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WASHINGTON - LOCATION HISTORY, PARANORMAL BACKGROUND, LINKS

Please read the DISCLAIMER before visiting any of these locations.
Auburn Seattle and vicinity
Black Diamond Tacoma and vicinity
Carnation Vancouver
Centralia  

Auburn

Fred Meyer
Auburn, WA

Fred Meyer-Auburn (image: carpenoctem.tv/haunt/wa)

Brief Location History: Location is publicly accessible. Retail store.

Paranormal Background: Shoe Department and Stock Room - Employees have reported boxes thrown around in the Apparel stock room when no one else was there. No mess was left. This stock room is connected to the Shoe Department where employees and customers frequently report shoes being thrown at them. No apparitions have been reported.

Links: Other than the description of the paranormal phenomena listed above, no links have been found.

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Black Diamond

Black Diamond Cemetery
Black Diamond, WA

Black Diamond Cemetery(image - 2008 Northwest Hauntings staff)

Brief Location History: This location is publicly accessible. This cemetery was established in the 1880s in the mining town of Black Diamond, then the biggest settlement in King County outside of Seattle. The various nationalities of those buried there include Welsh, English, Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Austrian, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Montenegrin, Serbian, Polish and Russian.

Paranormal Background: Lights from coal miners' lanterns have been seen on foggy nights. Whistling in the wind has been heard, and a white horse has been seen trotting around headstones.

Links:


List of burials in Black Diamond Cemetery
Black Diamond Cemetery - HistoryLink.org
Investigation Photos - There's A Ghost
History of Black Diamond - City of Black Diamond, WA

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Carnation

Carnation Cemetery
Carnation, WA

Carnation Cemetery(image - 2008 Northwest Hauntings staff)

Brief Location History: This location is publicly accessible. Originally established as Tolt Cemetery in 1905 on land donated by Frederick Bagwell, who was also the first burial in 1901. (internment.net) 1906 northern section started by same (rootsweb.com). Renamed Carnation Cemetery in 1944.
Interesting Note: Any of the death dates before 1906, (except Frederick Bagwell, first burial), were relocated to this cemetery from Pleasant Hill Cemetery, located between Carnation and Fall City

Paranormal Background:  People have reported the following paranormal phenomena:
1.strong pains almost every time they enter
2. hearing footsteps behind them and and/or around them
3. seeing figures in corners of their eyes and just when they are plain staring at something.
4.hearing whispers in their ears
5. seeing a woman in a white dress numerous times. along with a boy

Links:


List of burials in Carnation (Tolt) Cemetery
Personal Experience of one of our visitors

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Centralia

McMenamin's Olympic Club
Centralia, WA

Olympic Club(image - mcmenamins.com)

Brief Location History: Originally opened in 1908 as a gentlemen's resort. The building has a history of bootlegging, bandits and ghosts. Train robber Roy Gardner was captured at the hotel in 1921. Jack Sciutto, the Olympic Club's original proprietor was crowned "King of Bootleggers".

Paranormal Background:  candles mysteriously lit; rearranged chairs in basement; falling ax; music drowned out by mysterious tune; a man's laughter has been hears echoing in the building. A ghost nicknamed 'Elmer' has been seen standing by the cast iron stove. It is thought that this ghost could be of Louis Galba who had rented a room at the hotel formerly on this site. The hotel burned in 1908, and Louis jumped to the ground from his second story room. He died a few months later of his injuries.

Links:

McMenamin's Olympic Club Hotel
Creepy Haunts - The Chronicle
Centralia relives its bawdy past in restored Olympic Club hotel - The Seattle Times

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Seattle Area

Comet Lodge Cemetery
Georgetown, Seattle, WA

Comet Lodge Cemetery (image - 2007 Northwest Hauntings staff)


Brief Location History: This location is publicly accessible. Only a portion of the original cemetery exists today and has been somewhat restored after a period of neglect and desecration. In the 1920's the north half of the cemetery was sold. No records have been found to indicate that the burials in this part of the cemetery were vacated. In the years since some homes have been built on the north portion, their owners unaware it was cemetery land.

Paranormal Background: apparitions and shadows seen.

