HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Nightly guided walks through Washington's most active paranormal tourism town, an 1853 lumber company settlement that closed in 1995 and never left.
32400 Rainier Ave NE, Port Gamble, WA 98364
Research updated August 2026
Age
16+
Cost
$
$35 per person for the Ghost Walk. $40 per person for the Special Investigation. Tickets via Eventbrite.
Access
Limited Access
Walking on paved and unpaved historic town streets after dark. Uneven surfaces in places.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1853 · National Historic Landmark (1966) — one of the best-preserved 19th-century company lumber towns in the U.S. · Site of the longest continuously operating sawmill in U.S. history (1853–1995)
Port Gamble was founded in 1853 by William Talbot, Andrew Pope, and Josiah Keller, who chose the site on the Hood Canal end of the Kitsap Peninsula for its deep-water access and proximity to old-growth timber. The founders modeled the town layout and architecture after East Machias, Maine, their home community, giving Port Gamble a distinctly New England character that survives intact today.
At its peak the Puget Mill Company—later Pope & Talbot—employed several hundred workers and operated a fleet of ten vessels shipping lumber to San Francisco, Shanghai, and Cape Town. The town was entirely company-owned: workers rented company houses, bought from the company store, and attended the company church.
The mill ran continuously from 1853 until November 1995, when Pope & Talbot announced its closure after 142 years—the longest continuous operation of any sawmill in U.S. history. Unlike most company towns, Port Gamble was not demolished after the mill closed. Pope Resources, which inherited the townsite, preserved the Victorian-era streetscape. The Port Gamble Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
Today the town has a general store, a museum in the old Mason/Thompson House, St. Paul's Episcopal Church (built 1879), and several residences. Port Gamble Paranormal, founded by local investigator Peter Orbea, has operated regular ghost walks and investigations since at least the 2000s and hosts an annual three-day Ghost Conference each November that draws researchers and enthusiasts from across the Pacific Northwest.
Sources
Port Gamble's paranormal reputation rests partly on the density of 19th-century buildings that have never been demolished and partly on the town's peculiar frozen-in-time quality after the mill's 1995 closure. Unlike most industrial towns, the workforce simply departed while the buildings remained.
The Ghost Walk is operated by Port Gamble Paranormal and visits the most frequently reported sites in town. The Walker-Ames House is the centerpiece: residents and passersby have reported seeing the apparitions of three small children in its upstairs windows when the building is unoccupied, and structured paranormal investigations have been conducted there since the 1950s.
The Morse Theater, also on the tour route, has its own set of accounts including unexplained sounds and movement observed during investigations. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in 1879 as a replica of a Maine church, draws reports of presence felt in the pews during off-hours. The Franklin Masonic Lodge, dating to 1872, is included in the walk as another historically active site.
The annual Ghost Conference, held each November for over fifteen years, brings in outside investigators and has featured presentations on documented activity across multiple Port Gamble buildings. The event is a significant draw for paranormal tourism on the Kitsap Peninsula.
A guided evening walk through the historic company town of Port Gamble visiting the Walker-Ames House, Morse Theater, Franklin Masonic Lodge, and St. Paul's Church. Departs from the Port Gamble Historic Museum at 7:00 PM. Release of liability required. Minimum age 16.
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The tour departs from the museum.
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