Spokane Paranormal Investigation Group

GHOSTS AT THE ASTORIA COLUMN, ASTORIA, OR

For the last 100 years, the one of a kind 125-foot Astoria Column has stood on top of Coxcomb Hill overlooking the Columbia River welcoming visitors from all over the world.
This historical landmark was dedicated by the Great Northern Railway in 1926, with financial help from Vincent Astor{1891-1959}, a great grandson of John Jacob Astor{1763-1848}, after whom Astoria was named.
The beautiful art work on the column, that tells you the history of the area in 14 scenes, was done by an Italian artist Attilio Pusterla{ 1862-1941} using a painting technique called sgraffito.
Restoration work has been done several times over the years in order to preserve and protect this magnificent landmark .
In 1988 the Friends of Astoria Column, a non-profit group, was formed to do just that.
Astoria Column was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
After climbing the 164 steps to the top to check out the unbelievable view, it turns out that I wasn't the only one there, who likes the view.
I did an evp [electronic voice phenomenon] session and got an immediate response on the voice recorder.
A female spirit responded with " I like the view and she wasn't there when it was built." She was happy to talk to someone.
Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren picked up a friendly older male spirit, who had been a caretaker there, but had not lived in the caretakers house. However he had been there for a long time, possibly before the column was built. He was talking about a family being there. He plays with the staircase railing to make noise. Nobody really listens to him, but they know he is there. He tries to get people's attention.
He also said that "they" didn't bury him right, which didn't make him very happy.
Jennifer also picked up a depressed female spirit, who is not totally stable and a child. The child likes to roam around and play in there. They both also like to make noise. The female spirit actively haunts there a lot.
The 3 spirits are not related. The child seems to be from the 50's or 60's.
Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren was seeing a time period, where there was a building next to the column.
Looking at the old pictures, you can see a small building by the column in 1926, when they were building the column.
I was told that they were selling coffee and gifts from it, but it was not there in the 1930s pictures.
The caretakers house didn't come till later, possibly in the 1950's, when they connected 2 separate 1930's buildings, that were moved there from elsewhere.
If you live in the area, be sure to join the July 18th 100 year anniversary celebration to see this amazing landmark and go fly a balsa-wood airplane from the top of the column. Also do check out astoriacolumn.org for great information about the column.
I want to thank The Heritage Museum, gift shop employees and Chad Gallup from the Astoria Underground Tours for information and help. Be sure to go check out the Underground Tours when in town.

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Tuesday, May 26th starting at 7pm. Come see us at Rico's in Pullman. Haunted Trivia, Haunted cocktails and Investigate with our equipment. Is it haunted? Boos and Booze.

