown, often mumbling death threats to those who encounter her. She has been seen floating from the cement slabs where her former home once stood, up and down Ocean Street Extension, from the cemetery to the Masonic Club, searching for revenge. There is a popular rumor that she once threw an ax at a child who ventured too close.

For decades, the property was considered deeply haunted. An abandoned building on the site became a notorious party spot for teenagers in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. The house—sometimes called the "White Lady's House"—featured a window from which people claimed to see a ghost staring down at them. The original structure burned around 1970, but the stone walls remained standing until 2010, when someone purchased and demolished the property.

Even with a new house on the site, the White Lady persists. In 2017, a gentleman walking his dog one evening felt something watching him. He looked over to see a woman in a white dress standing on the side of the road, staring directly at him. He froze. With a blink, she vanished. His new neighbors later told him he had probably seen the White Lady.

Paranormal investigator Porter has suggested the real White Lady may have been Myrtle Rountree Whitesell, though the legend predates most documented accounts. Whether folklore or fact, the White Lady continues to haunt Ocean Street.