Overnight Stay Booking Required
Overnight Stay
Stay in a Victorian-era suite; Rooms 15, 17, and 19 are specifically named in local lore for reported encounters.
- Duration:
- 12 hr
Haunted Hotel / Inn
The Bishop Hotel
An 1890 boutique hotel in the Bishop Block of downtown Port Townsend, built by retired British sailor and Chimacum Valley homesteader W.H. Bishop, with lore of a pipe-smoking man in gray.
714 Washington St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Boutique hotel rates; suites with kitchenettes available.
Access
Limited Access
Three-story 1890 commercial block with stairs to upper floors.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1890 · Contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District (NHL 1977) · Built by William H. Bishop, former British sailor and Chimacum Valley pioneer · Converted by the U.S. Navy in 1940 as WWII civilian-workforce rooming house · Opened as a hotel for the first time in 1980
The Bishop Block at 714 Washington Street was completed around 1890 (some sources cite 1889 or 1891) by William H. Bishop, a former British Royal Navy sailor who, with companion William Eldridge, abandoned ship near Victoria during the Crimean War, paid a Native ferryman to take them across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and walked to Port Townsend. Bishop homesteaded in the Chimacum Valley for decades before retiring to Port Townsend in 1889 and becoming a leading builder of commercial blocks during the city's Victorian boom.
The building, designed in collaboration with architect Charles Packard, was a three-story commercial structure intended for upper-floor offices over street-level retail. The 1893 financial panic cut short demand for offices, and the building was sold to the Owl Cigar Company, which used the upper floors for tobacco storage and distribution.
In 1940 the U.S. Navy acquired the building and converted it into a WWII civilian-workforce rooming house. In 1980 the Bishop Block opened for the first time as a hotel under John and Karen Pickett, and in the 1990s the property was restored by Cindy and Joe Finnie to reflect its Victorian origins.
The Bishop Hotel is a contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District, a National Historic Landmark since 1977.
Sources
- https://www.thebishophotel.com/about/our-history
- https://ptguide.com/29-history/general-history/88-historical-sites-bishop-block
- https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/spirits-call-port-townsend-home-all-year-round/
- https://www.ptleader.com/stories/in-search-of-spirits-leader-writer-recounts-night-spent-in-pts-most-haunted-hotel,72088
Apparition of a man in a gray suit and hat appearing in the main room cornerReported smell of pipe tobacco in a no-smoking buildingUnexplained sensations reported by guests in Rooms 15, 17, and 19
According to the Peninsula Daily News and the Port Townsend Leader, the most consistent reported presence at the Bishop Hotel is a man in a gray suit and hat who appears in a corner of the main room, lingers long enough to be noticed, and then vanishes. The Leader's overnight first-person feature, 'In search of spirits,' documents staff and guest reports including the unexplained smell of pipe tobacco despite a strict no-smoking policy.
Rooms 15, 17, and 19 are specifically named in haunted-place coverage including GhostQuest as locations where guests have reported an 'unnerving spirit' or unexplained sensations. The identity of the gray-suited figure is not definitively attributed in the available sources; the building's century of mixed uses — office tower, cigar warehouse, Navy rooming house, and hotel — provides multiple possible historical figures behind the reports.
These accounts are characteristic of low-level long-running boutique-hotel paranormal lore: not dramatic, not commercialized to a haunted-attraction degree, but persistent enough to surface in regional reporting across multiple decades.
Notable Entities
Unnamed gray-suited gentleman
Plan Your Visit
1 way to experienceSources & Further Reading
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Bishop Hotel family-friendly?
A working boutique hotel with restored Victorian rooms. Ghost lore is benign — most reports are of a quiet man in a gray suit. Overall family fit: High.
How much does it cost to visit The Bishop Hotel?
Boutique hotel rates; suites with kitchenettes available.
Do I need to book in advance?
Yes, reservations are required.
Is The Bishop Hotel wheelchair accessible?
The Bishop Hotel has limited wheelchair accessibility. Terrain: Three-story 1890 commercial block with stairs to upper floors..