November 2011, POST  Investigated the claims of a popular Bakersfield restaurant, T.L. Maxwell's. The restaurant has been open for about 12 years. The owner & his staff have witnessed odd happenings within the building through out the years. In the 1940s, it was occupied by the late Clyde Barbeau, who is credited with installing the semi-circular mahogany bar that remains the restaurant's centerpiece. With the addition of food, The Office became a popular watering hole for judges, lawyers and doctors, many of whom had offices in the adjacent Haberfelde Building. A room below the restaurant was converted into a speakeasy, where card games were the popular attraction. Rumor has it that police officers raided The Office one night & reportedly netted the police chief and mayor. The Office, which closed in the late 1970s, had three other well-known owners, attorney Barney Gill, whose office reportedly connected to the restaurant; oil prospector Tom Jones; and Phil Ammenta. It later reopened as the Basque Tradition, Dave's Deli, The Swing, Joe's Place and Frank's Office Bar & Grill. When Maxwell took over the location 12 years ago the stories were just that… stories! Now he feels wholeheartedly that there is more going on in the building then folklore & legend. Some of the claims in this building are of  a woman's voice that often calls the owners name. Other times she is heard but the words cant be completely understood. The switching of lights on & off are said to frequently happen as well. An apparition of an old man walking in the storage areas and down the hall have also been seen. The basement area has reports of objects moving on there own & scaffolding inexplicably being rearranged. There are tales of the families who perished in the tunnels below downtown Bakersfield during the fire of 1904.  Construction workers also were said to have lost their lives during the earthquake of 1952 in the tunnels that run through out downtown Bakersfield. Recently an unidentified male voice has been heard throughout the restaurant, that can not be accounted for. We Investigated these claims to try & bring some answers to the staff of  T.L. Maxwell"s. We began by setting up our Full-Spectrum video cameras throughout the basement & restaurant. We utilized UV-A & Infrared lighting with our cameras. We also used multiple EMF detectors & high definition audio recorders; as well as Full-spectrum photography & ambient temperature gauges.  We started or journey in the basement area. We conducted an EMF sweep & utilized a Bug finding device that would pick up on any hidden cameras or audio devices that might try to deceive us. There were no high EM Fields or hidden prank devices that we could find, eliminating the possibility of deception. We heard there might be an old entrance into the underground tunnels that once ran through out downtown Bakersfield. We were unable to find any evidence of this. We went on into the area that once was  a speakeasy conducted our sweeps, finding no evidence of Paranormal goings on or high EMF. However in this area Jason & Ryan both heard what sounded like footsteps above them; which sounded like someone walking around in the main dinning area of T.L. Maxwell’s. We all immediately went up stairs to investigate only to find - Nothing or no one.  We went on to the banquet area. At one point Mandy said she could hear what sounded like someone talking in the main dinning area behind us. This would be the same area that Jason & Ryan heard the footsteps coming from. However none of that activity was caught on the audio recorders. In short we sweep through the entire building finding no proof to support the claims of Paranormal activity. We do believe the sincerity of Mr. Maxwell & could not find any natural evidence such as hyper sensitivity to EMF.  We left this Investigation with only a few personal experiences, that we could not debunk. We will set up another date to Investigate this property & the claims within.     

To be continued.