PORT TOWNSEND — It’s a new way to explore this haunting season.
The Port Townsend Main Street Program and the Jefferson County Historical Society are collaborating on a new event: Haunted Histories & Mysteries of Port Townsend, set for Nov. 1-2.
Activities will take place throughout downtown Port Townsend and the Rothschild House in uptown as well. They are a mixture of paranormal investigations, haunted walks, an Escape Room at the old jail in the Jefferson County Museum of Art & History, flashlight tours, classes and historic building tours.
Tickets are on sale now at ptmainstreet.org and eventbrite.com (search for Haunted Histories & Mysteries of Port Townsend.)
Each offering is priced separately, ranging from $10 to $75. Seven paid events and two free events for ticket holders are offered.
This is not kids’ play, said Mari Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program. Participants must be 16 or older; the two free events are for those 21 and older because they take place in bars — “Boo’s & Spirits Mixer” on Nov. 1 and “Tell Your Tales” on Nov. 2.
“It’s an experience. It’s not passive,” Mullen said.
For instance, those interested in paranormal activity can use the equipment as they visit three historic buildings with paranormal investigators.
“We’ve been working with the Olympic Peninsula Paranormal Society and Beyond the Paranormal,” Mullen said. “We’ve done investigations in the Hastings Building, the Mount Baker Block Building, the museum and jail.”
DIY paranormal classes are planned.
To break out of the Escape Room at the 1892 museum jail, participants will have to solve puzzles.
Key City Public Theatre actors will lead haunted walks downtown while telling stories about each site.
The 1889 Hastings Building will be explored. Flashlight tours of the Rothschild House — a former residence that is virtually unchanged from its heyday in the 1800s — will be offered.
Ankhasha will lead a psychic presentation.
“The haunted history of Port Townsend is renowned, and one that many who visit may hear whispers about. But how to experience this haunted past first hand?” said Shelly Leavens, executive director of the Jefferson County Historical Society.
“Our event is exciting because it brings together paranormal experts and the factual events of history for an experience participants will never forget.”
The Victorian Seaport of Port Townsend was founded in 1851 and harbors many mysteries.
“Our colorful town has many tales to tell — of shipwrecks, shanghaiing, unexplained events and a haunted past that is felt even today,” Mullen said.
“Prepare to be intrigued, entertained, educated and, yes, even frightened during your time spent immersed in the haunted atmosphere of our historic seaport.”
For more information, see ptmainstreet.org.
The 1889 Hastings Building will be featured on a building tour both Nov. 1 and 2 during Haunted Histories Mysteries of Port Townsend.
