Spokane is a medium-sized city just west of the rocky mountains in Washington. The city was named after the Spokane natives, who have traditionally called this area their home. It’s thought the Spokane have inhabited the area for at least 8 thousand years, so it’s a fitting name for a nearby city. Not much else is known of the Spokane people. Settlers of European heritage first came here in large number towards the end of the 19th century. One problem settlers had was that the natives really didn’t want to give up their land, killing many Americans encroaching on their territory. This led to huge retaliation from the Americans and a lot of blood was shed over the land. With this brutal history it can be a chilling region. This is a list of 10 haunted places in Spokane.
Monroe Street Bridge
Monroe Street Bridge was opened in 1911 to help the human species in the battle of wet clothes. It was America’s biggest concrete arch bridge and the best weapon they had against water. Since then, the bridge hasn’t seen much other than feet and renovation. It saw renovation in 1925, 1934, and 2003. The last renovation took 2 years. Local legend tells that the bridge is home to the ghost of a worker who died there during the construction of a smaller bridge that was there before this one. He can be seen there today in his old-timey clothes wondering what happened to all the native Americans. Don’t bother approaching him, he’ll just throw himself into the water below and disappear upon reaching it.
The Davenport Hotel
The Davenport Hotel is notorious as one of the most haunted places in Spokane. It was built in the early 1900s by a man named Louis Davenport. It came to be wildly successful before becoming run down in the 1980s. In 2002, it was renovated and it’s now the areas highest rated hotel. It’s hard to get a good rating for a haunted hotel. In 1920, a woman named Ellen fell to death from the hotel tower during the 1920s. Her ghost is said to return to that tower every forth night and screams at the top of her lungs for several minutes.
Greenwood Cemetery
In Greenwood Cemetery, there is a staircase surrounded by legend. Known as the thousand steps, it was apparently first built to lead down into the cemetery, no longer serves as the entrance. The legend describes how these stairs were abandoned as the entrance because they are guarded by protective ghosts. The ghosts would regularly block entry to anyone they judged as unworthy of visiting the graves. Many locals have reported seeing the ghostly guards and some have even reported being denied entry. The weird thing is that there aren’t even one thousand steps in the thousand step staircase. The whole thing is just weird when you think about it.
Fox Theater
A Theater was always going to be on the list of haunted places in Spokane. Fox Theater was built in 1931 for the huge cost of 1 million dollars. Doesn’t seem like a lot by today’s standards but it was the equivalent of about 15 million back then. It was moderately successful for the next 30 years but it then shifted into economic decline. The place was recently renovated for an estimated cost of about 30 million dollars. The building’s architect, Robert Reamer, is said to haunt the theater. He doesn’t really do anything ghostly; he just walks around the building complementing himself on what a good job he did.
DoubleTree Hotel
DoubleTree is a hotel in Spokane City Center. Owned by Hilton hotels, there isn’t much unusual about the actual features of the hotel. But local legend tells that the hotel is home to mysterious shadow people. According to European folklore, Shadow people are a type of ghost who look like the shadows of people who are incredibly slender. In the DoubleTree hotel, they sneak up on unsuspecting guests and grab them by the throat. They never kill people, but scare a lot by strangling them a little. Many wouldn’t list the hotel among the most haunted places in Spokane, but I find these stories genuinely chilling.
Patsy Clark Mansion
The Patsy Clark Mansion is now home to a local law firm but it wasn’t always like this. It was built in 1897 for a local millionaire, who lived there for a while. It was a restaurant for a few decades before being sold to the law firm. The original owners are said to have never left. Music can be heard playing from the huge parties they once threw here. Lawyers who work there have genuinely reported seeing the ghost of a woman dressed up for a party. She floats down staircases towards unsuspecting visitors. Her name is Mary, and she hasn’t been seen for a few years. But those who work there still believe she is present.
Horse Slaughter Camp
As I said in the introduction, there was a pretty serious conflict between American settlers and Native Americans during the early days of Spokane. The Natives would regularly kill encroaching settlers, and the settlers were prone to retaliation. In 1858, a huge campaign of settler retaliation was set in motion. The natives murdered two settlers. So the Americans wanted to deter any more attacks from the natives. Their idea was to kill all their horses, which the natives relied on. So they slaughtered around 8 hundred of their horses. Today, they site of the slaughter is said to be among the most haunted places in Spokane, with dozens of ghostly horses being occasionally seen by visitors.
Hahn Mansion
The Hahn Mansion was once lived in by a playboy millionaire in the 1920s and 30s. He was Rudolph Hahn, and his lover was discovered dead in the mansion in 1940. Her death was judged to be a suicide, but many claimed she was murdered by Hahn. He moved away but was soon murdered himself – stabbed to death by a hearing aid salesman. True story. Hahn Mansion is said to still be occupied by the vengeful ghost of his lover, who died all those years ago. Ghost or no ghost, a mansion with a history that creepy is always going to be listed among other haunted places in Spokane.
Mirabeau Park Hotel
The Mirabeau park hotel is claimed to be called home by a whole family of ghosts. More specifically, a mother and her two children. No one knows who they could be or what happened to them but people have reported seeing them push paintings from walls and even push people down stairs. They slam doors and windows. They move objects around just to confuse mortals. So they’re basically just annoying. Hotel works have also reported encounters with a male ghost, who does similar things. Again, nothing is known about who he was.
Benewah Milk Bottle
The Benewah Milk Bottle is probably Spokane’s most bizarre landmark. It was built in 1935 as an incredibly direct way of advertising a local milk provider. It was made by wrapping metal over a wooden frame and just painting it white. Apparently the milk bottle is home to the ghost of a long dead milkman. I’m aware how ridiculous this claim is, but it’s good enough to be number one. Good enough to be named the king of all haunted places in Spokane.