👻 The Haunted McHenry Mansion | Halloween Edition 🎃

The McHenry Mansion in Modesto, California is one of the most beautiful and historic homes in the city… but it’s also one of the most haunted.

Legends claim that a little girl named Ora Louise McHenry died in a fire inside the mansion, and her footsteps can still be heard upstairs. The truth? Ora never died here. She tragically passed away at just 10 years old in Los Angeles after suffering terrible burns at the Hollenbeck Hotel.

So why do visitors swear they’ve seen her shadow, dolls moving on their own, and even an old woman staring out of the windows late at night? And why do people call it “Ora’s Room” when there’s no record she ever lived there?

Maybe it’s the 2011 fire that reignited these urban legends. Or maybe… something else haunts the mansion.

✨ This is the Halloween edition of our haunted history series — blending the real history with the paranormal stories that refuse to die.

Would YOU spend the night in “Ora’s Room”? 👀

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's October 5th, you know what that mean?
Happy Halloween. Welcome to the West Hotels
Podcast Halloween special edition.
We are here in Modesto, CA at the McHenry Mansion where it was
said to be haunted. We're going to be going through
a tour to tell its history and also its haunted stories.
So don't forget to like and subscribe, and let's get

(00:21):
straight into the podcast. Our first episode of the
Halloween special for the month of October, titled The McHenry
Mansion, History and Hauntings in Modesto.

(00:41):
On the corner of 15 and High Streets in Modesto, CA stands a
house unlike any other. We recently toured the McHenry
Mansion, the last Victorian homeof its kind still standing in
downtown Modesto, and tonight we'll share everything we've
learned. First, the rich history of the

(01:01):
house and the family who built it, and then the ghost stories
and reported experiences that still linger in its halls.
The McHenry Mansion was built in1883 by Robert and Matilda
McHenry in the High Victorian Italianate style in carved

(01:27):
rackets and a sweeping staircasemade it one of Modesto's
grandest homes, a symbol of civic pride in a growing town.
After Matilda's passing, their son Ora Mel McHenry move into
the mansion with his wife and their three children, Robert
Albert and Ora Louise. However, Ora Mel and Louise

(01:51):
divorced in 19 O1 and Louise moved to Los Angeles with Ora
Louise. In 1919, the mansion was
converted into the Elmwood Sanitarium, and in 1923 it
became the Langdon Apartments. From 1930 to 1976, other owners

(02:14):
continue its use as an apartment, subdividing rooms and
altering interior over more than5 decades.
By the mid 1970s, with Modesto'sdowntown historic architecture
disappearing, concerned about preserving the city's heritage,
Julio and Eileen Gallo purchasedthe home for $150,000 in 1976

(02:36):
and gifted it to the City of Modesto and demand for it to be
restored. Restoration began in 1977, and
by 1983, the mansion reopened asa museum and event venue, fully
furnished in period style. A park across the street now
honors the gallows for the generous gifts.

(02:59):
The mansion endured a serious fire during the 2011 Christmas
season, causing smoke and water damage throughout the structure.
While initially suspected to be caused by holiday decorations,
investigators could not determine a definitive cause.
Now that we got the McHenry mansion history out of the way,

(03:22):
let's talk about the urban legends and the hauntings there,
including Ora Louise McHenry urban legend.
Locals whispered that a little girl named Ora Louise McHenry
burned to death upstairs. They say you can hear her tiny
footsteps in the halls. A little history about Ora

(03:45):
Louise McHenry Her death is one of the saddest parts of the
McHenry family story, and it's the root of the ghost legends
that Titan mansion in 19 O1. Ora was visiting Los Angeles
with her mother. She was staying at the
Hollenbeck Hotel, which her uncle AC Bellic managed. 1

(04:06):
evening, an alcohol lamp or flame accident caught her
clothes on fire. She suffered severe burns over
her body. Despite the agony, she stayed
calm and conscious until the doctors gave her chloroform so
they could treat her through thenight.
She kept asking for her mother and wanted to say goodbye to the

(04:28):
hotel staff she adored. At one point she told her mom,
Mama, kiss me lots of times. I know I'm going to die, and I
love you. The next morning, around 9:00
AM, Aura passed away in her mother's arms with what
newspaper describes as a faint smile on her lips.

(04:52):
She was just nine years old. So why do people insist that
Aura died here? Because in 2011, the McHenry
mansion itself caught fire. Smoke and flames carried through
the house and the legend grew. People confused that the fire
with Ora's death, and soon storysaid she had perished inside.

(05:16):
And then there's Ora's room. People claim this upstairs
bedroom once belonged to her. It's where the footstep echoes
and the dolls sit silently watching.
But here's the thing. There's no proof it was ever her
room. The furniture and dolls are
antique, not hers. The room itself is part of the

(05:37):
urban legend as well, another urban legend related to Aura.
Louise McHenry says visitors swear they hear childlike
footsteps upstairs, see shadow figures in the windows and watch
dolls move on their own. One guest claimed a doll was

(05:57):
standing still until suddenly itdumped to the floor after the
group left the room and when he went back to check, the doll was
on the floor. Knowing the tragedy happened and
that she was beloved by family and staff alike, give context to

(06:18):
the mansion's modern day hauntings.
The hauntings and eyewitnesses accounts.
The McHenry mansion has long been associated with ghost
stories. Visitors and staff often report
footsteps on the stairs when no one was present, setting cold
spots, flickering lights and doors that close seemingly on

(06:40):
their own. The upstairs room in particular
are said to carry a heavier present.
One eyewitness account includes a young girl died in a house
fire upstairs. It's been said that you can hear
small footsteps. I've been there a few times so I
believe it's true, a second userwrote.

(07:03):
I used to work at the Best Western across from the McHenry
mansion and I would see an old woman always looking outside the
window from upstairs. Looked like a spirit through the
curtains. I've seen it often.
One user wrote I got married here.
The dolphin claim it is not haunted, but you definitely feel
the energy shift upstairs, one other user wrote.

(07:29):
I was told the story of the little girl who got burned on a
school field trip there, a comment that was sent to me
states. I've also heard the story about
her and I've been to her room when I was 10.
I definitely felt weird, ugly vibes, and I quote.

(07:50):
These stories, combined with thehistorical tragedy of Orloise,
shape the mansion's reputation. Guides often emphasize that much
of the activity can be explainedby old wood settling and
draughts. Yet many visitors report feeling
a subtle energy shift, particularly upstairs.

(08:13):
Whether you believe it's paranormal activity or echoes of
the memory, the mansion remains alive with the stories of
Victorian ambition, family loss,community rescue, and decades of
life lived in its halls. And sometimes it feels as though
the past wants to be noticed. So if you're from Modesto, CA,

(08:37):
jot down a com and let me know. Do you believe that the McHenry
Mansion is allegedly haunted? And so if Ora Louise never died
in the mansion but people still hear her footsteps?
And if it isn't Ora hunting these halls, then who is it if
you're from Modesto?