The 1912 mystery of the “haunted house” located in Bisbee’s Brewery gulch and owned by Mr. Caretto, was solved when one of the “ghosts” decided to settle a score. Growing out of the fact that a murder was committed in the home seven or eight years prior, many stories of strange and unusual sights had been reported and seen at the residence.
Witnesses reported that bright, glowing lights were often seen in the windows late into the night when no one lived there. Strange voices and strange sounds echoed from the house when it was believed to be vacant.
It was discovered that the owner of the house had no suspicions that his empty abode had been inhabited all the time by vagrants who had no home. They used the vacant house as a rendezvous point and a local “flop” house. There was a regular band of drifters that gathered there when the rest of the Bisbee neighborhood was sound asleep. They played cards, drank, caroused, and at the end of their lawless party…slept.
The house was said to have cost originally about $2500, but the illegal use made of the residence had begun to show some wear and tear. There was not a window pane in any of the windows of the house, and it had been damaged in many other ways.
The rendezvous spot was given away as a result of a fight between some of those vagrants who frequented the house. For revenge the whipped man squealed and caused the arrest of the others. With the “haunted house” debunked, the “spirited” entourage moved on. Brewery Avenue is still dotted with old miner’s shacks and bungalows that have been lovingly converted into more modern ghostly digs!
From Phoenix: Take I 10 East—take the 303 exit at Benson and follow HWY 80 south to Bisbee
For more info: www.mvdghostchasers.com
Debe Branning nazanaza@aol.com
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