HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Built in 1887 as a saloon and brothel on Oakland's waterfront, this bar saw fatal stabbings and alleged shanghaiing of sailors — and patrons now report figures of men and women and moving chairs.
40 E 13th St, Oakland, CA 94606
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
$
No cover. Standard bar pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Old waterfront bar building; accessibility may be limited.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1887 · 1887 Waterfront Saloon and Brothel · Shanghaiing History · Oakland Waterfront Labor History · East Bay Victorian Commercial Architecture
The Bordello occupies a building constructed in 1887 in Oakland's waterfront district, at the corner of East 12th Street and 13th Avenue. The location placed it within the East Bay waterfront economy that supported the Port of Oakland and the maritime trade moving through San Francisco Bay. Establishments of this kind — saloons with sex work operating in the back rooms — were a standard feature of 19th-century waterfront districts across American port cities.
The documented history of the building includes fatal stabbings in bar fights during the early 1900s. The violence was not unusual for the time and place; waterfront saloons served working men with ready cash, heavy alcohol consumption, and few legal protections from the disputes that followed. The shanghaiing tradition — the practice of drugging or otherwise incapacitating sailors and delivering them to ships' captains who needed crew — was documented along the California waterfront into the early 20th century, and establishments like the Bordello have been associated with the practice in local historical accounts, though specific documented incidents at this address have not been confirmed in surviving records.
The building survived through the 20th century and eventually reopened as a bar in contemporary Oakland. Its 1887 structure and waterfront history have given it a reputation as one of the East Bay's older surviving commercial buildings.
Sources
The Bordello's paranormal accounts come primarily from bar patrons who have spent extended time in the building. Witnesses describe seeing figures — men and women — visible briefly in the bar before disappearing. The descriptions do not suggest theatrical or attention-seeking behavior; they are reported in the flat, uncertain tone of people describing something they saw and cannot account for.
Chairs moving without being touched have been reported by multiple witnesses who were present during these incidents. The accounts are not coordinated; they emerged from different visits and different groups. Patrons have also described conducting flashlight sessions — placing a flashlight on a surface, asking yes/no questions, and noting whether it activates — and reporting responses that seemed to follow a consistent logic over the course of a sitting.
The Bordello's history gives the accounts a specific weight: fatal stabbings documented in the early 1900s, an association with shanghaiing, and the general character of a waterfront vice establishment where the deaths were real even if the paranormal interpretation of what followed is not verifiable. The East Bay paranormal community has listed the Bordello among the region's most actively haunted locations, citing the variety of phenomena and the consistency of reports from unrelated witnesses.
The Bordello is a working bar operating in an 1887 saloon-and-brothel building on Oakland's East Bay waterfront. Patrons have reported seeing figures of men and women, witnessing chairs move, and conducting informal flashlight communication sessions with reported spirits. No organized paranormal programming is offered.
Some links on this page may earn HauntBound a small commission when you book, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial picks are independent. Full disclosure
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
10 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Francisco, CA
The Comstock Saloon opened in 1907 as the Andromeda Saloon, making it the last surviving bar from San Francisco's Barbary Coast district — the waterfront vice zone where sailors were drugged and kidnapped into involuntary maritime service from the 1850s through the early 1900s.
San Jose, CA
The GrandView Restaurant occupies a building opened in 1884 as a stagecoach hotel serving travelers on the road to the James Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. The observatory, funded by James Lick and completed in 1888, generated significant early traffic up the mountain, and roadside accommodation was an immediate commercial opportunity. The building has operated in hospitality for its entire history and has been a restaurant for several decades.
Pleasanton, CA
The current Handles Gastropub stands on the site of the Pleasanton Hotel, a 19th-century establishment in a town that local accounts from the era described as one of the roughest in Contra Costa Valley. A violent death in the hotel's upstairs hallway in the 1870s became the anchor story for the downtown area's ghost walk tradition, which has operated through the Museum on Main for over fifteen years.