The Haunted Strip Mall

This unassuming strip mall, on 19th Avenue & Northern in Phoenix, has an Albertsons, Starbucks, Einstein’s Bagels and other shops or offices, and would never thought to be haunted, but it is. Many years before the strip mall existed on this site, there used to be several eroded buildings standing there. These structures were murky and eerie and abandoned for many years. There was much speculation that the buildings were haunted and ghosts have been reported wandering around the grounds. Between the deteriorating walls of these dark dwellings, apparitions and other strange occurrences had been seen and heard by eyewitnesses. Young kids and teens would dare each other to investigate the buildings at night using only a flashlight for protection. They would find an open hole in the fence to gain access and slowly, as a group, would enter a building. They never lasted the night claiming to hear crying, and whimpering sounds coming from the long dark passage. Only a few brave souls would check out the basements where there were rumors of torture and murder that occurred in there. Others would report seeing three headstones, one large in the middle and two smaller ones on each side. The strange thing was, they were never seen in the light of day.

Today there sits a strip mall where some employees reported hearing crying and seeing what they could only describe as a ghost in various areas of the stores they were working at. Others have claims of seeing a ghostly looking homeless man in the area behind the store where a body of one was found several years ago. The reports were that he was murdered in his sleep. He seems to be still hanging around behind the strip mall, making an appearance from time to time.




Comments

  1. Fantastic! My sister used to live near that property when they didn't have the strip mall there. She told me what her neighbors said about sounds coming from there and movement. I always wanted to go in and check it out but the cops kept a good watch on the place. It always interests me when new places are built and yet activity continues. It really makes me lean towards residual held by the land and not the building specificially.

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  2. very interesting. you don't usually associate this type of area as being haunted, but it happens.
    like autumn says, likely residual.

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  3. Sharon, I didn't see that mall before the stores were there. I would have been one of those that would have checked the place out when it was the old worn out buildings. The activity now is probably residual, just like you said.

    Sandra, you just don't know what kind of history is around your neighborhood. I was fascinated to find out about this.

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  4. Now, that's different. A strip mall that is haunted. Never heard about that one.

    There is nothing like that around here, however there is one place that I've been told is. It's a small playground not far from here. During the late evening hours, it is said that strange things happen there that have no explination. Swings move on their own, and See Saws go up and down and their are no kids on them. I've not known just why this happens. Who or what would haunt this place is unknown to me. Maybe something was there in the past, but what is was I have no idea.

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  5. This would be the perfect place for me. Starbucks and Ghosts! Who could ask for anything more!

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  6. Les, wow a haunted playground. I wonder what the history is of the area that the playground was built on. It just might an interesting story there.

    Jessica, I have to agree, Starbucks and ghosts are a great combo. I wonder if they like the frapps too?

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  7. We used to live not too far from there! I love when you post pics. It makes me homesick but also gives me a chance to see "home." (If that makes any sense?) And then when you write about this kind of thing...awesome! I'm with Jessica: Starbucks and ghosts, what more could a girl want???

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  8. The old building used to be the Good Shepherd School for Wayword Girls. It was a Catholic school built in 1930 and then burned down (I am not sure when) but sat empty for years! It was extremely creepy looking and teenagers, including myself always dared ourselves to sneek into the old abandoned building to witness for ourselves the rumors of satanic warship and hauntings. Of course I never did sneek in, I was way to chicken but for those who grew up in Phoenix you are sure to remember this place. It was so freaky looking. It is just so weird because I work right by this location now at 19th ave and Northern and I frequent the Starbucks and Albertson's a lot and to think all of the freaky stories that came out of this creepy building! I would love to hear more about the stories of the building when it was still used as a girls school. I think it was closed in the late 60's or 70's but I have read other posts from people who went to the school who say it was haunted then! I sure wish I could find a picture online of what the building looked like before they built the Albertsons when it was all fenced off. If anyone can locate a pic please post it!

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    1. It was still open in 1979 and closed in 1981

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    2. It was still open in 1979 and closed in 1981

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    3. weii i was one of the teens that did go in there and it is real haunted..in fact
      you call them out they will come.it was never torn down they built the store on
      it the main building is still there..and still haunted

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  9. Here is a link to a pic of the original Good Shepherd School for Wayward Girls here in Phoenix....


    http://www.city-data.com/forum/attachments/phoenix-area/38240d1237505565-how-do-you-remember-phoenix-stories-good-shepherd2.jpg

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  10. Thanks for the picture. I may have to repost this and add the picture of the school.

