Stow Lake (The White Lady)

Stow Lake is a picturesque artificial lake in Golden Gate Park, created in 1893. The serene waters surrounding Strawberry Hill make it one of the park's most beloved attractions. However, after dark, visitors have reported encounters with one of San Francisco's oldest and most persistent ghosts - the White Lady, who has haunted the lake for over 100 years.

Stow Lake is San Francisco's oldest and most famous haunted location. Created in 1893 in Golden Gate Park, the artificial lake surrounding Strawberry Hill was named for William W. Stow, who donated $60,000 for its construction. By day, it's a serene spot for boating and picnics. By night, for over a century, visitors have encountered a grief-stricken spirit known as the White Lady—a phantom in a flowing Victorian dress who emerges from the water asking a single, chilling question: "Have you seen my baby?"

The legend tells of a young mother in the late 1800s who brought her infant to the lake in a baby carriage. She sat on a bench to chat with a friend, and while distracted, the stroller rolled down the slope and into the water. By the time she noticed her baby was gone, it was too late. Frantic, she circled the lake screaming "Have you seen my baby?" to anyone who would listen. When no help came, she waded into the dark waters to search—and never returned. Both mother and child drowned, their bodies claimed by the murky depths.

The first documented encounter came on January 6, 1908, when the San Francisco Chronicle ran a front-page story headlined "Park Ghost Holds Up Automobile Party." A man named Arthur Pigeon was driving a group of female partygoers through the park late at night when a figure appeared before his vehicle. "It was a thin, tall figure in white," Pigeon told the Chronicle. "And it seemed to shine. It had long, fair hair and was barefooted." The women shrieked as the apparition held its arms outstretched, blocking their path. Pigeon floored the accelerator and was soon stopped by a mounted police officer for speeding. When he escorted the officer back to investigate, the ghost had vanished. Captain Gleeson of the Park Station reportedly "gave orders that any ghost answering this description is to be arrested on sight."

Verifying the original drowning is impossible—the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed San Francisco's police and coroner records. But the park itself has a dark history: a 1900 newspaper reported that 1 in every 12 San Francisco suicides from 1890 to 1900 occurred in Golden Gate Park, including four unidentified women. In July 1906, two 12-year-old earthquake refugees living in the park—Mary Cook and Nellie Gillighan—told police they saw "the naked body of a baby floating in Lloyd Lake," a nearby pond. Officers dragged the lake but found nothing.

For over a century, witnesses have described the same phenomena: a woman in a white Victorian dress drifting silently along the water's edge on foggy nights, approaching people and begging them to help find her child. Some have heard only her mournful moans echoing across the water. Others have seen a pale face staring up from just beneath the surface. Cars parked near the lake at night refuse to start. Cold spots and flickering lights appear along the paths. Local legend holds that if you stand at the water's edge and chant "White lady, white lady, I have your baby" three times, she will rise from the lake. But beware her question—if you answer "yes," she will haunt you forever; if you answer "no," she will kill you.

The Pioneer Mother statue at the lake entrance has become part of the haunting. Witnesses report the statue's head moving as if searching the ground, unexplained cracks appearing on its face, and the sounds of laughing children nearby. Some swear that on certain nights, a third child—barely a toddler—appears alongside the statue's two carved children. A secondary ghost, the "Ghost Cop," patrols the park in a phantom police car, issuing traffic tickets that vanish from courthouse records because the officer died over a decade ago. Tommy Netzband of the San Francisco Ghost Society has investigated the site and believes the White Lady is a residual haunting—an energetic imprint replaying a traumatic event eternally, unable to communicate with the living. The lake was renamed Blue Heron Lake in January 2024, but the White Lady's legend endures.