The Haunted Victoria’s Black Swan Inn

San Antonio, Texas

Nestled in the heart of San Antonio along Salado Creek, Victoria’s Black Swan Inn sits on 35 acres of lush grounds, covered in 100 year old oak and pecan trees, lavish gardens, and lawns. From the charming patio with its large stone fountain and wrap around veranda, to the beautiful garden enclosed gazebo, the property is a unique country setting. Dense woods isolate it from the rest of the world in a quiet spot of city. Victoria’s Black Swan Inn, named after Shakespeare’s favorite bar, is a charming local venue for weddings, memorials, and bachelorette parties. It’s also a paint-chipped monument to San Antonio history, possessing a nationally recognized paranormal reputation. Victoria’s Black Swan Inn is said to be one of the Top Ten Haunted Places in Texas.

The Greek-revival style plantation house, constructed in 1867 on the historic site of the 1842 Battle of Salado, has been a home to some of the most prestigious people in San Antonio’s history. The hauntingly romantic house sits on a grassy knoll overlooking the Salado Creek in San Antonio. Just 20 years before it was built, the site is where General Caldwell and his men massacred over 60 Mexican soldiers in the bloody Battle of Salado, defending the Republic of Texas.

From before 5000 B.C. to around 1000 A.D the area was the site of Native American encampments. Artifacts from this time can still be found here. Archeologists have provided evidence showing that Native Americans once lived in the area where the house currently sits. There have also been signs of a sweat lodge where Native Americans performed rituals. An ancient Indian burial ground is thought to be under the house. There have been stories of boys fishing in Salado Creek being chased away by what appears to be Native American ghosts. Some people have said they smell smoke and hear a light drum sound.

On September 18, 1842 General Adrian Woll, Sam Houston and his men massacred more than 60 Mexican soldiers during the bloody Battle of Salado. . The battle was another attempt by Mexico to reclaim the territory it had lost after the Battle of San Jacinto, but like the others since 1836, it was a failure. Their bodies were left to rot where they fell. Only one Texan lost his life, Steven Jett, during the battle. There have been sightings of a ghostly confederate soldier near the gazebo in front of Victoria’s Black Swan Inn. The sound of a military bugle is heard on occasion. In 1936, the property was designated as a Battle of Salado historic site by the State of Texas during the 1936 Centennial Celebration.

Historical Marker Reads:

THE BATTLE OF THE SALADO

Decisive in Texas History, was fought here, September 18, 1842. Col. Mathew Caldwell and Capt. John C. Hays, commanding a force of Texas volunteers, opposed the Mexican army under General Adrian Woll that had captured San Antonio, and, with the loss of only one man, checked the last Mexican invasion of Texas and thereby prevented the capture of Austin, capital of the Republic of Texas.

Thirty-five years later, German immigrants, Heinrich “Henry” Mahler and Marie Biermann Mahler, bought the property on January 10, 1887. They built the first house on the property in 1887. Their children were Samuel George Mahler, Louisa Catherine Mahler Prange, Sara “Suzie” Mahler Schlegel, Daniel Henry Mahler. They also built a milking barn and named the farm Bluebonnet Dairy. Henry and Sam were known as the Cotton Kings and lived on the property with 200 acres after Marie died. The Mahlers ran the dairy farm here until the mid-1930s. Carl Mahler from Germany had a daughter named Sophia Louise Mahler Meyers, a spinster who lived in the house until she was 82 but haunts the house as an 8-year-old girl singing and laughing and known for playing tricks on people

According to psychics and EVP Audio, Gustov is believed to be one of the three spirits that haunts the dairy barn. His ghost is figure that appears to have a head, arms and what looks like to be wearing a tank top, looks at people through a window on the thermal imaging camera. He also makes loud noises. The barn that still stands to this day is the location where Henry ran his prized dairy. Many believe he haunts the barn because he loved it so much and roams the property, including inside the main house. There is supposedly another big burly German man who haunts the barn although no one is quite sure who he is but he is likely to be Sebastian Rippstein. All three of the spirits in the barn are aggressive towards women but do not like men. EVP’s have been captured of a deep voice telling people to “GET OUT!”. In the front yard and house there seems to be a spirit of a child, a little girl who many believe is Sara Mahler, Henry’s daughter. She likes to play and jump on mattresses and pulls pranks in a building located behind the Black Swan. Sebastian also haunts inside the house.

Henry and Marie’s son, Dan, and his wife, Mary Mahler, lived on the property with 237 acres. They sold the house and surrounding land to two sisters and their husbands in 1941. Katherine S. Joline Holbrook and Joseph “John” Younger Holbrook, along with Mary Blanche Joline Woods and Claude B. Woods purchased the property. The sisters called the house White Gables. They conducted extensive remodeling, adding two wings to enlarge the mansion to accommodate the two families. The house was then called “White Gables”. After purchasing more land a second house was built in 1901 but it later burnt down.

Psychics have also identified the elderly Mrs. Woods, Joline’s mother, ensconced in a small bedroom in the south wing. There, the spirit of a young woman if often spotted, seated on the bed. Those lucky enough to catch sight of this female ghost often liken her to a young Mrs. Woods. She spent several years confined here before she had to be placed in a nursing home. Although her final resting place was actually in one of the downstairs bedrooms. It’s in that room that many experience an overwhelmingly oppressive heaviness and a feeling of sadness.

