Lincoln Heights Jail was never a nice place to be. Located in Los Angeles, it was opened in 1931 and grew to house 2800 prisoners by the 1950s. It was a violent and oppressive place that is best known for a horrible event called “Bloody Christmas.” If you’re looking for a horrible story about a haunted jail in Southern California, this is it.
On Christmas Eve in 1951, police officers received a call that there were seven minors drinking alcohol, but when they arrived, they found that all of the people drinking were actually adult men.
When the men and the officers had a fight, one officer got injuries requiring stitches, and one of the men was terribly beaten. The other six were taken to Lincoln Heights Jail.
At the Christmas party, rumors swirled among officers that one of the officers had lost an eye in that fight, even though it wasn’t true. The prisoners were taken from their cells and brutally beaten by 50 officers for an hour and a half.
There was a wide attempt to cover up what had happened, and in the end only five of the officers were convicted for their crimes. However, nearly all of the others were transferred away from the jail.
The prison is also known for housing the notorious Al Capone. It was operative until 1965 when it was decommissioned. It housed the Bilingual Foundation of Arts and a gym from 1979-2014 when toxins including asbestos and lead were found in the building.
Yet another scary story is that of the gym owner and boxing champion Johnnie Flores, who was found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the building in 1994.
This undoubtedly haunted place has been used as a movie set for many scary movies as well as music videos, and paranormal activity has been frequently reported by those who have been inside.
Today, the bleak Lincoln Heights Jail stands unoccupied, as plans to turn it into a hub of activity from manufacturing to offices to an amphitheater were put on hold in 2020. For the time being, it looks as creepy as its story suggests it would. We’ll have to wait and see if new life can revitalize this dark place in the future.
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