What is the San Diego Witches Tower?

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  • Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
  • If you look at San Diego's Presidio Park on Google Maps, you may notice a building listed as the "Witches Tower." With its sinister sounding name, and a number of urban legends surrounding it, we visit the Witches Tower, look around, and talk about its real, fairly innocent history. We also talk about why the real history of Presidio Park, site of the first European settlement in California, is so much more interesting itself.
    Presidio Park, aside from being home to the so-called Witches Tower, was also the start of El Camino Real auto route, which wound its way up California following the missions, and was famous for its bells.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 200

  • @fwk32
    @fwk32 3 роки тому +62

    Lived almost my entire life in San Diego. I've been to Presidio Park dozens of times. Never heard of the Witches Tower. Crazy. GO PADRES!!!

    • @matildasumma8096
      @matildasumma8096 3 роки тому +1

      Right🤨🤔

    • @lnAmberClad
      @lnAmberClad 3 роки тому

      ...what

    • @ADM-wt9cn
      @ADM-wt9cn 3 роки тому +1

      haha go padres!

    • @deandupont5503
      @deandupont5503 2 роки тому +2

      Ah, the Padres. 🤣 As a San Diego native, I've always considered Padres fandom to be a form of masochism.

    • @fwk32
      @fwk32 2 роки тому +1

      @@deandupont5503 Haha. I can't really argue with that. One day!

  • @sensi1111
    @sensi1111 3 місяці тому +9

    I'm Kumeyaay. And that's where my Ancestors were enslaved. We are allowed to pray there. But the spirits there are so strong. I can barely go to certain areas of San Diego because it's too heavy for me.

  • @sickofthestupid1067
    @sickofthestupid1067 3 роки тому +41

    I grew up in El Centro and we escaped the summer heat in San Diego I thought I knew a lot about the region.....but you always seem to show me something new keep up the good work.

  • @graysonhuitt2395
    @graysonhuitt2395 Рік тому +7

    I am a native American Indian and I know for a fact that there is something powerful about that Indian grave site and that tower

  • @dionpaschini4536
    @dionpaschini4536 3 роки тому +19

    There is a old house very close to this park that many years ago they dug down inside the house several stories and made rooms . I think if I remember right about four stories down or more they said on the documentary that these rooms under the house where used for rituals .they where able to get access and filmed the stairways down to each room . Maybe you could do a story on that house it’s just up the hill there from the park . I saw it on tv some years back would be very interesting for your viewers and I would like to see another story on it myself. Very interesting stuff .

  • @antonioperez2623
    @antonioperez2623 3 роки тому +8

    I live in SD and never knew about witch's tower. You are correct the Presidio is a beautiful place.

  • @jerryknox4841
    @jerryknox4841 3 роки тому +12

    Thank you! I never made it that far south. The only mission South I made it was to San Juan Capistrano. I do love the old missions and their simple Life.

  • @pickneyjoshua9295
    @pickneyjoshua9295 3 роки тому +6

    Dang. I’m stoked I found this channel. I remember being like, 15, and an older friend took us to that tower and told us about how he was chased off by satanists who were trying to sacrifice him on to of it. I totally believed him and we were scared shitless for the rest of the night as he took us all around presidio and old town to show us spooky stuff.

  • @sdtimeless
    @sdtimeless Рік тому +9

    I visited last week. It has an eerie vibe. There were homeless people walking around and it smelled pretty bad up there. I don't believe it is haunted but it was very creepy and off-putting. It would be interesting to understand why there is a pentagram up there. Anyhow I left as soon as I could get a few pictures!

    • @BradizbakeD
      @BradizbakeD Рік тому +1

      It's eerie cause there are well over a thousand years of history there, from native Kumeyaay villages to the days of the Presidio and the atrocities there to the earlier pioneering days of Old Town. The Presidio down to Old Town is basically a giant burial ground that's been used for centuries.

