Below the halls of Ethel Dwyer Middle School lies one of the oldest structures in Huntington Beach. While the Dwyer basement is sealed off for most of the year, it’s opened for one night after it has been transformed into the Dwyer Haunted Basement. Locals have been enjoying this spooky attraction since it started a few years ago.
The 2024 basement is themed around the history of Dwyer, Huntington Beach and the life of the school’s namesake, Ethel Dywer. She went to school on the original grounds of Dwyer, in a one-room Victorian schoolhouse. It was eventually rebuilt into the Central Grammar School, which remained a fixture of the area until the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933.
The 6.4 magnitude earthquake, partially triggered by excessive mining around the Newport-Inglewood fault line, resulted in $50 million in damages across Long Beach, Compton and Huntington Beach. The school was soon rebuilt with the help of the Freemasons, a notoriously secretive all-male fraternity who are known for their community service and outreach. The building was reconstructed by the end of 1939 into the Central Elementary School.
During the 30s and 40s, Huntington Beach became a strategic military location thanks to the Bolsa Chica Military Reservation which was converted into a coastal artillery installation on the off-chance of a Japanese naval attack. This led to numerous bomb scares and drills in which the basement served as a shelter. At the same time, the basement also doubled as a communications center for the US military mainly in radio and switchboard operations. At the end of the war, the space was converted into a locker room from the 1950s to the early 2000s until the basement was closed due to safety concerns.
Ethel served as the librarian, nurse, teacher administrator, and eventually the Dean of Students of the school. In the 1980s, the school was re-named as Ethel Dwyer Middle School, immortalizing Ethel and her contributions to the institution.
Given Ethel Dwyer’s presence within the school across much of its existence, people grew to believe that she never really left, even in her afterlife. It is believed that her spirit haunts the school, often causing mischief and playing minor pranks, most occurring within the basement and its boiler room. The boiler room lends itself to these ideas of hauntings as it features old machinery and metal doors often creating random noises, many of which are credited to Ethel.
Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) sophomore Joseph Bray said, “It is a foggy memory, but I believe something happened in choir, such as a light malfunction, and maybe something in class like a pencil moving on its own, and sounds in the choir room near the basement, no explanation.”
These hauntings inspired Dwyer Middle School’s largest annual fundraiser, the Haunted Basement. The fundraiser features the basement itself, snack booths, a DJ, and a variety of sponsorships from local businesses.
“It was not too bad, since it was in a middle school. But it was a lot scarier than I expected it to be,” said Sydnie Ting, an HBHS senior, who has previously attended the event.
The attraction is made possible with the help of numerous parent volunteers, artists and performers over a few months. Preparations typically begin in late July and continue all the way to the day of the event.
Jennifer Longheyer, a designer and volunteer for the basement, said, “The basement is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for Dwyer, and it takes a lot of volunteer participation to make it happen.” Typically the event makes upwards of 10,000 dollars, all of which goes toward the Dwyer Middle School PTA and helps fund other events through the year.
Even with all of their time spent in the basement, the volunteers remain superstitious. Before entering and exiting the basement, all volunteers thank Ethel Dwyer and ask permission before doing anything, and it seems to be working.
“Ethel seems very pleased with the work that has been done on the basement,” said Longheyer.
The honoring of Huntington Beach History, the school, and Ethel Dwyer have all made the event the success that it is. This year’s event was held on October 24th from 5-9pm and was an amazing success! Thank you to everyone who came to the event and please look out for next year’s Haunted Basement. Happy Haunts!
