Ghosts, Critters, and Sacred Places of Washington and Oregon

In recent weeks it has come to my attention that certain parties are using my ghost stories and those of my contributors as references for their own commercial enterprises. If you or someone you know is writing a book on ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, PLEASE DO NOT!!! copy or use the following stories or any other materials within this website as references.

I spent a few hours one late evening and early morning in one of the Vancouver Barracks building that was supposed to be haunted. I was there with a friend of mine and her daughter, who was doing her senior project on the hauntings at the Barracks. I dont remember if the building had a name, but I seem to remember it was the office of the commanding officer; from the turn around on Evergreen Blvd, we went south and the building was on the right , facing north.

We set up as the usual ghost hunters do, sleeping bags and munchies ready. We were set up by the pool tables in one big room. Every time we went to explore, a rush of some kind of perfume would pass by us, usually at a door entrance or the top of the stairs. It stopped us in our tracks. Then it was gone. It passed by us with a cold breeze when we were climbing up to the top floor, going into the attic where the Christmas ground decorations were kept. Nothing significant in the attic, though.

The creepiest part of the night was when Michell, my friend's daughter, put a tape recorder in the office; there was a computer on the desk, a book shelf and a bathroom. When she retrieved the recorder and we listened, all we heard was the sound of a typewriter typing away and some low groaning noises. And my Ouija board, which had never wanted to work anywhere, worked in that room. A young boy named Christopher came through and he said he had died from the pox.

The next day after I talked to my friend and she said that around 5am, before leaving, her and her daughter took one last walk down toward the west end of the wing and went up some stairs. They turned to come back down when they heard heavy footsteps behind them. By now, she said they were almost running and the footsteps were following them down the stairs and down the hall. They grabbed their stuff and ran out of the place.

Later, she talked to someone at the Barracks, and she was told that the footsteps belonged to "Boots."

That would be fine. I also heard about another building, facing south from the turnaround, you follow down and the building is on the left; they have banquets there, I think. Something about it serving as a make shift morgue way back and it flooded and, well, you can guess. I’ve heard that there are spirits there, too. Also the Windemere realty office; my friend used to hear lots of movement going upstairs, furniture being moved. There was never anyone there. I don’t know if you’ve heard that story-the maid for a family that lived there hung herself upstairs after the master of the house got her pregnant, then banished her from the premises. True or not, it makes for a good story telling. Sue

Hey my name is Allen and I live in Salem, Oregon and I would like to share my story with you. I have lived in a house for quite sometime off and one and we have a ghost in are house he's an old man who built the house and the owner one summer found a tomb stone under the house and we believe it's to be his wife or some relative of his. I have tried to find some type of history on the house but can't find one. Me, my younger sister and my mom have all seen him in the past when we were younger.

I have been researching and writing about ghosts and hauntings on the isle of Wight since 1976 and have a great new website just launched. Check it out at www.ghost-island.com and please link with me. I have already put your site in my links. I am also enclosing two stories from Cowes for your haunted places if you would care to use them.

The world's most prestigious yacht club, the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, off England's south coast, can boast a ghost or two, although they are rarely mentioned in polite society. The RYS with its headquarters at Cowes Castle has "always numbered in its ranks the wealthiest and most eminent of the nobility and gentry". The old Cowe Castle fortress was built in 1540 by Henry VIII and although no shot was ever fired in anger from its canon, it once played a strategic part in the Island's defences.

It was a winter's night in 1971 and the woman was in the early stages of labour. Midwife Sonia Scarrott decided to sleep on a couch in one of the ground floor rooms. At this time of year the Royal Yacht Squadron was otherwise unoccupied. The resident steward was ill in hospital, and his wife was about to give birth in their flat. Sonia settled herself down

as best she could with the couple's pet dog for company. In the early hours, Sonia, who had fallen into a light doze, was woken by the dog growling. Instantly awake, she sat up in time to see the ghost of a tall young soldier glide through the French windows.

"I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. He marched across the room towards me disappearing through the window on the other side. He appeared to walk through things although he looked solid and substantial. He carried what looked like a long pill-box hat under his arm and wore an old-fashioned uniform with a tunic, breeches and long boots. I saw him quite clearly for a few seconds - a faded white figure - but he had quite a spring in his step as he crossed the room."