    • @gypsymoontarotofficial
      @gypsymoontarotofficial 2 місяці тому

      What's eerie and WRONG is what those Missionaries did to the Kumeyaay dispicable smh

  • @paolaaracelyilescas9987
    @paolaaracelyilescas9987 3 роки тому +10

    I appreciate your channel so much! Love learning the history of the land I'm on. Also thank you for noting that they aren't the original buildings. Although Presidio isn't a Mission, I think its important to point that the way most Missions are portrayed (beautiful gardens with white buldings) wasn't the reality in the past and that they functioned as an enslavement camp for Native Americans, very sadly. I like to visit the Missions because some of them are working with local Bands/Tribes of Native Americans and they have some great books written by them. On that note, I recommend "A Cross of Thorns" by Elias Castillo (not of local SD Native American, thought to point out). Thanks again!

  • @donnasmith2720
    @donnasmith2720 3 роки тому +4

    I truly appreciate you for doing these wonderful informative videos. I grew up in Lakeside and call it my home even though I wasn't even born in California. We were poor, we didn't get to do a lot of exploring so I love that I can live and learn through you. Many thanks from this transplant who left California in the 90's.

    • @shanarstra2129
      @shanarstra2129 2 роки тому

      Hey I lived in lakeside for fifteen years 89 to 2005!

  • @josuearesav
    @josuearesav 3 роки тому +54

    "Nothing to do with Witches"
    Shows Big Ass Pentagram lol

    • @partida125
      @partida125 3 роки тому +5

      Seriously!! People are so naive.🙄

    • @xNoScOpErZx
      @xNoScOpErZx 3 роки тому +1

      Dude plus he is like walking on it and everything, that’s the one thing you don’t do !

    • @Doc-ElaQV
      @Doc-ElaQV 3 роки тому +4

      That pentagram is there for a reason and the dark spot in the middle shows that something takes place there. Nothing to do with witches, he says? Lol

    • @P.IreneSilva
      @P.IreneSilva 6 місяців тому

      People have died here but police dont publicize

  • @danielcarbone2414
    @danielcarbone2414 3 роки тому +3

    Very cool, thanks for making this! I've been to Presidio Park numerous times and I've walked past that building several times thinking it was simply a restroom. I'll be sure to check it out next time!

  • @comeh98
    @comeh98 Рік тому +2

    I went here today and there are crosses on each of the steps leading up to the pentagram. I don't know if those are a new addition but it definitely adds to the witchy-ness of the building.

  • @Crybaybeejay
    @Crybaybeejay 3 роки тому +5

    Digs in the mid-1990s exposed extensive foundations, plaster covered walls and tile floors before reburial by SD Parks & Recreation. The room under the tower was formerly used as park maintenance storage space.

  • @brianpowell5082
    @brianpowell5082 3 роки тому +1

    Each uploaded video brings more vivid historical details of my hometown! Awesome content!!

  • @bilburns1313
    @bilburns1313 3 роки тому +12

    Pentagram on the roof - somehow gives the impression of a helicopter landing pad - for broomsticks...

  • @sdpadsquad5955
    @sdpadsquad5955 2 роки тому +5

    Hey man just found your channel. So I believe a couple years back I was ghost hunting with my siblings and our girlfriends and we ended up finding a dead body on top of the witches tower. It was positioned in the most weirdest way. I'll post the link to the the find. Be care if you go there at night

  • @Bettinasisrg
    @Bettinasisrg 3 роки тому +9

    One of the many places I hung out in HS, singing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Makes me so nostalgic

  • @DumLive
    @DumLive 3 роки тому +6

    Someone does know why that pentagon is there. After all, it took longer to put it there vs a regular roof.

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  3 роки тому +1

      For sure, but since it was built in the 30s the person who designed it is probably long dead... Maybe?

  • @anerolllanes3737
    @anerolllanes3737 3 роки тому +3

    Thank you for the video, it's informative.

  • @geoff1025
    @geoff1025 Місяць тому

    Thanks for this video! As someone who is new to San Diego I was super curious about the google maps marker!

  • @roncross1945
    @roncross1945 3 роки тому +8

    Good video. Since you’re in the area will you do a video on the Mormon Battalion museum at Old San Diego, please.

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  3 роки тому +2

      Haven't been by there in awhile. I'll have to check it out. Last time I was there (at least 15 years ago) there wasn't much more than a video they showed.