Links:


List of burials in Comet Lodge Cemetery
History and Timeline of Comet Lodge Cemetery
Preservation Seattle Online Magazine article July, 2003
Seattle Weekly article Jan 14, 1998
Seattle Weekly article Apr 29, 1998
KGW News - Evening Magazine 10/21/03
Seven articles from The Seattle Times 1985 - 1987

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Georgetown Castle
Private Residence
Georgetown, Seattle, WA

Georgetown Castle (image: 2007 Northwest Hauntings staff)

Brief Location History: Private residence, built in 1902.

Paranormal Background: Internet searches turn up several variations of the story, but basically the ghost is supposed to be a woman whose baby was buried under the porch.  The variations include that the woman was raped and the rapist later killed her baby and buried it under the porch, and another variation is that the woman was crazy and killed her own illegitimate babies and buried them under the porch.  An article on the Seattleweekly.com website claims the castle has caused one tenant to commit suicide and that the landlord requires people to sign a liability waiver when they put down their deposit.

Links:

Seattle Weekly article May 22, 2002
Inside Georgetown Castle - 8 Jul 2007
F.O.G. Paranormal video of Georgetown Castle (footage aired on Montel Williams show 11 July 2007)

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Andrew's Rainbow House
Private Residence in West Seattle, WA

Rainbow House (image: 2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History: Private residence, built in 1910. House was for sale late March, 2007.

Paranormal Background: The story goes that Andrew told his father he was gay and that his father couldn't handle it and killed Andrew and himself. The next morning the house was found painted in rainbow colors in the front, and the back in swirls and colors. There are also colored tiles on the roof and the letter "A" in gray tiles on the roof. Apparently the house has been repainted, but the following day it is always back to rainbow colors. The house was supposedly featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" but after consulting online episode guides and other internet searches, no reference to the airing of that episode has been found (yet). There also has been a report of Andrew's ghost being seen in digital pictures.

Links: none found yet except those reporting the same paranormal activity listed above.

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Rite Aid
West Seattle, WA

Rite Aid (image: 2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History: publically accessible retail store in West Seattle.

Paranormal Background: This location was once part of a mining operation. Paranormal activity reported that a spirit has called employees then hung up, tripped alarms and turned off lights.

Links: none found excepting theshadowlands.net, which lists this loction as haunted.

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G.A.R. Cemetery (Civil War Cemetery)
Seattle, WA

GAR Cemetery (image:2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History: Land was donated in 1895 to establish the cemetery, which was platted in 1896. There are 526 graves of Union and Confederate soldiers and their wives here, representing 25 states.

Paranormal Background: Reports of ghosts seen walking in Civil War univorms.

Links:

HistoryLink.org - online Encyclopedia of Washington State
Listing of burials in the GAR Cemetery
Friends of the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Park

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Observation Water Tower
Volunteer Park
Seattle, WA

Observation Water Tower (image:2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History:The Observation Tower was built in 1907. David Denny granted the City of Seattle use of a tract of land for a cemetery in the early 1860s. In 1883, Denny donated that tract of land to the city for use as Seattle's first public park. Most of the remains were relocated to Washelli Cemetery in the 1880s. This cemetery land was also converted to park use in 1893, and the remains were relocated yet again, to bordering Lakeview Cemetery.

Paranormal Background: None has been reported that we can find. We list it here because on our visit we captured an orb in one of our photos. After reading that the land the park is on was once a cemetery, it seems possible that spirit activity may exist here. See links below to view the orb photo.

Links:


Public park established on site of cemetery

City buys site of future Volunteer Park
National Register of Historic Places - NPS
Seattle Parks and Recreation - Volunteer Park
Observation Water Tower ORB Photo - March 29, 2007

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Amazon.com Headquarters
Beacon Hill
Seattle, WA

GAR Cemetery (image: Wikipedia.org)

Brief Location History: Publicly accessible. Occupies 14 floors of the PacMed building on Beacon Hill in Seattle. The building was erected in 1932 as the US Marine Hospital and has 16 floors. The Marine Hospital closed in 1987. The building remained closed through 1998. Amazon.com agreed to lease floors 1-14 until 2009. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.

Paranormal Background: Reported to be haunted by a nurse from the 1930s whose perfume lingers. Construction workers reported that nighttime janitors would only last one night; mystery voices; service elevator stopping between floors ; strange cell phone activity.

