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This page is for comments from
Weird Washington readers. This includes (hopefully) good book
reviews, experiences at some of the places we wrote about, and new
places that we have not heard bout as yet. You can email us
separately, but Jeff does the posting E-mail
Al, E-mail
Jeff
It
may take while to post your comments after you submit them, but that is
just one of the weird things about how we work.
This one
sort of belongs here, since Weird Oregon is in the works and we need
reader help for that too. Jeff
FROM: Kimberly
H.
DATE: 7 July 2008
SUBJECT: Your
Weird Oregon Project
Hi,
I live in Eugene, Oregon and am a lifelong Oregonian. I saw your
site and have been collecting ghost stories about Oregon for most of my
life. There are some classic haunting sites in Oregon, one of
which is in Eugene, that your book would probably be expected to have.
You might try looking up the following haunted homes and buildings:
South Eugene High School Auditorium, Eugene, OR
Herman Helms House - Jacksonville, OR
Heceta Head Lighthouse - Yachats, OR
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse - Newport, OR
Dr. John McLoughlin House - Oregon City, OR
Hot Lake Hotel - La Grande, OR
Applegate House - Yoncalla, OR
Charles Laughton and the Shakespearean Festival - Ashland, OR
All of these are profiled in a book called "Oregon's Ghosts and
Monsters" published in 1983 by Mike Helm.
Another book that is out is "Ghost Stories of Oregon" by Susan
Smitten. A lot of the stories in the first book I mentioned are
there but it also has others, such as the bride who supposedly committed
suicide upon finding her new husband with someone else on their
honeymoon at the Oregon Caves Lodge, a stagecoach that still pulls up in
front of a hotel that burned to the ground in Douglas county, and the
Oregon Vortex.
There are places throughout Oregon that are reputed to be haunted, most
of which are also profiled in these books such as:
Neahkahnie Mountain - between Seaside and Tillamook, Lincoln County, OR
Lithia Park - Ashland, OR
Columbia Bar - mouth of the Columbia River between OR & WA
Mount Ashland - Ashland, OR
Steens Mountain - Southeastern Oregon (very remote, I understand)
Enchanted Prairie - Between small towns of Bridge and Remote off of Hwy
42 in Coos County, OR
Most locals in the smaller areas don't mind chatting if you decide you
want to go there. In the meantime, you might want to start your
search with these two books. Hope this helps!
Kimberly H
Date: 13 Jul 2008
From: EKC
Subject: Tacoma Mystery Hole
Is
the hole located above the abandoned union pacific tunnel on center
street?
I
do not think it is part of the train tunnel, but that is a good
theory! Jeff
From: Zach G.
Date: July 18, 2008 5:37:34 PM EDT
To: editor@weirdus.com
Subject: Blue Dog Found?
Hello!
I was flipping through your book Weird Washington, and saw the page
about Whatever Happened to Blue Dog? (page 121). I do not know if
it is the same dog, but a similar dog is outside Quest Field and
Safeco Field during game days. It wears glasses and has a cigarette in its
mouth. There is a cardboard sign next to him that says "$1 for
Pictures", and he usually has on a team jersey and hat. Well I
hope this helps, thanks for making a great book about Washington.
Zach G.
Seattle, Washington
From: Terry S.
Date: 13 Oct 2008
Subject: submissions for Weird WA Vol. 2
Greetings Jeff and Al!
I met you at the Olympia Barnes and Noble when your book first came
out...and spoke with you about Willie Keil and Ogopogo, as well as the
stories I'm attaching to this email.
I don't think I'll be able to attend this Tuesday's event, so I'll be
leaving a printout of my submissions with Rhonda (our CRM) in addition
to this email.
Good luck, and keep searching!
Thanks!
-Terry A. S
From: Tara F.
Date: Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Subject: A Brief Weird WA Submission
To: weirdwa@gmail.com
So there is this town about an
hour north of Seattle called Arlington. The Arlington High School
that I attended there is known for being haunted. They just actually
built a new building so the old one is the one you are looking for and
it is on about 600 East First Street... If you talk to any of the
older instructor especially an instructor Dr. Simpson you can hear about
the really odd things that went on there...
Thanks...
Tara F.
From: Yaz
Date: Sunday 25 Jan, 2009
Subject: HI!