    • @tracyrreed
      @tracyrreed 3 роки тому

      Is there anything there other than Mormon propaganda?

    • @roncross1945
      @roncross1945 3 роки тому +2

      @@tracyrreed I understand your text statement, there’s a lot of “false Christian Doctrine “ emanating from the Mormons. Still, they are a large part of settling the west so consider the history. :-)

    • @strawbawrri249
      @strawbawrri249 3 роки тому

      @@roncross1945 I agree. A tad bit unrelated but Mormon churches have always been some of the most beautiful to me. Love the church we drive past going down the 5! Cheers from Carlsbad 🥂

  • @tonygSDWR
    @tonygSDWR 3 роки тому +2

    I grew up in Mission Hills/Presidio Park, and it was and still is a beautiful place to visit. At :56 in the video used to be a big open lot with dozens of huge grassy, bumpy mounds (perfect for jumping your bike on)! On the back side of the Mission were tunnels of giant cactus caves to run through. I believe the State tore it all up 25 years ago for an archeological dig, but the park is about the same for the 55 years I've lived here.
    Visit the Whaley House below the Mission in Old Town for a better haunted house and graveyard adventure.

  • @lancefall4811
    @lancefall4811 3 роки тому +6

    If structures exist beneath those mounds then they would be the only truly Historic buildings on the site.

  • @faithford9143
    @faithford9143 3 роки тому +16

    Thank you for that history it is a pleasure to watch

  • @mthompson6684
    @mthompson6684 Рік тому +1

    My family history has it that my grand father and father rebuilt that brick cross back in the late 60's or early 70's. Clifton A Thompson jr, Clifton A Thompson III, stone masons.

  • @Idahoguy10157
    @Idahoguy10157 3 роки тому +5

    Been to old San Diego a few times. First I’d heard of a witches tower

  • @JOHNTOPG
    @JOHNTOPG 3 роки тому +6

    I took a field trip here as a kid for school

  • @shanarstra2129
    @shanarstra2129 2 роки тому +1

    I grew up in sd till I was 45 and my hubby too never knew about a witches tower!

  • @allialias
    @allialias 2 місяці тому

    We called it the watchtower. Mom would sit in the car after lunch and I would go up the tower and walk the star and look at the view. We were at the time capsule dedication in 1969. The Parks of San Diego were Beautiful.

  • @erinsmith4178
    @erinsmith4178 3 роки тому +27

    in highschool we called it Satan tower and went there on full moons to smoke and drink lol

  • @mindreader
    @mindreader 3 роки тому +1

    Thank you for the interesting story. I'll have to visit. I'm subscribed!

  • @reneerenee5073
    @reneerenee5073 3 роки тому +1

    Home, sweet home . Thanks for sharing

  • @robertneal4726
    @robertneal4726 3 роки тому +3

    There is one original building in that area. Supposedly the oldest building in San Diego. It’s by the golf course on Juan St and is now the golf shop.

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  3 роки тому +2

      Its down the hill from the Presidio but it is from the early 1800s. There is some dispute about the exact date. SOHO dates it to 1817 but the plaque on the building says 1821. Unfortunately the city hadn't been taking good care of it last time I checked it out.

  • @jumpingjackjeebs3955
    @jumpingjackjeebs3955 3 роки тому +5

    Cant see anything through the window and dude says "looks pretty empty"🤣

  • @ZacharyRiggs619
    @ZacharyRiggs619 3 роки тому +3

    Interesting video. I had never heard this legend before. As I understand it, the mounds are the perimeter of the chapel that was built in the presidio. I was always told by the older folks that the “witches tower” was built to be a public restroom where the women used the room downstairs and the men used the upstairs area. I assumed there used to be stalls underneath and troughs on the roof. Regardless, it is a strange looking structure.

