A 1929 Peninsula theatre where contractors found human ashes in the attic, a woman in a long dress walks a staircase and vanishes, and annual Halloween ghost tours confirm the building's reputation.
2215 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Regular concert and event tickets vary by show; Halloween ghost tour tickets sold separately each October
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic theatre interior with standard venue accessibility; some staircase access to upper areas
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1929 · 1929 Peninsula Theatre Architecture · Active Concert and Events Venue · Redwood City Historic Downtown
The building at 2215 Broadway in Redwood City opened as The New Sequoia Theatre in 1929 — part of the Peninsula's late-silent-to-early-talkie theatre construction boom. The original design reflected the theatrical ambition of the era: an ornate lobby, a substantial main auditorium, and a corner staircase whose architecture became the focal point of subsequent paranormal reports.
The theatre operated as a neighborhood movie house through the mid-20th century, eventually closing as regional multiplex competition eroded single-screen viability across California in the 1970s and 1980s. The building was acquired and restored; it reopened as the Fox Theatre, operating as a mid-capacity live music and events venue. The Fox name is a common independent rebranding in California — the original Sequoia identity was replaced by new operators.
During renovation and construction work, contractors working in the building's attic discovered an urn containing human ashes. The theatre's management confirmed the find publicly; the provenance of the ashes was not determined from available records. The discovery added a concrete basis to reports that had been circulating among staff for years.
The theatre operates actively as a concert venue as of the mid-2020s. San Mateo Daily Journal coverage from 2022 included a spokesperson for the Fox confirming the ghost stories and the urn discovery, establishing that management does not dismiss or suppress the building's paranormal reputation.
Sources
The most specific account from the Fox Theatre in Redwood City comes from contractors who worked in the building during renovation periods. Multiple workers independently described seeing a young woman in a long dress walk up the corner staircase toward the upper level and disappear. The consistency across accounts — same location, same description, same outcome — was noted in Peninsula Ghosts reporting published in both Climate RWC and the San Mateo Daily Journal in 2022.
A different figure is reported in the main auditorium: an older woman seen crossing the stage. These two apparitions — young woman at the staircase, older woman on stage — appear to be distinct and separately reported phenomena rather than variations on a single account.
The projection room has generated its own category of reports: unexplained footsteps in a space that should be unoccupied. Projection rooms carry their own acoustic qualities, and the staff who reported these sounds did so specifically because the sounds did not match the room's expected noise profile.
The attic discovery during renovation — an urn containing human ashes — provided a physical correlate to the reports. The ashes' provenance was not determined from available sources, but their presence in the building's oldest structural spaces gave the reports a concrete anchor. The theatre holds annual Halloween ghost tours, confirming that management treats the building's history as an asset worth presenting rather than a liability to minimize.
The Fox Theatre holds annual Halloween ghost tours that cover the building's documented history of unexplained activity: the staircase apparition, the stage-crossing older woman, the urn of ashes recovered from the attic, and the projection room footsteps. Check foxrwc.com for current season dates and ticket availability.
The Fox Theatre operates as an active concert and performance venue. Standard show tickets include access to the 1929 interior — Art Deco lobby, main auditorium, and the corner staircase where the apparition of a young woman in a long dress has been repeatedly reported.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Stockton, CA
The Fox California Theatre opened October 14, 1930, designed by Clifford Balch and Floyd Stanberry in Spanish Colonial Revival style with a seating capacity of 2,500. It was one of only two movie palaces built in California's Central Valley. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the theatre underwent an $8.5 million restoration and reopened September 2004 as the Bob Hope Theatre, renamed in honor of entertainer Bob Hope at the request of lead donor Alex G. Spanos.
Pasadena, CA
Gilmor Brown founded the Pasadena Playhouse in 1916 with a traveling acting troupe and built the current 686-seat Spanish Colonial Revival theater at 39 South El Molino in 1924–1925. The California legislature designated the Playhouse the official State Theatre of California in 1937. Brown ran the theater until his death in 1960, producing more than 2,000 plays and training actors who went on to Hollywood careers.
Tucson, AZ
The Fox Tucson Theatre opened on April 11, 1930, as a combined vaudeville and movie house. After closing in 1974 and standing vacant for 25 years, the building was purchased in 1999 by the non-profit Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation for $250,000 and reopened in 2006 following a multi-year, multi-million-dollar restoration.