The dog by this time had worked itself up into quite a state. It was standing absolutely rigid, hackles erect, growling menacingly at the retreating ghost. As the figure disappeared, Sonia suddenly became aware of how cold the room was, especially the area the phantom soldier had passed through. But she wasn't too shaken by her experience, for Sonia, of Old Road, East Cowes, helped deliver a bouncing baby boy later that morning.

frightened the new mother. However when I mentioned to a few colleagues and friends that I had stayed the night at the Squadron, a couple of them laughed and told me it was well-known that it was haunted. I had always laughed and scoffed at the very idea of ghosts. It was a bit funny having to eat my words. I have never seen anything like that before or since. I know I wasn't dreaming because the dog obviously saw it too."

Sonia has now retired from midwifery after a spell as Sister-in-charge of the Special Care Baby Unit at St Mary's Hospital, Newport. "I have helped to bring quite a few babes into this world, but that night at the Royal Yacht Squadron was one delivery I shall never forget!"

Dr Jon Ball is now a scientist, but for six years he worked at the Royal Yacht Squadron during his vacations from 1969 to 1975 to boost his student grant. There was often talk of the castle "ghost" said to be that of a previous owner of the castle, the Marquis of Anglesey, a veteran of Waterloo who, as the Military Governor of the Island, had made Cowes Castle his residence. He died there in May 1854 and his portrait hangs in the members' dining room. Jon recalled, "It was said that the ghost walked from the front door down the corridor to the members' dining room. Several of the permanent staff claimed to have seen him and to have found that locked doors had been mysteriously opened."

Although Jon never met the castle ghost, he once had to lock up after it. "It was winter and the castle was almost empty. I had been given the responsibility of locking up for the night so I took great care to set the alarms, lock the interior doors and all five locks on the main front door. But when I checked them early the next morning, I found the front door was wide open - three sets of doors between that and the members' dining room were all unlocked and ajar!"

Other staff have told me of recent ghostly happenings at the RYS, but when I made inquiries, I was politely but firmly told by the secretary that such matters were not something that the Royal Yacht Squadron cared to discuss or have made public!

Visitors arriving by sea at Cowes, on England's Isle of Wight, pass a distinctive, long, pink-painted building reaching out into the harbour, with a traditional ship's figurehead posing prettily on the balcony. This is 'The Prospect', one of the town's most famous houses. Once the home of the late Sir Max Aitken, son of newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook, The Prospect now houses the Sir Max Aitken Museum, a very personal collection of marine memorabilia with unique items ranging from paintings, models and a letter written by Lord Nelson, to a German naval officer's knife captured in Hitler's bunker.When Sir Max bought The Prospect in 1947, it was little more than a rat-infested, war-damaged wreck. However the building has a long and interesting history. As the former Ratsey and Lapthorn sail loft, the mainsail for the Royal J-class Yacht Britannia was made there in 1907.

Almost sixty years prior to that, it was the temporary refuge of Royalty. Although the refugee King Louis Philippe of France is long dead and all but forgotten.....his ghost still potters about the 200-year-old former sail loft where he is said to have lived for a time in exile. The unfortunate Louis Philippe, the last of the Bourbons, was nicknamed 'La Poire' because of his large pear-shaped head. Laura Levi, Sir Max's daughter, has seen his hapless but distinctive apparition several times in the museum.

"I have only ever seen his back view, never his face, but he is very distinctive. He appears quite solid with a large head and neck. It's a benign silhouette and he has an air of being quite harmless and amiable," said Laura.

"He is a big, fat fellow, who usually comes out only at night. I have seen him lots of times. He sometimes makes an appearance when we are having parties in the loft, and just stands about with only his back view visible. For years local people have called this place Napoleon's House, but they got it slightly wrong. It was actually Louis Philippe who spent some time here, when Queen Victoria was at nearby Osborne," Laura explained.

Overthrown in 1848, the portly and pompous 74-year-old king fled Paris in disguise, shaving off his whiskers and abandoning his wig. He arrived at Newhaven in goggles, with a cap on his pear-shaped head, calling himself Mr Smith. Appealing to Victoria for asylum, she packed the French Royal family off to Claremont, the home of her beloved Uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians.