Links:

Personal Experience, posted February 2005 on Ghostvillage.com
Haunted Happenings & Ghost Tours, Kevin Fullerton, SeattleWeekly, 2002
King County Property Map
Emporis Research Technical data and interesting facts
Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority
Amazon.com at Wikipedia

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Pike Place Market
Seattle, WA

Pike Place Market
Princess Angeline
Image:© 2004 Stephanie Gautier, University of WA

Brief Location History: Public market on Seattle waterfront. Pike Place public market opened on Aug 17, 1907 with less than a dozen farmer's wagons. The first buildings were built by the end of 1907, housing 76 vendor stalls. The present-day configuration of the buildings of the market was completed in 1922. Today, the market covers 9 acres with 56 food vendors, 98 other merchants, 50 restaurants, 20 office or service outlets and 450 residents. The market sees 9 million visitors a year.

Paranormal Background: The ghosts of Pike Place Market -
Princess Angeline- Princess Angeline was the daughter of Chief Seattle. Pike Place Market is built on the site of Princess Angeline's former cabin. She is sometimes seen near the old Goodwill store, but is most often seen near a rough wooden column in the center of the lower level. Some have felt cold spots near this column and have obtained photographs with orbs this area. Many people who have seen her report they thought she was a real person until she suddenly disappeared right before their eyes. Others have reported that Angeline's ghost sometimes changes colors from glowing white to lavender, blue, pink. She has sometimes been seen with a young Indian boy. Several attempts to exorcise her spirit performed by Native American Shaman have not been successful, as she continues to be seen. Princess Angeline died in 1896 and is buried in Lake View Cemetery, Seattle.

Arthur Goodwin- Arthur Goodwin was the nephew of the original developer of Pike Place Market, Frank Goodwin. Arthur was Market Director of Pike Place Market from 1918 to 1941 and would often look down on the goings-on in the market from his office on the upper level. Arthur's old office is now the Goodwin Library and is used as a meeting room. His spirit is sometimes seen looking down from the library or swinging a golf club in his old office, most often in the month of February.

Fat Lady Barber- In the 1950's a fat barber sang her clients to sleep with lullabies, and helped herself to the cash in their pockets once they were asleep. Sometime later, she fell to her death through a spot in the floor that gave way. Maintenance staff report hearing lullabies when working at night.

Jacob -- Jacob currently haunts The Bead Zione. He was the preteen son of Polish immigrants who worked as a groom at the Market in its early days. The Bead Zone is near the area that was once the stables. During some renovations, a basket of beads was found in a wall that had not been accessed for many years. It is thought that Jacob's ghost is collecting the beads to play with them. It has also been said that Jacob mixes red beads (his favorite color) into boxes of other colored beads. Also, it has been reported that sometimes at night the cash register in the Bead Emporium opens on its own. Jacob has also 'visited' the marionettes in the puppet shop.

Madame Nora -- Madame Nora ran a shop called Temple of Destiny in the early years of Pike Place Market . She practiced crystal gazing, Egyptian sand divining, and Indian psychic projection. Madame Nora's spirit is said to inhabit a crystal ball in Sheila's Magic Shop. Before Sheila's Magic Shop, Nora previously haunted the Pharaoh's Treasure shop. An old woman had come to the shop and wanted to trade a crystal ball for a scarab. The old woman told the shop owner that the spirit of Nora was in the crystal ball, but the owner made the trade anyway. Soon, strange things began to happen, mostly objects in the store being moved during the night. The owner of Pharaoh's Treasure passed the crystal ball to the owner of Sheila's Magic Shop, apparently tired of the goings-on.

Mr. D's Greek Deli - Spirits have been seen fighting in the basement walk-in freezer. Some staff refuse to go down to the freezer.

Hotel Maid - The kitchen of the Alibi Room, a club off Post Alley, is haunted by the spirit of a young German or Russian girl who worked as a maid in a Market hotel in exchange for room and board. Her quarters are now the kitchen of the Alibi Room, where her presence has been felt. It is aid she was unhappy because she didn't speak English and had no friends.

Shakespeare & Co Bookstore. - The same book would be on the floor each morning when the owner opened up shop. She would place it back on the shelf each time, and find it again, in the same spot. This has happened for many years. The book was eventually destroyed

Frank, the Distinguished Gentleman - Tall and elderly, the spirit of Frank introduces himself by name outside the bathrooms of the Alibi Room, a club off Post Alley.