GHOSTS AT THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW AND THE CHRONICLE BUILDINGS, SPOKANE, WA

Last October we did a brief walk-thru' along with Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren of the 1891 Spokesman-Review Building and Tower with the Spokesman-Review reporter Cannon Barnett.
Neither the Review or the Chronicle building has ever been investigated before, so in order to try and find out who the ghosts that we saw in each area might be, one has to research the history of the buildings and the area they are in as well as do an actual investigation to try and connect with the ghosts again.
In the back of the Newsroom on the 4th floor of the Review building Jennifer saw a short elderly female spirit and a male spirits, who said he had been a reporter.
In 1912 Daily Chronicle editor Edward H. Rothrock was murdered in room 21 on the second floor of the Review building.
He was well liked and very dedicated to his job often being the 1st to arrive and the last to leave.
Up until 1894 the Review building was strictly a business building, but from 1895 on there were lodging and boarding rooms available as well. The proprietor and the landlady of the rooms in 1900 was Charlotte P. Carew. After being in Spokane only for a short while, she passed away in March of 1901 at the age of 62 possibly on the 3rd floor of the Review building.
In March of 1902 Mrs. M.A. Finnegan became the new proprietor and the lodging business from there on was known as the Hotel Review. It was in operation till mid 1920s and changed hands over 10 times.
Over the years there were 3 other recorded deaths at the Review Hotel.
In the archives room Jennifer saw a tiny female spirit, who had a strong Asian accent and she seemed apprehensive. She said it was a cleaning area where she worked.
Jennifer felt that the basement had had a lot of water at some point as she can hear chaos and lot of running. The reporters confirmed that the basement had flooded several times with a lot of damage.
The area streets flooded several times in 1894.
In the back corner of the basement Jennifer saw a male and a tiny short haired female spirit. The female followed us down from the upstairs. The 2 spirits knew each other. The male spirit used to work down there with coal. He said that the area there was way open before.
The female spirit wants to be acknowledged and she still feels like everyone's boss. She moves around the building sometimes and wants people to like her.
The male spirit doesn't like to hang down there as much.
Both spirits interacted with the equipment we had set out for them.
Jennifer could also hear another male spirit down there, who had been there during the flood.
In the tower area Jennifer feels like there is a doctor or a dentist there. She sees a female spirit, who used to be some kind of a teacher. Possibly a private teacher for select families and for a small group of kids. She was fascinated by the equipment and their colors and was sitting on the floor trying to play with everything.
She was a wife of a former employee.
She loves people and would love more visitors. She said that people used to be able to come there. She wants the remodel up there to be done.
She also goes to other buildings with other spirits as downtown Spokane is quite the social scene and her friends come hang out in the tower as well.
Jennifer also saw a male spirit, who's name was John in one of the rooms on our way down.
The only reference I saw about a passed on female teacher was Ms. Rice, who taught children in the church that was located on the site where the Review building is now.
The last area we went to was the "haunted" staircase located in the Chronicle building. It is accessible only to the tenants of the apartments, that used to be business offices till 2016.
On the 4th floor staircase Jennifer saw an agitated and a very drunk male spirit, who needed help. Jennifer feels that he passed away that way and he had been there a while. We caught his voice on a voice recorder and he also used the equipment we set out.
Jennifer also saw another male spirit there, who had been shot in the head.
The Chronicle building doesn't have any recorded deaths, so again one has to look into the history of the area and what was there before.
Hauntings can be related to the land, a building, a person or an object. Energy attracts energy and spirits roam. These spirits can be from the 1800s or the more recent years. Even from another state.
I found 8 recorded deaths of people with a gun shot wound in the head and 3 deaths caused due to alcohol.
In this block alone , there used to be 2 undertakers establishments and a morgue from 1889 on till about early 1900. In those early days, those that died , some even from out of state ended up in one of the morgues or the undertakers parlors. There were many undertakers on the surrounding blocks as well in later years.
In 1889 The Commercial Hotel was on the corner of Riverside and Lincoln street , where there were 3 reported deaths.
From Riverside to Sprague and Monroe to Lincoln there were lodging houses on all sides after the 1889 Great fire, where people passed away ending up in one of the morgues in the area and some died on the streets.
We don't know who all the spirits were that we encountered, but there are many possibilities to go from .
We want to thank Cannon Barnett for inviting us to this awesome building, Brooke Lauerman and all those at the Spokesman-Review involved in making this walk thru' possible.
Also a shout out to Dana and Summer at the Spokane Public Library Inland NW Special Collections for the research help and Logan at the City of Spokane Historical Preservation Office.
You can also find the article written by Cannon Barnett of this walk thru' in the Oct 21,2025 Spokesman-Review issue.

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We are adding a candle light - late night 2 hour guided investigation. We provide the battery candles. No flashlights. Only 6 people on the investigation. Tickets available online. Tour starts at 11:45pm. May 15, 23, 29, June 5, 12, 20, July 3, 10, 25. colfaxhauntedhospital.com

Any Nick Groff fans out there.
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With a heavy heart… I think it’s finally time.

After years of investigating some of the most haunted locations in the world… I’m officially ready to let go of one of the most iconic tools I’ve ever used in my career.

GeoPort.
Aka “Geo”

If you watched Paranormal Lockdown, then you didn’t just see this device…
You witnessed the voices that came through it.
The evidence it captured.
The moments that changed investigations forever.

This is the actual GeoPort that has traveled with me through some of the darkest, most active locations we’ve ever filmed… and without question, it has produced some of the most compelling paranormal communication I’ve experienced from any device I’ve ever used.

As I move forward creating a brand new device for our upcoming shows, I feel like it’s time for this piece of paranormal history to belong to one of you.

A true fan.
A serious collector.
Someone who understands what this device has been a part of, and what may still be attached to it.

Interested in owning the GeoPort?

👀 Check the comments…

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Schedule is up and tickets for all classes and general admission are live, we will be putting the remaining events and investigations tickets up over the next several days. Make sure to check back often, we have some exciting events and a couple of new investigation spots to explore. Please share and help us get the word out.

