White Eagle Tavern

Tavern on Russell Street in Portland, OR.

A tavern in a turn of the century building, which once housed a brothel, plays host to many eerie guests, and not all of them are human.

The White Eagle Tavern, built around 1905 near the Willamette River, is internationally famous for its ghostly activities.  Originally housing a brothel, it now plays host to numerous ghostly visitors.  On of the most recent occurrences happened in 1996, when the owner and two employees were opening the tavern for the day's business.  They were all standing near the center of the main floor when the sound of a chair moving startled them.  They turned, and caught a glimpse of movement as a chair slid by them near the fron to the building, stopping in the aisle.

Another visitation occurred in the ladie's restroom.  A patron, sitting in one of the stalls, heard someone enter the stall directly next to her.   Not too long after, a roll of toilet paper came flying over the dividing wall.   Thinking it was a friend with whom she was visiting the bar, she threw it back over.  Of course, it came right back at her, and a TP fight ensued.  Finally tiring of the childish game, the woman finished her business, and before leaving opened the stall next to her - which was empty.  She was shocked because she heard no one leave the bathroom, much less flush the toilet! 

The owner actually says that he loses quite a bit of toilet paper from both mens' and ladies' restrooms - it just unrolls itself into piles on the floor.   He also says that customers have reported stall doors opening and closing on their own volition - whether someone is inside or not!

The strangest element of all to this haunted tavern, however, lies in the upstairs, which was the location of the "whites-only" brothel way back when.  There are thirteen rooms in the top floor, and the owner has never had any keys to them.  The owner keeps the entire upstairs closed off, but occasionally goes up to make sure everything's okay.  When he does, he finds some of the thirteen doors locked, and others wide open.  Different doors each time he visits the floor, and he says that to get into the locked rooms, he has to leave and wait for them to open by themselves. 

There are two named ghosts are known to haunt the White Eagle Tavern.  One is Rose, a while prostitute killed in 1926 by a jealous lover.  The other is Sam, a polish immigrant who lived upstairs in the 1950s.  When it was decided to close that level of the building, Sam couldn't leave because he was ill.   When his friends finally found him a new home, and returned to tell him the news, Sam was found dead.  The owner says that some of Sam's clothing remains in the upstairss rooms, and that it changes locations from time to time.

The basement is also haunted - the "black/chinese" brothel was located here way back when.  The owner has a small office located at the bottom of the sairs.  He says that when he doesn't have his TV on, he can sometimes hear faint music permeating the room.  Also, he reports once feeling what appeared initially to be a strong earthquake, lasting abour thirty seconds.  He scanned the TV for reports of a tremor, but saw nothing.

The ghosts have at least on one occasion physically attacked an employee at the tavern.  Standing at the top of the stairs, a waitress was pushed by an unseen force, falling all the way to the bottom of the stairs.  Only injured minimally, she knows that she felt someone or something push her.  The owner corroborates her story, as he was present at the time.

Source:  Ghosts of North Portland - H.Michael Ball