However before his death in 1850, the old king visited Cowes, apparently staying at The Prospect. Although unwilling to publicly support the refugee Orleans family, Victoria had paid their living expenses from a secret intelligence account. But why his ghost continues to haunt The Prospect is something of a mystery. During Cowes Week, royal visitors are frequently entertained there - perhaps that's why Louis Philippe

Anyone keen on maritime history will enjoy a visit to the museum - but should keep a weather eye open - in case a portly old gentleman with a pear-shaped head tries to grant them an audience.

I hope these may be of interest - you have got a great comprehensive site. I hope that with time and much hard work mine will grow too!

Hi. I just wanted to let someone know that I see ghosts and one that I saw recently was at the corner of 86th and 4th Plain blvd at the site where they are building knew homes. It was just as this area was being cleared for building and right at the spot the new road would be made that there was a large tractor. As I drove past, I noticed an elderly gentleman sitting in the tractor (big construction heavy equipment). He was holding to the steering wheel therein in a sort of refective way and his face was thoughtful and sort of sad. As I passed him, I looked back and there was no man in the tractor. So this was probably the ghost of whomever had owned the property before. I felt sad for him. I think it should be known he was unhappy about the new construction on his property.

The hospital is also a straight shot up that road to the south so now that there is a new bridge there to connect the hospital to these parts, there may well be more spirit walkers taking the path down that road.

I can see spirits. Usually I see them when I least expect it. And often, they are very clear like this fellow on whose face I could read his emotions.

I have a question regarding one of the haunted places that you mentioned on your website.

Several years ago two sisters encountered the flying ghost of a pioneer woman in an abandoned farmhouse west of Walla Walla.

Do you have any more information about this? What year? The location? Any more information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time~

Thanks for asking about the Walla Walla farmhouse. It's been a while since I talked with... I think her name was Eve about the farmhouse. She and her sister were about 8 years old, so it would have been about 1985 when this happened. I think that the farmhouse was on the main road west of Walla Walla. I don't remember much more. Is there any information that you might have?

I probably know just as much as you. One of my co-workers was telling me about this barn (might have been an old farmhouse) on Birch Creek Road. It’s an old back road leading to Milton Freewater, that is haunted or at least they claim it is. I went to this location and I did not find anything. When I found your website, I though that this might have been the same place. I am interested in learning more about this and finding out any information that I can. Thank you for your time

I live in Chilliwack, BC and am aware of the hauntings you already have posted as well as a couple others (one of which can be sourced @ghrs.org/bc).

There's a haunted site on the north side of Lickman Rd. along side Chilliwack Mountain. There is a farmhouse there that is long passed over grown by trees, bushes and foliage. It is still accessible by foot right off the road on the right hand side if heading northbound (along side the mountain base). I myself have been through it numerous occasions and upon reaching the falling apart house and entering, severe cold shivers are experienced, even in 30 degree weather. Foot steps of a heavy man or woman can be head from the loft/attic above. This farmhouse exact location isn't noted on GHRS' site, but directions are quite simple if you or someone else wish to investigate for further proof {if coming from Vancouver towards Chilliwack, heading eastbound on Hwy.1, take Lickman Rd. exit and head northbound, follow above notes for exact location).

The other in in Harrison Hot Springs (about 30 E/SE from Chiliwack). It is in the building now operated as The Breakwater Restaurant. The building used to be the home base/marina for Harrison River Towing (the building is know to locals as the RivTow building). When operated by Harrison River Towing, the building's upstairs was open to people to stay had they been towed in from Harrison River. This building was operated from some 30+ years by Harrison River Towing. As anyone can believe, it wouldn't be a far shot to say lives were lost at or around this site. I don't know of any specific tales or folk lore surrounding a specific death to relate to the haunting I'll discuss momentarily.

Since renovations started over a year ago to convert to boat storage shed into a restaurant, employees and caretakers alike claimed unrest in the upstairs of the building; doors closing, taps turning on without assistance, sounds of arguing voices and poltergeist-like phenomenon - things moving from one table to the next or things moving from the floor to tables and desk and visa versa.

Upon the restaurant opening, several more staff complained or mentioned their concerns. I am personally aware as I worked there from once week after opening, Aug. '03 until Nov. '03.

