"This building was built in 1895. In 1946 there was a gentleman named Clyde Barbeau and a partner that opened it up as a bar."
For more than a century, the brick building on 17th Place downtown has been a gentleman's club, a bar, a speakeasy, and now a restaurant, T.L. Maxwell's.
"She'd be standing right down there looking straight up at her, and not saying anything just looking straight up at her." It's a building with a rich history, and a past, restaurant owner Terry Maxwell says still haunts it. "Maybe it's some of the old patrons that love this bar, maybe it's an old waitress that loved this bar and they want to spend the rest of eternity here."
It's in the basement, Maxwell says most of the paranormal activity happens, he and his staff report hearing voices and seeing visions of a little old man. "I've come convinced that there is something going on here, and I am hearing voices and there aren't people there and I don't think my brain is doing it I know I'm not a schizophrenic, I don't think it runs in my family."
To help Maxwell debunk or prove the claims, The Paranormal Observation Society of Tehachapi will investigate the restaurant.
The ghost hunters use modified cameras and video recording to capture a spirit on film - they snapped a photo at another restaurant, the white image they say is a ghost.
"When we come across something that we can't explain it's just like, wow, everybody has been accounted for, how did that move or what was that voice and we've actually heard disembodied voices at one location, it was very distinct and loud and we caught that on recording," says Ryan Curliss, paranormal observation society of tehachapi.
Ryan and Mandy Curliss predict paranormal activity at the far west wing of the basement, where just beyond some wood boards lies an entrance. Maxwell says this could be a door that leads to the underground tunnels many believe were built underneath downtown.
Maxwell says every few months the wood board are nailed together in different shapes - although he's not a true believer in the paranormal he says this is proof enough for him.
If you want to visit more haunted places downtown, here's some other spots ripe with local ghost stories. Garces Circle, Mill Creek Park, Sinaloa's Restaurant, The Padre Hotel, The Fox Theater and Spotlight Theater.
The Paranormal Society of Tehachapi plans to conduct a full investigation of T.L. Maxwell's one night this week.