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  11. As soon as I entered this Albertson's for the first time to help out my mother in law, I immediately felt it to be very creepy. Then I heard a cashier mentioned it was haunted so I came to this very interesting webpage.

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  12. I am looking for residents of the Good Shepherd Girls Home in the early 1960's who may have known my mother. Please contact me at lwebb19@hotmail.com.

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  13. I have been curious about Good Shepherd School for years. Was there in late sixties and lived in the cottage with Aunt Barbara (who was preggers) and her husband. Would like to hear from any student 1969-1970

    senoritabonita13@hotmail.com

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    1. I lived in Marrieta cottage in 1972. Email me at ralon48@gmail.com

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  14. I am curious after finding this site; there appears to be two articles about Good Shepherd listed through the UofA

    http://uair.arizona.edu/subject-headings/good-shepherd-school-girls-phoenix

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  15. I know this location well. I first saw it as a child in the 70's. We all heard the stories. In my teens I was part of and led many a ghost hunt. Data was always corrupted . Do to the large numbers of homeless living largely in the boiler room. Pigeons and feral cats in the rafters and walls. The wicked little Az roof rats didn't help much. That being said. I did have a large amount of personal experiences. The big one was. You could always hear heels on tile. The tile had been gone for decades. The floor was broken concrete, dirt, plant matter and trash.
    leave.a.scar.71@gmail.com

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  16. My father was actually the original developer who purchased the property when it went up for sale in 1982. We were neighborhood residents since the early 70's when the school was in operation. I was 16 when Dad bought the property and during the negotiations I went with him on many tours and met all of the sisters that still lived there. They were 8 very nice older nuns, and had been living since the school was open. Their order / church had made the decision to relocate them and sell the property because the school had been closed for so many years. During our first tour, my mother commented about feeling 'something' in one area of the basement. When you're 16, dark abandoned buildings ALWAYS seem creepy, but even a couple of years later, when I worked at the site during the very beginning of demolition, I never experienced anything unpleasant there. During one summer, I even worked nights for my father as a 'security guard', so I spent many hours wandering the hallways and grounds at night with a flashlight. It was ALWAYS eerie, but again, it never felt BAD. To me the elegant old buildings had an almost 'kindly' feel to them - like parents who's children had moved on and they knew their time was drawing to a close. My father's vision for the place was to preserve the history, and to leave it some dignity, and that always felt right. For several years no development work could be done because of problems with the Phoenix Mayor's Office and the Historical Preservation Committee and eventually the project was put into bankruptcy because it had been mired in Valley politics for so long that the financiers had pulled out. What you see now is a sad end to a once stately property.

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    1. Thanks for men like your Dad !!! People's imagination can wander around a lot in a big place like that. I never heard anything bad about the Sisters. It was just where unwed mothers had a place to go.

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  17. We just visited this place today after my grandma asked me to look it up.( She is from Yuma and I who moved to phx)This place what was the Good Shepherd for girls schools was realy dear to her. And said there was no "strange" activity. The nuns were very sweet! She even told me she taught them how to make tacos and that they would have a special taco night during the week. She also said they took very good care of all the girls and that it was a very beautiful place at that timemI would love to find anyone that went in 1961 for my grandma :). I dont understand why people get so scared by older buildings. Please email me marlenemarshall12@gmail.com if you or someone you know that went to this school in 1961'ish . Thank you :)! (This is sent from a phone so spelling and/or punctuation may be off...sorry)

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    1. It sounds like your grandmother saw a different place than my mother has described to me since I was a child. She was there as a young girl, and the things that happened to her there are absolutely heartbreaking, certainly not the happy place you describe.

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    2. I was there in the mid 70's with "Aunt" Marilyn for a little over a year. I agree with your grandma. It was a good place. The nuns and teachers were great and we (the girls in that cottage) loved Marilyn. There was never any suggestion or rumor that the place was haunted or even spooky.
      There was an orange orchard there too.

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    3. I also worked there during that time period what is your Gma's name?

