November to December 2004 Ghost Stories
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.
Jefferson Davis (25 April
2003)
FROM:
Gary C.
DATE:
7 November 2004
SUBJECT:
VERY haunted place
Hello,
I am an employee in a very old
building, predating 1891 in downtown Tacoma.
Will start by saying that this is a long story, so don't be daunted, it
gets richer and richer.
I have been working here for
approximately 9 months. Heard the first day that the place was haunted, and if I
was easily spooked, I would not last long. True enough, it turns out. These
buildings are very old, and you can almost feel the weight of all those years in
some parts of the building. They are the essence of spooky old buildings, with
cellars and subcellars, made of thick concrete, and rough hewn quarry stone, not even
shaped blocks.
Well, I had lived in a very
haunted house for a couple of years, and I was rather thick skinned when it
comes to hauntings. Even poltergeist activity is no big shock to me, so I
find it rather exhilarating to actually have an inexplicable thing happen in my
presence. I was very expectant, so I was disappointed to find that my boss had
rigged up a coffee can on a piece of thin filament fishing line that was about
75 feet long to simulate ghostly noise in the basement. In the end, this little
joke caused me to overlook many things that later became more spooky on
reflecting back on them.
I am rather sensitive to
energy in my environment, and there are places in the building where it takes
some resolve to walk through. The Basement of the building was wired in a way
that you had to walk through the pitch dark about 40 feet to get to a light
switch. This caused many people to
be afraid to go down there, and even flat out refuse to do so.
The building manager bought nightlights to install down there. He decided
to take them down and put them in himself, and after doing so, he turned out the
lights to see how dark it would get.
Immediately, four balls of light
shot out of one corner, and into a tunnel, built into the oldest part of the
building, and into the other room, called the "dungeon" room for good
reason. My boss had the impression it was like headlights moving across a
wall.....but he realized he was two stories underground! He said it happened so
fast he didn't really catch it with his eyes.
Being the logical type, he
figured light must be coming through from the floor above, through holes. He
again turned off the lights and began walking through the basement by the light
of the nightlights, when suddenly, coming from the other direction this time, he
observed a ball of light, about 2 inches in diameter, and spewing a tail like a
comet or a shooting star, but it did not travel in a perfect trajectory, but
instead appeared to move in a gentle s flight pattern, and disappeared into a
sheetrock wall! He got a very clear look this time, and suddenly decided he
didn't need to be down there any longer and practically ran out of the basement!
He went and got the night
security guard, and a Vietnamese janitor, both very level headed people, and
went down the basement, telling them only that he got "spooked" and
needed some moral support. Upon turning off the lights, the female security
guard observed another shooting star type light, going in the opposite direction
again. Being of stern Mormon upbringing, she has no room in her ideology for
ghosts, but instead thinks it is a "Demon" and refused to go down
there again to the point she said she will quit first. This all happened the
week before Halloween.
2
These and many many haunted stories came out
at the same time due to the new stories. Being the adventurous type, and also
being broke on Halloween, the wife and I decided to take them on an amateur
ghost hunting trip to the basements of the old building. We took TWO digital
cameras to cancel out any orbs or phenomenon that may be construed as dust
particles. We also took a digital audio recorder. To our big surprise, we got
some very weird photos, and some very disturbing audio recordings,
coincidentally, right in the places I thought they should be found, and in
taking of over a hundred pics, only 9 came out with these anomalies,
coincidentally again, in the same places in the buildings.
We got pics of about a hundred
orbs, in one room, showing a very distinct sense of perspective. At this same
place we got audio of a general background murmuring, like being in a department
store with people all around. It was dead silent and 8 o clock at night. My wife
and kids had the proper sense of reverence, and we were silent during this time.
Our voices are very distinct when we do speak. Suddenly about 24 seconds in,
somebody gruffly says "I'm Sorry.... Sorry" very plainly. Gives me
goosebumps to hear it, AND to write it :)
We walked up to the grand lobby,
5 stories up, with a big atrium open all the way to the ground floor. We took a
picture off the top elevator landing looking down 5 stories, and we saw orbs,
disappearing smaller and smaller down to the bottom, very clearly showing a
sense of perspective. All in all, the best darn ghost hunting trip we ever
had. We were very awed and impressed witht he results.
3.