Dark Haired Boy - The spirit of a boy with short dark hair and a blue shirt has been seen several times in recent years at the Pike Place Market Child Care and Preschool. This site was once a children's clinic.

E.R. Butterworth & Sons Mortuary - In 1903, Edgar Butterworth built a brand-new building to house his mortuary on First Avenue, just two blocks from the future site of Pike Place Market. This building sits on an old Suquamish Indian burial ground. In 1923, in need of larger space, Butterworth moved his business out of this building to Capitol Hill. Many businesses have come and gone in this building since then. A shaman counted 19 ghosts inside this old mortuary building.
• Unnamed cafe: An electrician was rewiring a chandelier in a cafe one evening after midnight. He realized that two shadowy men were sitting at one of the tables. The two got up and came over to help hold his ladder. The two men continued in their conversation, but the electrician wasn't pay attention to them. Then a woman in an "unearthly white linen dress" entered the dining room. The men stared at her and began to shout insults as she walked past. Then they began to shout at each other. The electrician realized that his "helpers" were not of this world. He raced from the cafe without finishing his wiring. He was reportidly found by cooks the next morning, sitting on a curb muttering that he couldn't take it anymore.
• Kells - An Irish pub that has occupied the former embalming room and crematorium in the basement of this building since 1982, its entrance on Post Alley. The owner has reported that one day in the early years of Kells, when the pub was closed, a wall mirror by the back bar fell to the floor and shattered into pieces -- into a neat pile. The owners went to see what happened and found a single candle burning on the bar - that they had not lit.
• Avenue One - A restaurant that occupied part of the first floor (previously the old chapel and mortuary office) from 1997 to 2002 had its share of strange happenings: wine bottles flying off the rack; a vase that had been missing a long time suddenly appeared on a table that had just been set; a diner ran out of the restaurant after he saw an old woman hugging a shawl disappear into a wall.
• Cafe Sophie - A restaurant and club on the first floor until 1997. A pair of shoes in a bathroom stall vanished into thin air. Regular customers reported feeling something whenever they ate at a particular booth. One night, diners in that booth asked the ghosts to show themselves. A chunk of ceiling plaster fell to the floor about five feet from their table. The owners found out there was a problem with the ceiling.

Links:


Legends of America: Washington State Legends: History & Haunting of Pike Place Market in Seattle by Kathy Weiser, 2005

The Seattle Times - Ghost stories haunt Pike Place Market 6 Feb 2008 by Stuart Eskenazi
The Seattle Times - Meet some of the ghosts 25 Jun 2007 by Stuart Eskenazi
The Seattle Times - Pike Place Market at 100 includes numerous links and downloads
Market Ghost Tours
Pike Place Market Official Website

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Tacoma Area

Thornewood Castle Inn and Gardens - Bed & Breakfast
Lakewood, WA

Thornewood Castle ca. 1912
Thornewood Castle ca.2005
ca. 1912 - (image: thornewoodcastle.com)
ca.2005 (image- thornewoodcastle.com)

Brief Location History: Not publicly accessible. Access is to paid guests (Bed & Breakfast; Murder Mystery Nights; Candlelight Castle Mystery Tours). Gated property, 54 rooms, 22 baths. Built to specifications of Chester Thorne (1863-1927), the castle took three yrs to complete (1908-1911).

Paranormal Background: A search of the internet turns up orbs and ectoplasm as the most common paranormal appearances. Other sites report the appearance of the ghosts of Chester Thorne, his wife Anna and a son-in-law; the appearance of the ghost of a former owner's grandchild, and other paranormal activity in the rooms of the bed and breakfast.