    • @terryowens8563
      @terryowens8563 3 місяці тому

      I always wondered… now I know what this building was made for… thx😮

  • @sandiegobrewreview
    @sandiegobrewreview 3 роки тому +2

    Thank you for doing this video

  • @charlesgreen3214
    @charlesgreen3214 2 роки тому +1

    Where did you get your information ? It is a mission. I'm kumeyaay native from San pasqual Indian reservation. Located in the San Diego county. That was one of our missions

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  2 роки тому

      The mission is long gone and was moved to the current location by the stadium hundreds of years ago. The current buildings were built in the 1900s.

    • @charlesgreen3214
      @charlesgreen3214 2 роки тому

      But it was still a mission . Part of the foundation is still there

  • @jeannerogers7085
    @jeannerogers7085 Рік тому

    You are going to get me out of the house, to rediscover these areas I never noticed, in the past 50 years living in the county!

  • @lovescoffee9780
    @lovescoffee9780 3 роки тому +2

    Miss San Diego.

  • @lagatitabruja
    @lagatitabruja Рік тому

    I always thought that was a groundskeepers shed until I climbed to the top once. Great video

  • @deandupont5503
    @deandupont5503 2 роки тому +2

    Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. In my teenage punk rock days, in the 80s, that was where we'd all gather on weekend nights to drink our 4.4 beer and plan the rest of the evening. It was convenient, because you could see cars approaching from any direction: SDPD couldn't sneak up; we had plenty of time to chuck our beers into the bushes and look innocent.
    The star held zero meaning to us, it was just kinda... There, you know? It was a place where all the hardcore kids exchanged info on what parties were happening, and where, then head out. Anyone hanging out at Presidio after ten was either a total loser or had just finished fooling around with their girlfriends and lost track of time.
    (We also didn't tag, or litter. Keeping the place clean meant being left alone in the long run.)

    • @eeemistr7237
      @eeemistr7237 6 місяців тому

      4.4 % beer? LOL! As Teens we all drank 6.5 % beers here in Canada regularly every Friday night, 4.4 would be like water for us!🤣🤣

  • @monsterfrank
    @monsterfrank 3 роки тому +7

    I miss my home town I live in mayberry usa I use to do my ghost adventure at el santo campo and psa flight 182 crash site in north park they still have damage to the sidewalk from the plane crash great job on the video

  • @CactusAtlas
    @CactusAtlas 3 роки тому +6

    Wow... really ISN'T much of a tower but rather interesting none the less. Had I ever noticed that on a map I certainly would have wondered.. but now I know!

  • @johngulino2651
    @johngulino2651 Рік тому

    I lived very nearby for decades and never knew of this history. Wow!

  • @trishguajardo
    @trishguajardo 3 роки тому +1

    We used to go ice blocking in the late 80’s at Presidio Park.

  • @mrst8618
    @mrst8618 3 роки тому +2

    First Go Padres!!! Presidio Park, beautiful. Really wish they’d stop allowing groups to workout/exercise on this beautiful property.

  • @cwwml
    @cwwml Рік тому

    Really enjoyed!

  • @wileyann9449
    @wileyann9449 11 місяців тому

    Oh yeah! I remember this place. Didn’t know that’s what it was called but as teens in the 80s it was a meeting place/hang out.

  • @KINGABDUL99
    @KINGABDUL99 Рік тому +1

    Great video!

  • @777Kareena
    @777Kareena 3 роки тому +5

    Very interesting people like to gather there and under the shadow of the cross.

  • @griselluna368
    @griselluna368 3 роки тому +2

    Love your videos!

  • @soledadperrycholita6577
    @soledadperrycholita6577 3 роки тому +1

    Have you tried camping out night to see any different activity of the witches tower? houndsunny

  • @elghost5516
    @elghost5516 3 роки тому

    Interesting! Im a San Diego native and did not know this !
    Thanks !

  • @grumpyoldwizard
    @grumpyoldwizard 3 роки тому +3

    The pentagram is broken by lines. It should be solid.

  • @Corgis175
    @Corgis175 Рік тому

    I/ve been to the Presidio in Santa Barbara which was the originally built one and used. Of course, restoration happened too.

  • @jeffmyers7062
    @jeffmyers7062 Рік тому

    very cool! The cactus are great !

  • @KINGABDUL99
    @KINGABDUL99 Рік тому +1

    FaZe Rug! Explored it Right now!