-As a side note, I worked beside the restaurant first at Killer's Cove Marina as a gas jockey/clerk since June of the same year. Do not shake your head at the name, the marina is run by Jim Killer, a local.

Anyways, while I worked at the restaurant, I personally experienced 2 obvious haunting/paranormal situations. The first, going upstairs to double check lights and electricity were out prior to closing and having 2 consecutive doors fully unlock, open and then slam shut after locking them and exiting the rooms. The latter and to this day most startling experience, being upstairs getting changed in the staff bathroom. I was in my regular clothes and was shaving before changing and going on shift. Before shaving, I hung my slacks, shirt and belt on the hooks on the wall, adjacent to the toilet. While shaving, the locked door became unlocked and opened unassisted. I know this because I quickly checked to see if anyone else was upstairs as well. No one was there nor could anyone unlock the door from outside. Upon returning to the change room my clothing was now on top of the toilet seat and was neatly folded. I re-stepped the event and asked everyone on staff if anyone had come up stairs or was upstairs while I was there and I just didn't notice. No one claimed to be up there for over 20 minutes since I went up.

Other staff mentioned doors unlocking, lights coming back on and doors opening and closed, as well as the arguing voices. Since quitting my job their, I haven't returned just for the fact that the place is quite out of the way, but I do plan to go back and find out if anything further has happened as well as has continued to happen.

The Breakwater Restaurant is located on Rockwell Rd. in Harrison Hot Springs. Upon entering the village area of Harrison, keep right and follow the parkway to reach Rockwell Rd. Further, more detailed directs can be given if necessary.

Please contact me if any further info is need or any other contact for reference on the RivTow/Breakwater hauntings.

My name is Gary, I live in Amboy, WA. My friend and I would like to know if there is a group in Vancouver, WA, so we can get in it. Please email me any info on this.

I’ve come to realize I live with mass paranormal activity,& there is nothing I can do about it, except learn to live with it. I’ve looked at many paranormal sights & none have the pictures intense activity in their pictures that I have

At least I know now for sure by investigations that I’m not crazy & wd do live with many spirits. They still believe that there is a large portal here.

The real reason that I'm writing though is because of a recent situation that just happened.(4-18-04)WE went down to Yelm Washington the south side-off Lawrence Lake by the Deschutes River...North of Rainier Washington.)While we were checking out the residence, my wife, my son and I noticed nothing except for a rather old dilapidated house, scubby acreage and bomb shelter filled with garbage... we weren't impressed...However my wife and I did not realize that are son was taking pictures with his digital camera.

I'm going to e-mail you what he took pictures of, and an captured... I think you will agree there is something here... I"m calling back the realtor today to get more input... thanks.

PS In the first pic (104_0459), you can see a ghostly image by a bush an propane tank. (0459_2) tame thing, (0461- you can see wisps coming out of the door, 0465- different and closer angle, but the same thin as in 0459-_2, 0467. More wisps and last but not least, 0469-note a different angle of where the emanations were... not ether, but a circular blur where they were standing.

This is picture 459, look at the propane tank in the righ hand side, and the bushes to the left

This is picture 465, a close up of the propane tank and bushes. What do you think?

Thanks for forwarding me those photos of the house and the information behind it. It's a pretty interesting photograph. I'm guessing that there was no direct sunlight, or that there were clouds in the sky. Which of course makes it seem more likely that this was NOT a case of light and shadows. I can only see the small scale photograph, but I don't see what other natural phenomenon could have produced this.

I'll be coming home soon and I look forward to hopefully having a ghostly get together soon after, perhaps you and others can come?

My name is Becky. My family moved to a little town just outside Richland Washington in 1983. They eventually bought a used mobile home and put it on a piece of property a quarter of a mile from my grandmother. When I was little my brother Jamie had a friend named Rodger living with us. My brother Bill didn't like sleeping in the room with him and my brother Jamie so he slept on the couch in the living room. One night he woke to the dead bolt on the door being unlocked and the door opening. When he sat up he saw a shadow running across what is now our living room then it was our family room. Whatever it was did the same thing to our back door. My brother ran to the bedroom and spent the night there shivering.

