Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
Ghosts tour the town THE NORTHWEST GHOST TOUR IN OREGON CITY SHOWS THE PARANORMAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN BY MCKENNA STREED THE CLACKAMAS PRINT If you’ve ever wondered if your town is haunted or even just want to know its history, this is the tour to experience. On Friday, O ct. 13, people gathered at the Oregon City elevator w aiting for the Northw est G host Jo u r to begin. Rocky Sm ith is known as a local historian, a paranormal investigator and the tour guide. “ I expect to see some ghosts; I’ll be disappointed if I don’t see any g h o sts,” said Kobe W illiam s, who was one o f the people w aiting at the elevator. “ I haven’t heard that Oregon City is haunted or anything, but you never know .” “ I t’ s Friday the 13th, so I’ m ju st d o ing it to get spooky,” Katie Dalrymple said. T he tour b egan across th e street w ith som e interesting general history before m o v in g in to the major hot spots. A cco rd in g to S m ith , in Oregon City, Dr. John M cLoughlm started it all by building houses, stores and even by helping to found the town. Before leaving th e v ie w o f th e e le v a to r, the story o f Sarah C h ase w as to ld . S h e w as a m a n sio n ow ner t h a t d e s p is e d the elevator. It s said that she still stands at th e to p in the s k y b o x to yell at those w ho u s e it b ecau se o f its position on her land. A ft e r w a lk in g down Seventh Street towards Main, you hear th e story o f a Tour guide, lit t le r e d - Rocky Smith, haired boy. shares the I t’ s thought history of that he played Oregon City. at the river, got sick Clackamas Print and died; now , he wanders around town laughing. R ecen tly , th e stories chan ged and in co n clu siv e inform ation has arisen. M ain Street is fu ll o f little snippets o f the tow n’ s history, from buildings up on the hill such as the Barclay House and the McLoughlin House. In the second stop, the Bank o f Commerce, doors’ lock and unlock on their own. Stories from people are told that items disappear and reappear from different places. Maizee M ae’ s Antiques and Treasures, which was once a police station, comes next. Its twin buildings are now in the historic registrar and cannot be taken down. \ . . The tour; continues past Pioneer Pub, Singer Falls, Ruuds Jewelers, Weinhard Grill and McAnulty N Barry’s. These stbps lead to the m ost haunted spot on the tour due to its high frequency of activity, Coffee Rush. The site o f Coffee Rush’ s parking lot was originally a house that had burnt down. A car dealership was built over the lot and it also burnt down. Continuing on the tour, one could see the site that once was the Liberty Theater. After the Liberty Theater was taken down, they built sm all window boxes in the ground that can be seen lit up during the evenings except for the box dedicated to the Liberty Theatre, which has never had power to it and sits black in the nighty t The tour ends with two dark and gruesome places. First, it’ s a sm all alcove under Oregon 99, next to the river where faces can be seen looking up at yoù and things can be thrown. The fin al place is a pedestrian tunnel located on Railroad Avenge that goes under Oregon 99. The tunnel gives the feelin gs o f heaviness and can m ake you dizzy. It is the site o f m any deaths originating with the hanging of five Natives. Paranormal investigators believe there is a negative energy in that area. Sm ith believes he is a sensitive. “ I have the ability to pick up things, I think we all d o ,” said Sm ith. “ I think we usually just write it o ff as a coincidence that we see things or feel th in gs.” A sensitive means they can feel negative or positive energy, and feel the emotions of the paranormal. That gives you som ething to think about. W hether you believe or not, this tour is very insightful into the history of Oregon City. You learn things that make you skeptical, you feel and see thingsthat make you wonder. The Northwest Ghost Tours, as well as other spècial events, run every year but only for a couple m onths and tickets can be bought online. Merari Calderon Ruiz contributed to this story. People gather for the ghost tour on the corner of Seventh and Main streets on Friday, Oct. 13. th e c ia c k a m a sp rin t.n e t OCTOBER 25, 2017
