Victoria's Black Swan Inn, San Antonio: History and Ghost Stories

Victoria’s Black Swan Inn sits on about 35 acres of oak and pecan trees beside Salado Creek on San Antonio’s northeast side. Its land saw a battle in 1842, a German family’s dairy farm from 1887, and in the mid-20th century the lives and deaths of Joline and Hall Park Street, whose story is at the center of most of the house’s ghost lore.

Despite the name, it is not a hotel: there are no guest rooms. It is a private home and event venue for weddings, markets and seasonal events, including the yearly Texas Paranormal Fest, when visitors can tour the house. It has featured on Sightings, Ghost Adventures and Portals to Hell. This guide sorts the documented history from the legends and explains how to visit.

History of Victoria's Black Swan Inn

People camped along Salado Creek long before San Antonio existed, and ghost writers often claim the house stands on a Native American burial ground. We have found no archaeological report that confirms a burial ground on the property, so treat that part as legend.

The battle, though, is history. In September 1842 a Mexican army of about 1,500 men under General Adrian Woll captured San Antonio. On September 18, about 200 Texan volunteers under Captain Mathew Caldwell, with John Coffee Hays’s rangers, drew Woll into an attack on their position in the Salado Creek bottom. The Texans lost one man killed; Mexican losses were reported at about 60 dead and many wounded. The same day, a few miles away, Nicholas Dawson’s company of 53 Texans was cut down by Mexican cavalry in what became known as the Dawson Massacre. A 1936 Texas Centennial marker on Holbrook Road commemorates the Battle of the Salado.

After the Civil War the land was farmed. Henry (Heinrich) and Marie Mahler, German immigrants, bought it in 1887 and ran a dairy that became known as Bluebonnet Dairy. Marie died in 1923 and Henry in 1925, and family tradition says he never recovered from losing her. In 1941 two sisters, Katherine Joline Holbrook and Mary Blanche Woods, bought the property with their husbands, enlarged the house and called it White Gables.

In the 1950s the house belonged to attorney Hall Park Street Jr. and his wife Joline Woods Street. Joline died of breast cancer in 1959. In 1965 Park was found hanged in the house, and his death was ruled a suicide, although stories of a hidden treasure and suspicious circumstances have kept people wondering ever since. The house passed through several owners, including a self-storage company in 1987, before Jo Ann Marks Andrews (now Jo Ann Marks Rivera) bought it in November 1991. She named it after an old pub in Stratford-upon-Avon linked with Shakespeare, and turned it into a venue.

The ghosts of Victoria's Black Swan Inn

Park Street

The angriest presence in the house is usually said to be Park Street. Staff and visitors describe a man pacing the house and grounds with a sense of rage or grief, and some believe he is searching for Joline, or guarding the treasure he was rumored to have hidden. People sensitive to atmosphere often say they feel a heaviness in a downstairs bedroom.

Joline and the woman on the bed

A woman in white is said to wander the property, usually identified as Joline. The story goes that she and Park are both searching and never find each other, which many visitors find the saddest part of the house. Separately, a young woman has been seen sitting on the edge of a bed in an upstairs room. She is often linked to Joline’s mother, Mrs. Woods.

The children

Several child spirits are reported, and they are blamed for objects moving, lights flicking on and off and the occasional tantrum, especially when living children are visiting. Older accounts name them as Mahler children, including a girl called Sara who jumps on the beds and a Sophia Louise who died elderly but is said to appear as a little girl who sings. We have not found records that confirm these names.

The barn, the creek and the battlefield

The old dairy barn has a hostile reputation, with stories of three male figures, loud bangs and an EVP said to say “get out”. Down at Salado Creek, people tell of drumming, the smell of smoke and figures they take to be Native Americans, and of soldiers from the 1842 battle, with a bugle heard in the distance. These are the most folkloric of all the stories told here.

Where to look

• The upstairs bedrooms: where the young woman is seen on the bed and the children play.
• The downstairs bedroom: the room people associate with heaviness and with Park Street.
• The dairy barn: the site of the hostile male figures and the “get out” EVP.
• Salado Creek and the gazebo: for the battle and creek legends, best visited during an outdoor event.

Visiting Victoria's Black Swan Inn

Victoria’s Black Swan Inn is a private venue and home, not a hotel or museum, so you cannot just turn up. The way in is through its events: weddings, day markets, night events and a Halloween event at the end of October. Check the venue’s website for what is on.

For ghost lovers the big date is the Texas Paranormal Fest, run each September by Curious Twins Paranormal. The 2025 festival offered house tours, talks, workshops, vendors and local investigation teams, and it often pairs with trips to other haunted places in South Texas. Tickets sell in advance.

Haunted Rooms does not currently run events here. For an investigation with our team, see our nearest ghost hunts below.

• Visiting Private event venue: visit for weddings, markets and ticketed events
• Tours House tours during special events such as the Texas Paranormal Fest
• Ghost hunting Paranormal teams gather here for the annual Texas Paranormal Fest; check event listings

Tips for your visit

• Book the Paranormal Fest early if you want a house tour; it is the best chance most people get to see inside.
• Look for the 1936 Battle of the Salado marker by Holbrook Road.
• The grounds are big and uneven: wear comfortable shoes for evening events.
• Stay in one of San Antonio’s haunted hotels downtown, about 15 minutes away.

More haunted places nearby

• The Alamo: San Antonio’s most famous battlefield
• Yorktown Memorial Hospital: the abandoned hospital run by the same paranormal festival team
• Menger Hotel: San Antonio’s most haunted hotel
• Haunted hotels in San Antonio: for a haunted night’s sleep
• Haunted places in Texas
• Haunted places in San Antonio

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Victoria's Black Swan Inn (official site)
• Texas State Historical Association: Salado Creek, Battle of
• Best Attractions: Inside the long history of Victoria's Black Swan Inn
• KSAT: Paranormal Fest returns to San Antonio (2025)
• Ghost City Tours: The haunted Black Swan Inn
• TXGenWeb: Battle of the Salado marker