  • @Sometimes_Always
    @Sometimes_Always 3 роки тому +1

    I love these sorta obscure factoids about San Diego.. I've lived here for 40+ years and finding something different always gives the city an extra layer of personality.. Liked and Subbed.. Thank yoU!

  • @Brucev7
    @Brucev7 3 роки тому +5

    The irony is, that is hardly any kind of "tower" )

  • @HawaiiPaperCo
    @HawaiiPaperCo 3 роки тому +14

    So "they" put this "tower" up about 100 years ago, placed a mosaic pentagram in it, and called it the Witches Tower, but it's not sinister at all. His-story is starting to look questionable everywhere to me.

    • @donchilders226
      @donchilders226 3 роки тому +1

      Place loaded with demons going to have go there and pray.

    • @sandrap5174
      @sandrap5174 3 роки тому +6

      I'm glad to see someone is awake to all the satanic hidden bullshit. This kinda stuff is all over the world if u know where to look. I know it's hard to believe but there is a group of assholes who practice satanic practices and they are your average person all they way up to your politicians. It's all coming out. They cant hide it anymore. Start looking and u will see a pattern of many satanic site. Like the Georgia guidestones. Just do a little research and you will start to question everything as we all should.

  • @cedarwho7
    @cedarwho7 3 роки тому +20

    Imagine claiming you "discovered" a place when there were folks there for literally thousands of years before you were ever there...

  • @cosmicgem_
    @cosmicgem_ 3 роки тому +3

    I used to like to wander around & would play there when I was little lol I once saw people dressed in all black & I just went back to my parents Lmao i remember being bummed I couldn’t play, didn’t question what was going on. 🤣

  • @Skrelnick222
    @Skrelnick222 3 роки тому +1

    I remember going there on an elementary school field trip and that pentagram freaked my friends and I out. I always wondered what the story behind it was. I guess it's kinda cool that no one really knows.

    • @nrivera3604
      @nrivera3604 2 роки тому +1

      What’s does 222 mean. I see it all the time

    • @davecook8378
      @davecook8378 Рік тому +1

      @@nrivera3604 A Karen Valentine fan?

  • @RealRedWolf
    @RealRedWolf 2 роки тому

    how did i not know that being near Chula Vista for nearly 17 years..

  • @midnyte6195
    @midnyte6195 3 роки тому +3

    I should know,my aunt lives here in San Diego and is a wiccan )0(

  • @jaimemonreal7878
    @jaimemonreal7878 3 роки тому

    Nice hat! Go Padres! Thanks for the video!

  • @romarobbins270
    @romarobbins270 Рік тому

    I love the Presidio and the Mission in San Diego. Although the Mission in Oceanside is nicer, in my opinion.

  • @buzzbierbaum4026
    @buzzbierbaum4026 Рік тому

    Good Video? Growing up in MH and playing as kids in that park theres lots of story’s hippie sit in’s anti war protest in-the 60’s bikers gang meets . And Indian graves dug for studies. Spooky stuff just like Pioneer Park.

  • @graysonhuitt2395
    @graysonhuitt2395 Рік тому

    Is the the same as, the cover of the eagles hotel California? Does anyone know?

  • @audreyd6725
    @audreyd6725 Рік тому +1

    I had no idea. Makes me sick

  • @fubarlife7776
    @fubarlife7776 Рік тому

    Be interesting to hear what the original purpose of the "Witch's Tower" room was used for 🤔

  • @graysonhuitt2395
    @graysonhuitt2395 Рік тому

    I can almost sware that it used to be round and way way taller, and it was hunted maybe, I know that it was a spiritual place

  • @AngryAsianOG
    @AngryAsianOG 3 роки тому

    Looks like the Tribal T Star logo!

  • @kyleohara8700
    @kyleohara8700 Рік тому

    I think it's hilarious when people make up stuff in order to make a story about a location, the whole "witches tower" cracks me up.

  • @dahliacecily
    @dahliacecily 2 роки тому +2

    But why the pentagram!

  • @susiestogsdill5075
    @susiestogsdill5075 3 роки тому +3

    Why the hell is there a pentagram there?

  • @elizabethbogle3533
    @elizabethbogle3533 Рік тому

    I wonder what's inside.

  • @altruism8637
    @altruism8637 3 роки тому

    but whats IN the witches tower? And whats the other building down the hill at the 3 way stop/yeild sign?

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  3 роки тому

      It looked empty inside. If you mean the building behind the native American statue, it is an abandoned restroom.

    • @elsupremo3651
      @elsupremo3651 Рік тому

      @@SidetrackAdventures Do you know what happened to the Native American statue? Its been removed

  • @chrislilly8657
    @chrislilly8657 3 роки тому

    Was there today! And this pops up?

  • @haeleyjoy5418
    @haeleyjoy5418 3 роки тому +1

    In September 2020 there was a body found there and there’s a video on UA-cam about it and I found a news article

    • @haeleyjoy5418
      @haeleyjoy5418 3 роки тому

      ua-cam.com/video/BDvhYIHprRI/v-deo.html

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  3 роки тому +1

      Hello. That video is fake and also claims to be from June. The body found in Old Town in September was found on Juan St. not at Presidio Park.

    • @haeleyjoy5418
      @haeleyjoy5418 3 роки тому

      @@SidetrackAdventures my bad, thank you for the correction

  • @kjbuchanan63
    @kjbuchanan63 2 роки тому

    Isn't it the 1? PCH. 101 is further north

    • @SidetrackAdventures
      @SidetrackAdventures  2 роки тому +1

      This is on the historic route of the 101. The 101 used to start at the Mexican border but has been decommissioned south of where it starts now. The 1 starts in Orange County.

    • @kjbuchanan63
      @kjbuchanan63 2 роки тому

      @@SidetrackAdventures I didn't know that...😳👍 cool beans

  • @thename9552
    @thename9552 3 роки тому +1

    It's on the Mission federal credit union debit card. But they put a goat head with blood dripping down .

  • @RG-vl9dl
    @RG-vl9dl 3 роки тому

    The site is an old cemetery!!!

  • @mikebecker3817
    @mikebecker3817 2 роки тому

    Sylvester patty died in San Diego with his son

  • @Severe4Kicks
    @Severe4Kicks Рік тому

    Also this is a every haunted place and it as stories that believe it had rituals with the tower and was preformed by witches

  • @toErehWon
    @toErehWon 3 роки тому

    3:53 1928 Webster dictionary, American: Copper color human of the American continent.

  • @logandiaz7636
    @logandiaz7636 3 роки тому +1

    Some girl got raped and killed there. No kidding. It was on the news

  • @NoName-q4i
    @NoName-q4i 10 місяців тому

    Ain't no way I'll walk on that.

  • @BethanyEidson
    @BethanyEidson 3 роки тому +1

    Many a young witch have taken candles up there hence the burn marks.

  • @cedarwho7
    @cedarwho7 3 роки тому

    I was here yesterday! I live in San Diego..

  • @-Jeremiah-
    @-Jeremiah- 3 роки тому

    Is there a bigger cartoonname in legitimate history than “Sylvester Pattie”?

  • @astrodoubleo6987
    @astrodoubleo6987 3 роки тому

    I play the ouija board there and it worked brrrrrr

  • @gabrielzazueta2218
    @gabrielzazueta2218 3 роки тому +3

    He’s covering something up lol

  • @5evalol
    @5evalol Рік тому +1

    who else came from rugs video?

  • @raulchavez1339
    @raulchavez1339 3 роки тому

    "First American buried"

  • @crystalsands297
    @crystalsands297 3 роки тому +1

    I know the whole story on the building of Old Town to New Town to downtown San Diego my family Bloodlines been building up this place

  • @reekdadddy2881
    @reekdadddy2881 3 роки тому

    They still doing things on that tower ... all the rich people live right around it (occult)

  • @davidthejanitor847
    @davidthejanitor847 3 роки тому +1

    Booooo...... Dude, those were the best urban legends growing up..... Just over the hill is a park that has a nice playground..... And a bunch of headstones in the pack of the park.....