PORT ANGELES — A group of paranormal investigators will hunt for signs of ghosts in some of Port Angeles’ historic haunts.
Paranormal Investigations of Historic America, based in Monroe, will bring recorders and equipment to explore beneath the streets of the Port Angeles and in the Family Shoe Store at 130 W. Front St. — which once was a downtown brothel — Michael’s Divine Dining at 117B E. First St. and the Museum at the Carnegie, 207 S. Lincoln St., on May 21-22.
Don Perry, Port Angeles deputy mayor, who leads visitors on twice daily tours of the Port Angeles Underground, is curious what the group will find when it takes a peek into what lies beneath the streets.
He plans to accompany them during the investigation.
“I’m also going to open up the underground of the Warren Morse Building,” Perry said.
“That is a part of the underground that isn’t part of the regular tour but will also be an interesting location for them to see.”
The underground city of Port Angeles was formed in 1914 when the streets were raised.
Investigators with SPOOKS — or Scientific Paranormal Observation of Kinetic Spirits, based in Vancouver, Wash., — stopped by last year, but the group hasn’t contacted Perry about a full investigation, he said.
Image of faces
During their brief visit, a photographer captured the image of faces staring back through windows of the underground.
“I’m a skeptic, but it looked abnormal,” Perry said.
“But I’ll keep an open mind for the investigation.”
PIHA was founded and is run by Vaughn Hubbard, a former engineer with a fondness for history,
“I want to encourage people to visit communities and the historical sites and learn more about their history,” he said.
“That is the reason for PIHA’s existence.”
PIHA investigators, who do not charge for their work, earlier this year investigated the Palace Hotel in Port Townsend for signs of the fabled Lady in Blue which some have claimed to see.
Museum at the Carnegie
Kathy Monds, executive director of the Clallam County Historical Society, said she would accompany the ghost hunters on their exploration of the Museum at the Carnegie, located in a building dedicated in 1919.
“I personally have had some experiences there,” she said.
“They haven’t necessarily been recent, but off and on throughout the time we’ve been in there.”
Her dog, Dengas, was her primary sensor that something was afoot.
“Sometimes, I would take my dog with me to the museum, and we would always walk, but he wouldn’t even go in the building sometimes, which is not normal for him,” she said.
“Other times, he would go into the lower floor, but if we went to the second story, he would stick tight to my side and would always be staring right at the center of the room.”
An artifact — which has since been removed and that she wouldn’t identify — was the center of some mysterious happenings, Monds said.
“The whole time that artifact was there, there would be doors opening and closing and footsteps and other things would go on,” she said.
“One time, I was up on a ladder on the second floor, and I heard a door open and footsteps coming up the stairs, but then when I turned around to see who was there — there was no one.”
Since the artifact was removed, the happenings have diminished, she said.
Monds said it was a little creepy.
“I certainly don’t go looking for this type of thing because it can be very unnerving,” she said.
“But I’ve also never felt that anything bad would happen. It’s just unsettling.”
Michael’s Divine Dining
The Country Aire Building, home to Michael’s Divine Dining, was built in the 1920s or 1930s, said Michael Lynch, owner of the underground restaurant.
The building was once home to a Piggly Wiggly store and has had its share of creepy encounters, Lynch said.
“The interesting thing is there are recurring themes among people who have no connection to each other,” he said.
“A child, a woman in a blue or white dress, a large Native American man are all things people report seeing.”
A skeptic himself, Lynch said he does have things that he can’t explain.
“There have been times where I think I see someone walk by, but then there is no one there,” he said.
“Or something will catch my the corner of my eye.
“Have I seen a ghost? I don’t know that.”
The store has been investigated once before, he said.
“Last year, a team called Spook-A-Rama came through, but there were so many people investigating I thought they might spook the spooks,” he said.
“This team is very professional and seem like they know what they are doing.”
Family Shoe Store
The building in which the Family Shoe Store is located is the oldest building in downtown Port Angeles, according to its Web site, www.familyshoestore.net.
It originally sat over tide flats. In 1913-1914, the building was raised to meet street grade.
The second floor was one of at least seven brothels in Port Angeles until it was forced to close in 1942, the Web site said.
It’s the upstairs that will be focus of the paranormal investigation.
Owner Kevin Thompson said he is a skeptic.
Even though other paranormal investigators have checked it out, he still isn’t convinced that the ghost of a young woman haunts the store.
“I’m kind of old school,” he said. “I generally explain things.
“For example, if I’m working at night and feel a cold rush of wind, I’m not going to think it is paranormal. I’m going to assume that it is because the walls are hollow and that type of thing.”
He’s interested to learn what PIHA finds.
“This group seemed to be really scientific,” he said.
“And there is another group that is thinking about coming back. They were really excited about some pictures they took here.
“If there is something, they will have to show it to me.”
He did make a request.
“The one thing I told them is not to [anger] anything that might be out there because I still have to work here.”
Ghost hunters equipment
In addition to “typical” ghost hunting equipment, such as a K-2 electromagnetic field meter which measures energy, and digital recorders to capture sound not available to the “naked ear,” the team also uses equipment developed by Hubbard himself.
One such thing is a parabolic dish, which is used with recorders to capture low-frequency sounds.
“I got the inspiration when I was looking at my old satellite dish, which was designed to capture those waves,” he said.
“So I designed this, and it really helps pick up those sounds that you can’t hear otherwise.”
Headphones on digital recorders allow investigators to hear as sounds are recorded.
“We do this so that if we get a response that we can’t hear with our ears, we might be able to hear it through the recording and have a better communication,” he said.
“We can respond right then.”
Hubbard said he is especially excited about exploring Port Angeles because it was his first home as an infant 63 years ago.
“My parents probably bought my first pair of shoes right there in Family Shoe Store where we are investigating,” he said.
Once the investigation is completed, Hubbard will make a DVD that could be sold by such agencies as the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and Port Angeles Downtown Association.
For more information about PIHA, see www.pihausa.com.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
