Do the spirits of former residences still wander this Victorian era
house in downtown Fresno?
When I first started investigating haunted locations in the Fresno area over a decade ago, I was told by several people that the Meux Home might be haunted. Stories of hearing children's laughter upstairs were common and I was even told the story of how the house would be closed up for the night and then when it was reopened the next day there were door knobs missing on several of the doors.
I decided to go to the home itself and see if I could find any truth to these stories. Upon my arrival, I found the head docent (tour guide) and struck up a conversation with her. I talked a bit about the architecture style of the house before broaching the subject of ghosts. To my surprise she didn't flinch when I asked if the house was haunted. But she did tell me she had never heard any stories if there were ghosts there and had never heard that the place was haunted.
I discussed the topic of ghosts and the paranormal with her for a few more minutes, she was quite knowledgeable in it (turns out she listens to Coast to Coast AM every night). I then asked her if it was possible to do an investigation of the home, to determine if there actually was anything there. At that point she got somewhat annoyed, saying they don't allow camera flashes in the home as the light from the flash tends to fade antique objects. I told her we could do only video work, and just use our night vision enabled cameras to accommodate them, but she still declined. Saying that the Board of Trustees wouldn't like the stigma of the Meux Home being haunted. I gave her several examples of homes turned museums that were known to be haunted (Whaley House in San Diego, Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara) that have benefited from this, but she still declined. I gave her my card and said goodbye.
Though I never did hear from the Meux Home, every time I drive by it I still wonder if the stories are true. Why are children's laughter heard and whose voices are they of? And the stories of the door knobs missing intrigues me. Could it be the same children playing pranks on the docents that now work there? Or is it someone else? Unfortunately I may never know and it seems the haunted history of the Meux Home is still a mystery and may always be one.
4 comments:
I visited the Meux Home on a school field trip when I was in 2nd grade. I definitely felt a haunting presence in that home. Our tour guide also mentioned how many people have heard strange noises there, and other haunting phenomena.
From my personal experience (I used to live in a haunted house that lay right next to a graveyard) I would say that the Meux Home is definitely a haunted estate. I felt several spiritual presences when I visited.
The Meux Home is a great location for paranormal investigators to visit, and I would encourage them to do so.
T. R. Meux was my great-grandfather, and my father grew up on T Street. When my great aunt Anne Prenetta Meux (T.R.'s daughter) still lived there, we often made family visits, so I well remember the house in its pre-restoration, lived-in state. Next time, ask about the pistol that was stuck in the tree next to the front walk (the tree literally grew around it). Voices? could be from some of the hoboes that hung around the after riding the Santa Fe, whom Anne sometimes offered a hot meal, the multiple stray cats she also fed, or the residual echoes of us kids who sometimes peeked into upstairs rooms we were told to stay away from . . .
My husband graduated from Fresno High in 1946. He says one of his teachers was Miss Meux. He doesn't know her first name. Was that Dr. Meux's daughter, Anne?
I attended a wedding at the Meux Home Museum this last weekend and took several pictures with a digital point and shoot camera. Nothing out of the ordinary through the camera nor in the camera's feedback until I downloaded the pictures to my computer. Specifically in two cases there were "orbs" in the pictures taken on the veranda porch against the house, and in one of the pictures there is a faint definition of an arm, hand and body however "foggy" behind one of the groomsmen. As my family was present and sitting next to me at the wedding these visions were not present to the naked eye. I did not use the zoom on the camera. It may be explainable due to the fact that the groomsman was next to a window looking into the house causing some backlight however the orb is not explainable as there is definition of an eye and nose in the orb. My family had feelings of something around the house; we all felt something, even anticipating a shutter to open or for something to fall. It was a beautiful wedding and a good time was had by "All"!
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