Undoubtedly the most popular room in Hotel Del Coronado, the haunted Room 3327 has captivated paranormal investigators and ghost fans for over a century.
The haunting tale of Room 3327 is intrinsically linked to the tragic story of Kate Morgan, a woman rumoured to be a swindler that travels around the country with her lover to carry out con acts.
Her life and mysterious death have spawned numerous ghost stories and legends, making Room 3327 a focal point for paranormal enthusiasts and visitors staying in Hotel Del Coronado.
Story of Kate Morgan
The legend of the mysterious woman dates back to November 24, 1892, when she arrived at San Diego and checked in to room 3327 at Hotel Del Coronado under the name Lottie A. Barnard. Kate.
Then pregnant with a child, Kate had agreed to meet with her lover at the hotel before heading out to the streets of San Diego to swindle unsuspecting men.
However, days passed and her lover never showed up. Desperation soon turned into despair, and Kate supposedly did the unthinkable. She was found dead five days later (after checking into the hotel) at an outdoor stairway leading to Coronado Beach, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
However, no family had come forward to identify Kate’s body. She was eventually identified as Kate Morgan and buried at the nearby Mount Hope Cemetery in Div 5 Sec 1.
Her funeral procession was attended by a few women from the local community and paid for by a donor who sympathised with her plight. However, no relative or friend of Kate Morgan followed the hearse to her grave. Till today, her true identity remain a mystery.
A police investigation into the suicide revealed little about Kate Morgan’s life. No family had ever come forward to identify the body, nor were there any police records to verify the identity of her.
Guests have previously reported seeing a women believed to be Kate behaving eccentrically at the hotel’s restaurant and the lobby. A women resembling Kate was also spotted purchasing a .44 caliber pistol at Chuck’s Gun Shop a few days before her death.
After months of investigation, the death of Kate Morgan was ruled as a suicide.
One theory posited that her husband Tom Morgan may have actually arrived at Hotel del Coronado, and that Kate’s intention to kill her husband with the pistol has backfired. In a scuffle, Tom shot Morgan in the head and destroyed all identifications of Kate at Room 3327.
Interestingly, a lawyer investigating her case in the 1980s found that the bullet in her skull did not match the caliber of the gun she bought, suggesting the possibility of foul play, though this theory was never officially pursued
In a 2001 book titled The Ghost of the Hotel del Coronado, The TRUE Story of Kate Morgan, author Terry Girardot detailed his findings on local newspaper clippings of Kate’s suicide as well as genealogy research on her and her husband Tom Morgan. The photo pictured above was provided by Tom Morgan’s granddaughter and is said to be the only known photo of Kate Morgan.
There have been no other historical records to verify the authenticity of the photo.
The popularity of the legend of Kate Morgan have also prompted Hotel Del Coronado’s heritage department to release a book titled Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost Of Kate Morgan And The Hotel Del Coronado. The book, which was released in 2002, detailed the hotel’s research on Kate Morgan and her supposed suicide.
Hauntings of Room 3327
The ghost of Kate Morgan is said to haunt Room 3327 (Room 3312 by the current numbering system) and the hallway outside.
Chambermaids who cleaning up Room 3327 and the adjacent rooms have reported hearing whispers and seeing objects moving on their own. Guests staying in the room have also complained about the flickering lights, the bizarre TV turning on and off by itself, and random cold spots, only to be told that the room is haunted and a transfer of rooms is allowed.
Some have even reported feeling fingertips brushing against their cheeks.
The most haunting experience ever reported by visitors is the apparition of a young lady in period clothing pacing frantically along the corridor, seemingly in distress or waiting for someone.
Apart from Room 3327, staffs have also reported numerous paranormal activities in the hotel. Items are known to have fly off the shelves at the gift shop but were unbroken from the fall.
Unexplainable sounds of cries were also reported along the walkway of the hotel. While some of these occurrences can be attributed to the old structure of the Hotel Del Coronado, others remain unexplained, adding to the room’s eerie reputation.
You may be interested in: Haunted History of Hotel Del Coronado