Soooo, I brought the pics in, and the
building manager is a history buff. He was enthralled. He took me around,
wanting to see where we got the orb photos, and examine the spots in detail. We
discovered hand made square nails in the mortar in the oldest wall in the
buildings; this wall predates 1870 according to him. We went down to the sub basement below, where we got lot's of
orbs, and back to the same wall. In the back corner, is a concrete room that
looks for all the world to be a cell, with one wall made of the rough hewn stone
I have described. At the base of this wall, was a old piece if wallboard, and my
boss was looking around down near it. He put his hand out and said, "I'll
be damned, Come feel this!" There was air rushing around the edges of it.
He said he thought it must open into a void of some type, and I agreed, thinking
it opened into the crawlspace or something.
I got excited, and offered to
kick it in, and repair it later. He said noooo, cuz he is the building manager,
and that is damage to the building. I
said I would fix it immediately, I already had some sheetrock to do it with.
Well, his curiosity won out, and I kicked in the wallboard. Behind it we found 5
ancient cedar boards.... nailed up from the other side. I pushed them in,
and poked my head in the 1 foot by 18 inch opening. When I looked around I bout
screamed with excitement! It was a
hand dug tunnel, very like the ones the Vietnamese used during the war.
Tall enough to run through in a crouch.
Too High! We were like 12 year olds we were so excited. This hole had not
been opened since God knew when!
There was no shoring of any type
at all, and only about 30 feet is visible, with the tunnel curving off to the
right out of sight. There is about 2-3 inches of water in the bottom of it, and
the air coming from it is very clean and fresh. Not stagnant like it would be if
it opened into a sewer. The wall that it comes into is the oldest wall in the
building! This tunnel is not on any blueprints of the building either. Upon
reaching a 6 MP digi-cam into the hole we got a high resolution photo that
clearly shows a group of orbs in the tunnel also.
4
We looked into the history of
the building, and it is very rich in history. The building stands on the
original Judson claim which was the first land claim in the Puget sound region.
He lived in a cabin on the corner of 7th and commerce until 1855 when the
Puyallup Indian wars broke out, and all the white settlers left the region,
including Judson. The region remained unsettled until 1871 when a sawmill was
built at the base of 7th avenue on the water.
The community grew around the
sawmill until the anti Chinese wars of 1885, when they gathered in front of the
1st Methodist church, (The Woolworth’s bldg on 11th and Broadway) Right in
front of my building, and passed a public decree saying the Chinese could no
longer live in Tacoma. They then went and Burned out 700 Chinese people
and made them leave the city. The next day 350 were ran out of Seattle. The
Asians were not to return to this area for over 80 years.
During the grading of Pacific
Avenue, a ceremonial burial canoe and a huge stone bearing ancient hieroglyphs
was buried in the debris from the grading of the roadway, never to be found
again. Maybe the tunnel is leftover from an ancient burial ground, maybe it is
from the anti Chinese riots, as I understand the Chinese were driven to move
around underground in many places. Port Townsend is riddled with tunnels from
the anti Chinese riots of 1885. Regardless, I believe my building to be
legitimately haunted, in a big way. Thanks
for reading all this!
FROM:
Gwen M
DATE:
16 November 2004
SUBJECT:
Geiser Grand Hotel Ghost
Hi,
I know that I read an newspaper article on the ghost that haunts the Geiser
Grand Hotel in Baker City, but I can't find it or any story.....can you
help....Thanks Gwen
Here are a few highlights:
The Geiser Grand Hotel was the
high class waypoint for travelers going from Boise, Idaho to Portland, Oregon in
the early 20th Century. It was refurbished a few years ago, bringing it
back to it's former glory. There are many different ghosts that seem to
haunt the place. Guests staying on either side of one particular room are
frequently awakened by the sound of a midnight party. When they complain
to the front desk, they are informed that the room is vacant. There are
also two ghostly ladies seen in different places in the hotel. One has
been seen dressed in 1930s flapper fashion.
FROM:
Marci S.
DATE:
17 November 2004
SUBJECT:
Ghost story in Columbia County
here
is a quick over view of what I experienced.
When
living on 1st and Rose St in Vernonia, several times would be sitting there like
in a zoned state, (as a teenager not too hard to do. lol) was sitting at the
kitchen table. my mom was at the stove to her back to me which was on the other
side of the table. I was sitting there thinking, what if something/one walked by
her. right after that thought she turned to me and said did someone brush by me?
She felt what I thought. and there was no logical explanation. several times I
felt something trying to talk to me. when almost falling asleep at night would
feel a thump on the bed near my knees and calves. Would always be right as
I was falling asleep. was very irritating.
