A WPA-era 1938 Spanish Colonial Revival civic building in downtown Davis — former city hall, fire station and police station — where a red-haired apparition is reported in the downstairs women's restroom.
226 F Street, Davis, CA 95616
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior is freely viewable from F Street; interior access depends on the current tenant.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat downtown sidewalk
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1938 · New Deal / WPA construction · Spanish Colonial Revival civic architecture · Former Davis city hall, fire station and police station
The Old Davis City Hall at 226 F Street was constructed in 1938 during the New Deal era and is associated with the Works Progress Administration; the building bears "WPA 1938" and "Davis City Hall 1938" markings. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, it originally consolidated the city's administrative offices and the Davis Fire Department under one roof.
The fire department was the first to relocate, moving out in 1966; the Davis Police Department then occupied that portion of the building. The structure continued to serve as the city's police station until 2001, when the department moved to a new facility on Fifth Street and Cantrill Drive.
After the police department vacated the building, it was renovated by the city's Redevelopment Agency, architect Robert Lindley, and restaurateurs into a restaurant space. It most recently operated as Bistro 33 and later City Hall Tavern; both have since closed. The building remains a recognized piece of downtown Davis history and a documented Living New Deal site.
The building stands today as one of downtown Davis's most recognizable historic civic structures, a tangible link to the community's 1930s development and to New Deal public-works investment in the Central Valley.
Sources
The Old Davis City Hall's best-known ghost story centers on the downstairs women's restroom. According to accounts collected on the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index and repeated in regional coverage, witnesses have reported the apparition of a wild-haired red-headed woman who rushes toward the second stall in an aggressive posture — arms outstretched, hands described as claw-like — before disappearing.
The prevailing folk explanation holds that the woman died at the location of the second stall, which is said to be where the apparition always vanishes. As Davis-area coverage notes, however, there is no documented investigation tying any death or murder to the building, and the story rests entirely on anonymous witness reports rather than any historical record (Backpackerverse; Davis LocalWiki).
The legend has been folded into broader roundups of haunted sites in the greater Sacramento area, where the old city hall is listed alongside other regional landmarks. The reports are presented in those sources as local folklore — atmospheric and persistent, but unverified.
Notable Entities
View the 1938 WPA-built Spanish Colonial Revival former city hall from F Street in downtown Davis. Interpretive context from Living New Deal and Davis Downtown is available online.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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