San Bernardino County history: The courthouse ghost – Welcome to San Bernardino County

"San Bernardino County Update", yellow arrowhead and "SBCounty.gov

Black and white photo of the county courthouse featuring a clock tower and surrounded by a fence and small trees. Figures stand on the steps leading to the entrance. — *The county courthouse features a ghostlike figure near the entrance.*

In 1875, San Bernardino County constructed a two-story wooden courthouse on E Street between Third and Fourth streets in the city of San Bernardino. The building housed the courts, the recorder, the Board of Supervisors and almost every other county office.

Shortly after its completion, a photographer captured an image of the new courthouse, but there was something unusual in the photo. There appeared to be a ghostlike figure near the building’s entrance. Could it have been a ghost?

The answer may lie in the photography techniques of the time. In the 19th century, photographers often used a process called wet plate collodion photography. It required coating a glass plate with chemicals, treating it with silver nitrate, and taking the photograph while the plate was still wet.

The process required exposures of at least 15 minutes in outdoor settings. If someone moved or left while the photograph was being taken, a transparent or blurred image could appear.

By the 1800s, some photographers had begun marketing these ghostly effects as evidence of the supernatural. Spirit photos became a commercial novelty, although many could be explained by the limitations of early photography.

The figure in the courthouse photo may have been the result of this lengthy exposure process, or is there another explanation? Could it have been a ghost?

The information in this historical feature was originally part of a video series produced by the Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk’s office.

Additional County Update News – October 29, 2026