Deep in the woods of Forest Park sits an old abandoned house that said to be the home of nightly hauntings. While this deteriorated building is not the original house from which the haunting story originates, it is a creepy and abandoned, adding to the allure of this haunted ghost story. For those brave enough to make the journey, all you have to do is head over to Forest Park and begin on the paranormal trek to the Witch's Castle.
Follow the Wildwood Trail or the Lower Macleay Park Trail to their junction and you are quite close to the haunted location.
While the origins of the ghost story goes back to the 1850s, this building was actually built in the 1950s and was used as a ranger station and bathroom for intrepid travelers.
By the 1960s, the building was abandoned and has deteriorated ever since. That hasn't stopped people from coming to explore the hauntings of the area.
The abandoned cabin sits near the home site of the Balch family. As the story goes, Danford Balch hired Mortimer Stump, a laborer, to help him clear his newly acquired land.
Mortimer fell in love with Balch's 15-year-old daughter Anna, and against the wishes of her parents, the couple ran off to be married.
The next time Balch saw Mortimer Stump in Portland with his daughter, he shot Stump in the head and killed him. He went to jail and later escaped. He was rearrested in 1859, tried in court and subsequently hung, making him the first person in Oregon to face such legal penalty.
Since then, the property has been thought to be visited by the ghosts of Danford, Mortimer, Anna, and Balch's wife Mary Jane. It is thought that the name Witch's Castle comes from Balch's defense itself, where he stated that his wife had bewitched him to kill his daughter's husband.
Everything from seeing the ghosts of these families to the toilets flushing on their own (back when the building was used as a bathroom) have been reported here.
Whether you witness some paranormal occurrences or not, the hike is beautiful, and it is fascinating to think of the young Balch family starting out their lives in such a secluded and picturesque place over 100 years ago.
Have you explored this abandoned house in Portland? What kinds of creepy stories have you heard about it? Feel free to share.
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