Various friends and family members including my fiancé has seen someone staring at them from the wall or over the bed where I would sleep. My mom heard pacing up and down the hallway to my bedroom once when I was really sick. She finally had enough and went and checked on me. She found nothing in the hall. And the pacing quit till she left the hall. Then it started back up. Once my brother and his now ex wife (who was pregnant with my first nephew) posed for several pictures in front of out fire place. When the pictures came back there were Xs, Os and some strange lines in the pictures. I am not sure if my brother or his ex wife still have these pictures but I am sure there is a reason those pictures turned out that way and not the reason of the photo people screwed up.

I don't know of any more hauntings in Benton, but I'm posting your story soon, and hopefully another reader will have a couple more stories?

Hi Jeff, my name is Twyla and I have done a few days in the past week at Riverview prepping for a movie. I cannot seem to get enough of this place as, even when I am not scheduled there to work I seem to come back and visit the PA working at the building. A girl I work with and I were doing some exploring within the "Crease Clinic" where construction, set dec, painters, etc, were coming to and from the building setting up for sets. We had with us for some time a hospital security guard giving us tours. We have felt numerous breezes from nowhere go by, a feeling of someone pushing on our temples, someone following us, shadows, and the feelings of being watched.

As scary as the building is, we love it, for that reason. It is definitely haunted, no doubt about that. As curious as I am about ghosts and would love to investigate in them more, I can say it would be pretty freaky to be up on the fourth floor alone! As that is where they kept some of the most insane, as well as 2 nurses were killed up there by patients. So that tells ya that floor is pretty pissed off.

Although the liaisons say that the upper 3 and 4th floors are the most haunted, I have to say they all are, even the tunnels (or what's left of them). I could go on to tell you more stories, but could go on for hours. I am putting together a kind of book of my own, slowly of all experiences I have had throughout my life, Feel free to email me and maybe we can swap stories.

I don't know of any more hauntings in Benton, but I'm posting your story soon, and hopefully another reader will have a couple more stories? Thanks for sharing, Thanks for emailing me back. You are the first to do that, I really appreciate it. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back, I am hardly around a computer these days. Hope your visit to the east coast was a good one! The riverview that I was working at is the one in Canada. Port Coquitlam. Yes, I am a film employee and working in Riverview was creepy. It is really quite pathetic this "book" I am puttingtogether, it's just papers, note books and journals, relaying all my stories, one day I will have to get them all together.

I have lived in Regina Saskatchewan, in a house that had a spirit in it. I called him "grandpa willie". He was old and protected me. I saw him when I was 9. He protected me in the sense that when I was little, beside my bed was a night light that melted and started melting my bed spread. My father who sleeps like a log, was shaken awake and told to go to my room.

Another time, I was 12, my parents were out visiting and I had a friend over for the night. Two guys showed up that we knew and were quite older (15). They started putting the moves on, and being 12 I was not in the least interested. Corey (the one bugging me), kept trying to get close and I kept pushing him away. He got up to go to the washroom, and for the life of me wonders to this day what happened in there. Because, not even 2 minutes later he RAN out of the bathroom yelling to his friend they are leaving and screamed he would never come back to my place again...I knew it had something to do with Willie. He was a cool spirit and I miss him terribly as I moved from Regina at 13 back to Vernon BC, never to see him again.

I have spent some weekends at Fort Sanne Hospital in the Qu'Appel Valley outside of Regina, it is anold TB hospital that closed in the 60's. It is very haunted. I have been to friends houses that were haunted and lived in 3 haunted places. A lot of stories I have are my experiences and others.. But, I can say by far Riverview has been the most scary. I love feeling scared though... Yet, now that I have written a book, I should go....email me back if you get the chance and hopefully I can let you know more..

OH I would love to know of anyone that you know that I could talk to down here and explorers (not ones that break into buildings though).. Thanks Jeff and have a great day

My name is Toni and I live in sandy or. my friend used to live in the old Welches toll house when she was a child. She took me by there on our way to pick up our sons who are best friends also, at MT. hood meadows after they were done snowboarding. Its an awesome old place. Since she used to live we were going to ask if we could come inside but no one answered the door. probably for obvious reasons. Anyway there's a small story about it on the internet I think it was carpenter TV ? Its an interesting story but few details . We were wondering since you have the best northwest website if you could maybe get the whole story and hopefully