Howdy Jeff,
My name is R Y S, most people call me Yaz. I fell in love with Weird
New Jersey when I lived in New York last year, and I was
delighted to find a Weird Washington
book upon returning home.
Flipping through the book I was delighted to discover that Washington
has so much weirdness to offer. You even got the dancing guy of Factoria!
It's funny Factoria is added to his title, since he expressed a dislike
of Bellevue when a friend and I met him some years ago.
Anyway, it surprised me to see that there was very little mentioned
about Olympia. Olympia is a truly strange town worthy of Jersey-scale
weirdness. The other day I passed a perfect wood cutout of Dr. Seuss's
the Lorax, looking forlorn upon a stump. Such things are standard in
Olympia. In fact, I live in an old hospital at the moment (it was
converted into an apartment complex some years ago), my roommate and I
are going to look for the morgue when we get the time.
The book also didn't mention anything about Evergreen State College. The
number one college of High Times
Magazine, where freshman are known to hurl themselves off of the
8-story dorm building due to a mushroom trip gone awry, where anarchists
congregate, hippies frolic, and Matt Groening's old doodles lurk in the
basement of the student center.
I would like to really dig into the secrets of Olympia and Washington
state in general. It would be a dream come true if you would allow me to
write for your publication (Weird Washington numero deux?) I'm sure my
friends and I could go farther in our explorations of the state if we
can say we officially work for Weird
Washington. What do you say?
Hope to hear from you soon,
Yaz
DATE:
3 April 2009
FROM:
Nancy N
SUBJECT:
Flying Jellyfish
Hi Jeff,
I just
bought your book, and was delighted to find a reference to flyng
jellyfish. I work
at the WSU Extension office in Elma, Washington and we serve all of Grays
Harbor County.
A few years
ago, I got a call from a woman who had something hit her windshield
which was clear and gelatinous. She had collected a sample. Our
administrator (Steve Harbell) works for both Washington State University
and the University of Washington. He had a contact at the UW who ran the
sample and reported back that it appeared to be a bryozoan.
Our
hypothesis is that when storms are arriving on the coast, flocks of
gulls and shore birds flock into the Elma/McCleary/Oakville area and
land in shallow ponds and ditches. When they fly up out of these ditches
they drop the clinging gelatinous bryozoans on the surrounding area.
We
loved the idea of jellyfish being sucked up by water spouts, but the
evidence did not bear that out.
Nancy
N
DATE:
2 May 2009
FROM:
Elizabeth C
SUBJECT:
Weird Washington Fact
My 12 year old son, Zack, wanted to share a fact
with you about a story in the Weird Washington book. The story on
page 167 about the car on top of the Chinese Village sign. The
original name of the restaurant was Bonnie and Clyde’s. For the
famous bank robbers. The car was the same style of that gangster
era. I guess the Chinese Village liked it or couldn't figure out
the best way to get it down.
DATE:
4 May 2009
FROM:
Stephen Johnston
SUJECT:
Ghosts and Critters
Hello,
I stumbled across your website about local legends and hauntings.
I live in the Benton City area where Baby Graves is. I’ve been there
three times. Anyways, I thought you should add that if you go up there,
you’re supposed to see white owls upon first seeing the grave site.
The white owls are also a valid part of the legend because as you drive
along the road they swoop down in front of your car. It happened to me
when I went. I understand the owls are probably more of a natural
occurrence as they live up their anyways. However, they are a part of
the local legend when people talk about baby graves just like how people
talk about the old man who I have actually never seen. I think that’s
one of the interesting things about the baby graves legend is that there
are these different aspects about the legend that some experience while
others don't. Then everyone has their own different story about baby
graves. Anyways, just thought you should know.
Hello
Stephen,
Thanks
for adding more information on the Baby Graves. I'll try to get a
web update this week, and I'll add your email to ghostsandcritters as
well as weirdwashington.us.
Jeff Davis
DATE:
18 June 2009
FROM:
Al Eufrasio
SUBJECT:
Gravity Hill
Jeff's Gravity Hill entry seems to have struck a
chord... Al
There
is also a lively discussion on this page, of whether or not this kind of
phenomena works. And a few people who do not seem to have a sense
of humor. -Jeff
E-mail
Al
E-mail
Jeff
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