The Portrait of Bernardo de Gálvez is a portrait painting in Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas is said to be haunted by several ghosts. Many phenomena, however, focus directly on the painting of Bernardo de Galvez.
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Bernardo de Galvez, born in 1746, was a Spanish military leader who helped the American colonists during the revolution. The city of Galveston itself was then named after him. His portrait hangs at the end of the lobby on the ground floor of the hotel, and stories say that his eyes from the painting follow everyone who walks by. People who approach the painting often feel cramped and suddenly feel cold. Historians also talk about the fact that the people who wanted to take a picture of the picture never got the picture. According to tradition, everyone must first politely ask Bernardo de Galvez if they can take a picture of the painting. One team of paranormal investigators once took a picture without asking,an image resembling a skeleton . Did the long-dead Bernardo demonstrate that he did not want his portrait photographed?
If you believe in ghosts, believe that Galveston is probably the most ghost-infested city in Texas. Plagued over centuries by deadly storms, cannibalistic Indians, pirates and pestilence, it’s seen a lot of people die in an untimely manner.
So, I wasn’t surprised that a mere one day of ghost-hunting here turned up all kinds of spirited stories and a few genuinely eerie moments. I started in my hotel, the Galvez. More than 100 years old, it’s said to be haunted by a young woman who stayed in Room 501 and kept watch for her mariner fiance in the hotel’s turret. When she heard his ship was lost at sea, she hanged herself in the turret. Turned out the guy survived the shipwreck.
Guests can’t go into the turret, but spirited Galvez concierge Jackie Hasan led me on a ghost tour of the rest of the hotel. We started with a portrait of Bernardo de Galvez, the Spanish viscount of Galveston. She says some people see a skull in the painting. My own photo of the portrait, when blown up significantly, does have a flash bounce that’s sort of skull-shaped. It’s one of those things you can call a skull if you want to and a random flash pattern if you don’t.
At this point, Hasan directed me to download Ghost Radar Classic, a free app, to my phone to track presences. I downloaded it, then forgot about it, but it would come into play later. We looked at a few photographs of the hotel’s lobby on the hotel’s walls in which faint body outlines seemed to appear. Eerie.
We moved on to the haunted ladies room off the lobby. A hotel worker, Hasan says, heard her name whispered in there. It felt cold — ghost or air conditioning? Then it was time to go up to the dreaded Room 501, a lovely one with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. Even the hallway approaching it felt glacial. We concluded the tour with a trip to the eighth floor (near the turret) without incident and spent some time looking at guests’ photos of ghostly apparitions.
Tours like mine are part of a popular Halloween overnight Ghost Dinner package. It starts at $269, and there’s one date left, this Friday. If you stay at the Galvez at another time of year, though, ask about ghost tours. If it’s a slow day, you might be able to book one.
I was back in my room before I remembered the Ghost Radar app. I looked at my phone. Half a dozen ghosts were on the radar. And, what’s this? My phone began to talk. “January,” it (supposedly a ghost) said. “Join. Up. Coming. Ellen. January.” Ellen? Really? That’s too close to my name for comfort.
App or no, there were ghosts in my room, 442. The TV turned itself on at random moments, and the overhead lights did the same thing in the middle of the night. I was reminded of another visit to Galveston, when my bathroom door kept slamming shut at the also-haunted historic Tremont House.
Time to move on to other ghosts. I headed for the cemetery at Broadway and 42nd street. As I stepped into the graveyard, my Ghost Radar advised, “Whistle.” Very funny. This cemetery was raised along with the rest of the city after the 1900 hurricane. If authorities could find your relatives to claim your grave, you were raised. If not, you were covered over, and others have since been buried atop you, according to Joseph Pellerin of Galveston Graveyard Tours (galvestongraveyardtours.com; $10 hourlong tours available year round).
Buried here are many eminent Galvestonians and some not so eminent — a woman who poisoned her children. The 1888 crypt of George C. Rains, who ran a waterfront saloon called the First and Last Chance, has bushes growing out of it. Civil War Union soldier Edward Lea’s grave reads, “My father is here,” reportedly his last words when he was killed during the Civil War’s Battle of Galveston. His father fought that day for the Confederacy under Gen. John B. Magruder, also buried here. My phone intoned, “Edward.” The app was starting to creep me out, so I turned it off.
Next up: The Haunted Harbor Tour ($15 adults; $13 children), a boat trip launched from Pier 22’s Texas Seaport Museum (tsm-elissa.org). While a historian read a detailed narration of the island’s past — maybe a little too detailed when it came to describing people boiled and eaten by the Karankawa Indians — we sailed past various haunted sites, such as Pelican Island, where pirate Jeanne Lafitte’s ghost supposedly checks on his treasure. We cruised around the scuttled remains of the Selma, a World War I concrete ship (seemed like a good idea at the time) where ghosts apparently frolic.
Perhaps most impressive, we floated back behind the University of Texas Medical Branch to see The Face. There’s a man’s face on the wall of Ewing Hall on the campus. Legend has it that the face is that of the property’s former owner, irked that his heirs sold the land. Another story says it’s the face of a killer. Whatever, it’s clearly a face. UTMB authorities say it’s water marks. Balderdash. They tried to pressure-spray the guy off. He reappeared. So they sand-blasted his visage. He reappeared on another of the building’s concrete panels.
Finally, after dinner, I toured one of Galveston’s many haunted mansions, the home of Michel B. Menard at 1604 33rd St. Built in 1838, it’s the island’s oldest house. One of the city’s founders, Menard died in 1856 of cancer. The Ketchum family moved into the house and was there during the 1900 hurricane, which the house survived. Edwin Ketchum was the city’s police chief and worked long and hard to rescue people and calm Galvestonians.
Ghosts here might include Menard himself or perhaps soldiers who were treated for yellow fever when the house was a makeshift hospital during the Civil War. But my money is on the 10 bodies found washed up in the yard during the 1900 hurricane. My spine tingled when Jami Durham, who manages the house for the Galveston Historical Foundation and gave me my tour, led me outside.
Any ghost who lives in this house is lucky. It’s been beautifully restored with furnishings — not original to the house — dating to the early 1900s. I would love to live there, ghosts or no.
Seances have been held in this house over the years, and they’re being held this month in honor of Halloween. The last one is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and some guests are even planning to spend the night. After-dark tours of the house like the one I took are available Oct. 28, 29, 30 and 31 for $20 per person. The house will also be open for holiday tours in early December.