http://www.oregonghostconference.com/Schedule.html

GHOSTS AT THE MONTVALE HOTEL, SPOKANE, WA

We have gotten many requests to go investigate the oldest boutique hotel in Spokane that started out as a single room occupancy hotel [SRO] for the working-class laborers, The Montvale Hotel, built in 1899 by Judge John W. Binkley [1856-1931] on the W. downtown Historic Transportation Corridor.
So we did a walk through with Spokesman Review reporters Cannon Barnett and photographer Jesse Tinsley, the General Manager Zachary Neighbors of the Montvale and Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren to see what we might find at this historic location .
Most old buildings have residual energy left over from all the businesses and people once occupying the space, but that is not all that The Montvale Hotel has.
In Room 310 Jennifer saw a female spirit by the window , who was killed on the street a long time ago. Her name is possibly Katelyn and she jokingly said that she has been there "too long" and is a "permanent guest" at the hotel.
She likes the building and likes to make noise, "mess" with the TV and move things to "freak" people out. She also goes to the next room and down to the kitchen. She liked to use the "Dead Bell" electronic device to communicate with us. Her energy is good.
According to Zachary Neighbors, there has been one death in this room and people have reported the lights turning on by themselves.
In room 203 similar issues have been reported.
Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren feels that a man had died in this room of a possible heart attack.
She picked up a male spirit there, who would use the electronic devices to communicate with us.
Rooms 307 and 219 have also had some activity according to Zachary Neighbors.
Montvale Hotel is owned by Jerry and Patty Dicker, who purchased it in 2015. They also own the 2 buildings next to Montvale, the Music City Building and the old IOOF Lodge building, now the Montvale Event Center.
Zachary Neighbors took us down to the basement, that is used as storage mainly and has items from the IOOF Lodge.
In the IOOF Lodge building basement area Jennifer saw 2 male spirits, one of which she had seen earlier in the shower area.
The spirits were in a corner area, that had a single chair. Zachary Neighbors felt that the chair belonged to someone, so he had never moved it.
The 2 male spirits were drinking buddies. One of them had worked there. James, the younger male wearing overalls, had been there since the 1915's. He died from hitting his head after someone pushed him in 1918. He had been a smuggler for booze and had used the tunnels, which are now sealed. He likes the company and jokingly said "he could be a snuggler too". He was anxious to use the equipment to communicate with us.
The older male spirit doesn't like people going down there, but he was ok with us being there. He used to be a bartender and is very much a flirt with no filter, who also likes blonds.
Both spirits seemed to like the attention and told us that they would be ok with us bringing them little booze bottles and ci******es, though the older male spirit prefers "luckies" ci**rs.
He passed away of a possible heart attack or lung and breathing issues.
In the IOOF Lodge basement area Jennifer also saw a skittish female spirit on the top of the stairwell, who likes to touch peoples hair. Something that Zachary Neighbors had felt before down there thinking it was cobwebs, but never saw any. The female spirit confirmed that that had been her.
The Montvale Hotel also has 2 restaurants; Gilded Unicorn in the basement and the Griffin Tavern, a British style gastro pub with Spokane's only self-pour beer wall .
Neither restaurant was included in the walk through, but I had Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren and Psychic Medium Jane Stewart from ghost411.net podcast read the energy from the pictures I later took of each place.
Both psychics picked up a female spirit on the stairway area going down to the Gilded Unicorn. Jane picked up another female as well, who did not belong to the building. Jennifer saw 2 female spirits talking by the fire place. One was wearing a dress from the 30's and the other one was not from this building.
Jane could hear children and the female spirit by the stairwell confirmed that there is a little boy in the building, who likes to run up and down the stairs.
Both psychics saw a male spirit in the Gilded Unicorn kitchen area. Jane believed he used to work there. Jennifer felt that he likes to "mess" with people.
Jane believes that the male and one of the female spirits are "stationary". Other spirits come in from the street.
In the Griffin Tavern Jane sees a young male spirit with a short brown hair. Sickly looking. Possibly drug related.
Jennifer saw 2 male spirits in the private dining room talking to each other. One of them looked like the male spirit from the IOOF basement she saw. She also saw a male spirit behind the bar.
Psychic Medium Jane Stewart did a walk through couple years ago of the Montvale hotel main areas only with the Boo Crew Case files podcast. Do check it out.
Not all the spirits hang out in one place all the time. It is common, especially in the downtown area, for them to roam.
Sometimes they like the energy of the building and decide to stay.
No room is necessarily haunted just because it has activity.
Some spirits follow people in the rooms from elsewhere.
The Montvale Hotel is an excellent, beautiful and comfortable hotel close to downtown entertainment. Well worth a stay.
We would like to thank the General Manager Zachary Neighbors for allowing us to walk through this beautiful hotel and all the help. Also thank you to Cannon Barnett and Jesse Tinsley for setting it up. You can find an article from this walk through also on the Spokesman Review for October 31st, 2025.

As the year is ending, we want to thank everyone for all the likes,follows, shares and comments. We appreciate it very much and hope, that you will continue to follow us, as we have so many more haunted places to tell you about.
May 2026 be the best ever for you all ! Stay safe.