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  18. I was at Good Shepard, for running away from home. I learned I was not the "bad" girl I thought I was, the girls were nice, just trying to be tough, yet lonely and scared. I was never mistreated, went to mass, lived in a cottage on 19th street side, went to the "grocery store" on certain days with our shopping cart. Never heard or saw satanic anything nor did I see any pregnant girls. The only thing I remember was a girl wanted to leave the cottage so she threw a chair thru the big picture window and left. Of course police were called but other than that nothing scary or spooky, just rumors.

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  19. We live in the area. Its crazy because the Greatclips had incidents in their office where papers went flying and doors open. Then o. The other side of the street by Bookmans there used to be a family salon. We were close with the owner. The last time i had my hair cut we heard rummaging in the back and a door closed. I asked the stylist is someone back there and she said no. That was when i was told of the stories of spinning chairs and apparations. One of the appartment buildings has a part that looks like a bell tower on the northwest side of the Albertsons plaza. Some have tried to look at the records in the publuc library near Metro center and were denied access. Our neighbors are curious where the diseased were buried as even our close by complex has strange incidents.

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    1. The salon by Bookmans (it was a Safeway store) was Dinos hair design, the owner was John Lametica. The wayward home was across the street till 1981.

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  20. We live in the area. Its crazy because the Greatclips had incidents in their office where papers went flying and doors open. Then o. The other side of the street by Bookmans there used to be a family salon. We were close with the owner. The last time i had my hair cut we heard rummaging in the back and a door closed. I asked the stylist is someone back there and she said no. That was when i was told of the stories of spinning chairs and apparations. One of the appartment buildings has a part that looks like a bell tower on the northwest side of the Albertsons plaza. Some have tried to look at the records in the publuc library near Metro center and were denied access. Our neighbors are curious where the diseased were buried as even our close by complex has strange incidents.

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  21. My mother worked there for a time in the late 50's and early 60's. She speaks glowingly of the nuns and all the girls who were just normal teenagers in retrospect. Mom talks of the beautiful buildings and acres of orchards. The property grew all it's own fruits and vegetables and the girls who lived there had access to the swimming pool and gym and of course the "grocery store" where they could buy shampoo and such. We went to visit a few years back and my mother was extremely sad that the buildings were gone and the orchards and trees were gone. I don't remember which house my mother was in charge of but if you'd like to ask her more questions I'm sure she would be happy to. She remembers a lot of the girls that were there at the time.

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    1. I worked there in the late 50's early 60's what is your moms name?

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  22. This is so interesting! My grandma used to attend the school back in the day! She is no longer with us but if anyone who knew a Carol Compton please email me! I don't know a lot about her past as a child but I would love to hear! My email is 1999roytorres@gmail.com

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  23. I Went There. One Night With About 8 Friends and i do know 3 things that happened that night that none of us can explain.for one as soon as we i Inter'ed the yard in back through a hole in the fence you could feel some thing on your back. like a presence all over you i stayed in the yard because im smarter then i look and i knew some thing was not right.everyone els intered the main building.2 girls and 5 guys and the guys were far from being pussys if you know what i mean.after about 20 minutes they all started to come out to the yard.were i was at this time over by a tractor with a big steel ball and chain was.and there was no wind that night none and that steel ball started to swing on its own back and forth.and that was creepy.any be for leaving i decided to try and call the ghost out by Insulting them.with a few choice words.and when i did that.they answered back.we heard a pop and out of the ground came water shooting up at least 25 to 30 feet in the air soaking everything.so we said lets go be for the cops come ..well we just went around the block came back and could not believe what we saw???there was not one drop of water any were to be found.both girls there nail polish had been scratched off.and my sister her make up was all rubbed off. and she had a scratch on her neck...and one of the guys said when he was in the basement that there was some thing standing there watching him.and he stated. bro i cant kick some things ass i cant see.so is this place haunted???yes it is and if you don't believe that or me.i don't care.you better believe in some thing or your going to die for nothing.no one gets out alive.and there is some other side.not sure if there grass or not but im sure its there...Differnt demenion...lat:)zzzzzzzz

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  24. My sister and I went to the school , we weren't pregnant and there was nothing scary or haunting bout the school, we wer taught by the nuns and went to the grand canyon and Prescott to the cabins, if u wer there , do u remember the long I think it was yellow bus / car , I stayed in the cottage with sister Marta I believe it was called Carmel, no I will say it again it was not haunted

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