Once when off
riding my bike down the old railroad track which is now a street w/new houses.
felt an angry older male presence on trail that used to be the railroad
tracks which is the road next to a bank and believe its a nursery on the left as
you go into town.
Once
moved to Hillsboro those episodes stopped. I've had other psychic moments off
and on. but mostly when was a teenager in Vernonia. Once when
was older at about age 30 ish when went back to visit also felt the same angry
older male presence when driving up to the top of the hill past the Lincoln
elementary school. that road ends at the cemetery. felt the angry male presence
tell me to leave that area now.
would
like to know what others have to say about that area.
That’s
a quick recap of what I remember, curious what a more experienced medium and
more talented & sensitive person would find there.
best
wishes
Marci
FROM:
Jana C
DATE:
23 November 2004
SUBJECT:
Haunted Whidbey Island
Hi Jay,
I was looking over your site, it’s very good
by the way. I was looking to see if
you have ever investigated further on Whidbey?
I know of a few places that have some definite paranormal activity here, that
I can feel and know by talking with people that have the same feeling.
I was interested to know more and would help you in an y way that you
need. I also have an experience
that I would love to share with you about a hospital in California that I worked
at. I am a nurse and have had
feelings and instances there.
Thank you,
Jana
DATE:
5 December 2005
FROM:
Terry H
SUBJECT:
Ghost at Silver Creek Falls
Do
you know of any ghost sightings at Silver Creek Falls? We have a photo
taken on vacation at one of the waterfalls with what appears to be a ghost of a
small girl standing at the top of the cliff.
Have you heard any stories about that area? I would be happy to
e-mail you the photo if you are interested.
Terry
Hi
Terry,
I
have not heard anything of ghosts in the Silver Falls area.
I would indeed be interested in seeing the picture and reading more of
your story.
Jeff Davis
DATE:
6 December 2005
FROM
Terry H
SUBJECT:
Ghost at Silver Creek Falls
Hi Jeff,
Thanks
for responding. I have attached the
photo. I'm afraid the scanned
picture is not as good as the original. We
are from Arkansas, it was taken over two years ago on vacation.
We did not see anything on the cliff when the photo was taken.
It wasn't until we got them back that I noticed what looks like a girl in
a dress. On the original picture
you can see the trees through the figure.
I really don't think this is a double exposure picture.
I have searched everywhere for a story of maybe someone falling from the
cliff or lost in the woods but have not found anything about a little girl.
I am taking the negatives to have a larger picture made.
Blowing it up after it was scanned just made it blurry.
I
looked at the photo you sent me. It
is indeed interesting. I played
around with it on Photoshop, and it does not look like a double exposure to me
either. The impressive part of your
photograph is that it is not just an Orb. I
can usually explain most orbs as dust, light bounce, moisture and many other
natural phenomena. Can you tell me
what kind of camera and film you were using? I
don't have any explanations for it either.
If you were using Kodak film, you might want to contact their website, or
take it to the developer and get their opinion on it.
Please keep me informed on your results.
Thanks for writing,
Sincerely,
Jeff Davis
It
was taken on a Kodak Advantix 35 mm using Kodak film. The roll of film was given back to us with the photos instead
of negative strips you get with most cameras.
So, I haven't been able to look at the negative.
I think I will contact Kodak, that is a great idea.
And then maybe take it to a developer.
I have never been a ghost chaser but the picture just drives me crazy
trying to figure out what it is. Thanks
for the great advise and I will let you know if I find out anything new.
Terry
Let me know what you think.
DATE:
24 December 2004
FROM:
Cathy H
SUBJECT:
Your Books are Wonderful
I
am hoping you are safe, and unfortunately, you are not home for the Holidays.
I received a copy of your book, A Haunted Tour Guide to the Pacific
Northwest, it is wonderful. My
intention was to inquire if there is any kind of written information on the Pink
Castle in Georgetown Washington Sate. It
has just recently become on the market for sale and I ran into the Seattle
Mystery Tours lady and she was quite interested in purchasing it, but is in
serious need of repair and the bank is asking some huge ridiculous amount.
I talked with a local and he said he had even tried to buy it after the
two gentlemen let it go to the bank but it was too much.
Please forgive me I do not recall the price as I was so fascinated
listening to him talk about the haunting.
My
family grew up around the block and they avoided the house at night at any cost.
I hope someday to see some accurate information on this historic beauty.
I took some pictures, didn't catch a ghost but when you are home I will
gladly send them your way. Take
care of you and may God Bless and Keep you always, merry Christmas.
Again your book is fabulous I am going to order your others!
Cathy
H
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Jeff
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