Links:


Thornwood Castle Inn and Gardens - Bed & Breakfast
Chester Thorne (1863-1927) and Thornewood Castle (referenced)
Chester Thorne Funeral Booklet
Evergreen Paranormal's Investigation of Thornewood Castle, 2002
Thornwood Castle Story
Seattle Times article 28 Oct 2002

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Western State Hospital Ruins (Hill Ward)
Lakewood, WA

Western State Sanitarium
Hill_Ward
Hill Ward in 2007 (image:2007 Northwest Hauntings staff)
Hill Ward in 1932- (image © Washington State - not for commercial use)

UPDATE FALL 2008: A reader has let me know the ruins have now been torn down, leaving only dirt and rubble behind. Here is the link to a YouTube video of the ruins before and after demolition (video by youtube user playmaker06)

Brief Location History: This site is surrounded by a chain link fence with "No Trespassing" signs. The ruins are located within Ft. Steilacoom Park in Lakewood across the street from the current hospital. Fort Steilacoom served as a military post from 1849 to 1868. Washington State purchased the fort intending to turn it into a hospital for the insane. The new hospital, "Insane Asylum of Washington Territory" opened in 1871 with 21 inmates. In 1875, the territorial government took control after complaints of brutality and poor living conditions. The name was changed to "Western State Hospital" in 1889. Therapies included shock treatment, frontal lobotomies and psychotropic drug treatment, in addition to the more common therapies still in use today. The site of the ruins was known as Hill Ward, or the "White House". It was a men's dormitory for patients who worked on the farm. As of March, 2007, the state, county, and city are working together to collect funds to tear down the ruins.

Paranormal Background: Internet searches give reports of similar types of paranormal activity. Moans and footsteps, especially in the underground boiler room. The fence surrounding the ruins reportedly shakes for no reason.

Links:

A.G.H.O.S.T. Investigation - October, 2002
COLUMBIA Magazine: Fall 2001, Volume 15, No. 3 "The Run from Farm to Farm"
Western State Hospital Historical Society (links to documents and photos)
Washington State Department of Social & Health Services
Paranormal Photos of the ruins
The News Tribune, March 12, 2007 "State should help tear down 'haunted asylum' "
Reports of investigations of ruins (2003-2004)
Personal Experiences by posters to theshadowlands.net

Book: The Western State Hospital, Fort Steilacoom, Washington: History 1870-1950, by Clara Cooley

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Western State Hospital Cemetery
Lakewood, WA

Western State Hospital Cemetery (image:2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History: Western State Hospital Memorial Cemetery is a patient's cemetery across the street from the current hospital, on the grounds of the current Fort Steilacoom Park. The cemetery is by the old dairy farm. 3,218 souls were buried here between 1876 - 1953. Due to the stigma surrounding mental illness at that time, the patients were buried anonymously and are marked by numbered slabs. Due to privacy concerns, no complete list of burials at the cemetery is available.

Paranormal Background: No reported incidences have been found except for some paranormal photos found on the internet (link below).

Links:

Find-A-Grave "famous" people buried here
Paranormal photos Western State Hospital and Cemetery
History and Restoration

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Bair Drug & Hardware
Steilacoom, WA

Bair Drug & Hardware (image:2007 Northwest Hauntings Staff)

Brief Location History: Built in 1895, it is now a restaurant and antique museum now owned by the Steilacoom Historical Museum.

Paranormal Background: Reports of appliances activating on their own.

Links:

Still LIfe in Steilacoom - The News Tribune, 6 Sept 2005 (history)
Steilacoom - Washington State's First Incorporated Town, 18 Apr 2000
Town of Steilacoom

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Vancouver

Admiral Paul Nelson Mansion
Private Residence
Officer's Row, Fort Vancouver, WA

(Photo is of Officer's Row in the early days)

Officer's Row (image: carpenoctem.tv/haunt/wa)

Brief Location History: Private residence near the Grant House on Officer's Row. Officer's Row was added to Fort Vancouver about 1883 to house the officers stationed at Fort Vancouver, although some of the oldest homes on the row date to the mid-1800's. It has been reported by theshadowlands.net that trespassers will be arrested. However, you can stand on the sidewalk and view the house. Since it is a private residence, the exact address is not given.

Paranormal Background: Internet searches indicate that if you enter the house on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, you will see a substance that looks like blood dripping from the walls. According to an article in the local newspaper it is said that Admiral Nelson's wife spent hours scrubbing the walls and the blood keeps appearing for no known reason. Also on these same days of the week you will see that the grass in front of the house is dead and brown. It then comes back to normal. [NOTE: I have searched the Vancouver Columbian back to 1994 and cannot locate any such article]

Links:


Haunted Houses.com - Officer's Row
National Park Service - Fort Vancouver
City of Vancouver - History of Vancouver - Officer's Row
Virtual Guidebooks - Panoramic View of Officer's Row

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