Attorney Hall Park Street, Jr. and Joline Woods Street. They inherited the house in 1952 from Joline’s mother, Claude Woods. After the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook and Mr. Woods, Mrs. Woods lived in the house with her son-in-law, Park, and her daughter, Joline. During this time a second story was added to the main house. While Park and Joline owned the property Earle Stanley Gardner visited the house and wrote some of his famed Perry Mason television series scripts here. Joline died of breast cancer in 1959. Park, Jr. was later found dead in 1965 hung by a neck tie with his hands tied behind his back…the death was ruled a suicide. They were survived by their daughter, Joline “Jingles”, who was only 19 at the time and their son, Hall Park Street III.

A psychic consultant with Syfy’s television program Sightings communicated with former resident, Hall Park Street, whom he believed was murdered in a south wing closet, then moved to another location, where the murderer made the death look like a suicide. They believe Street was killed because of a treasure he still guards in the south wing. Others believe that Heinrich’s ghost drove Park to commit suicide. The most unnerving spectral presence at the property is that of a man who has been spotted stalking angrily all over the house. Rumor has it that he is the ghost of Hall Park Street. Is he perhaps looking for his beloved wife Joline, whose spirit is also said to haunt the Inn after tragedy struck her at the tender age of thirty-eight when she died of cancer? Dressed in a luxurious white gown with a beaded jeweled medallion in from of headband with a feather at the back over her dark hair, this is a very beautiful female spirit roams the property aimlessly, especially around the gazebo, but Park and Joline never seem to meet.

George L Mehren and Ingeborg Mehren bought the house in 1973 from Hall Street Park III, Joline S. and her husband, James Patrick Robinson. She renamed it “Mehren House”. The house was remodeled, including a large kitchen area to hold larger dinners, conferences, and receptions. Ingeborg had a distinguished guest, Franz Wilhelm, the Prince of Prussia, who stayed at the house during an extended stay in San Antonio. Ingeborg later planned to use the property for the Mehren House subdivision as a Salado Investment. In 1980 the Mehren’s sold the property to E. Werner Schmidt. Ernst Werner Schmidt sold the property to Sunbelt Self Storage, Inc. in 1987.

Sunbelt Self Storage, Inc. sold the property to current owner, Jo Ann Marks Andrews, now Jo Ann Marks Rivera, in 1991. She named the house “Victoria’s Black Swan Inn”, after one of William Shakespeare’s favorite pubs. Out of the Black Swan, she based her Victorian garment manufacturing business, and later began renting out the space as a venue for special events. The house is Jo Ann’s private residence and her children, Victoria Ann, Nathaniel Robert Rivera, Madison Renee Rivera, as well as her friend, Phil Martin Ross and grandson, Elijah Everitt Rivera who is Victoria’s Son. Jo Ann’s other daughters, Rachel Lauran Maze and Meredith Rose Maze also lived in the house. Jo Ann’s mother, Fay Nell Marks, spent a lot of time at the house and passed away in her bedroom after an illness.

Doors would swing open and slam shut at random intervals. Other paranormal phenomena at the Black Swann Inn include notable dips in temperature, unexplainable noises and lights that are often turned off and on at random. Lights would mysteriously flicker on. In one bedroom where her young children circulated through, they described the presence of a “shadow man” who would talk to them and sometimes pinch them while they slept. Rivera would notice bruises on her daughter’s legs mornings following these reports. The Rivera family adopted nightly rituals, setting boundaries with the spirits, which ultimately proved helpful. Respect the spirits and they’ll respect you back. The same rules apply to people.

Rivera recounts a time a repair crew was working upstairs and mentioned that there was a blonde toddler in a blue dress sitting alone in one of the vacant bedrooms. When she went upstairs to check, the child was gone. After over 30 years living at the Black Swan, a place entrenched in history that seems to attract and foster paranormal frequencies, Rivera says she typically experiences some sort of paranormal activity on a daily basis. At the Black Swan, the undead are just a fact of life.

The home has had several paranormal investigators visit it over the years. In December 1996, the television show “Sightings” filmed a segment at Victoria’s Black Swan Inn. The house was also featured in the Travel Channel’s TV series “Ghost Adventures” in 2013. During this time some of Texas’ most famous musicians, such as George Strait, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Flaco Jimenez have performed and filmed here. Numerous artisans, film makers, and photographers have also filmed and worked on the property.

While setting up for an event in 2015, there were several strange, unexplained occurrences. One person was bitten and bruised on the inner thigh by an unseen toddler through a long heavy dress. Another person was pinched by a little girl and boy ghosts. Objects were randomly relocated throughout the woods when no one was around.

The Black Swan still regularly hosts events and experiences, like the popular “Haunted Cocktail Hour” and now operates a series of ghost tours. Rivera raised three of her five children in the building, and still lives there with her partner, a lawyer named Philip Ross. It continues to be a venue for weddings, the Black Swan Artisan Market, paranormal investigations, historic tours, and several other types of social events throughout the year including the Masquerade Ball in October.

Below are just a few of the images that I have taken when I went to visit Victoria’s Black Swan Inn: