Post by Graveyardbride on Sept 8, 2017 14:02:32 GMT -5
Spooks of Yakima County: Past and Present
Some called it the “Woman in Black.” Others dubbed it the “Hog Devil.” Whatever its name, the tall, dark figure terrorized the residents of North Yakima, Washington, along Naches Avenue in April 1897 to the point the sightings made the paper. “North Yakima has a ghost, at least the young people, and many old ones, are very much agitated on the subject,” the Yakima Herald of well over a hundred years ago, reported.
Described as moving “noiselessly and with the swiftness of wind,” the figure that haunted Naches Avenue “in the vicinity of the churches” first chased Zenovia Fulkerson, who ran screaming to the home of a Miss Meyer. Others saw it that same night, including two boys who claimed it sat on the stoop of the Presbyterian church before coming straight at them “with a gliding motion” and disappeared. Two other boys followed the figure to the basement of a partially-constructed house Mike Schorn was building and Barber Jackson witnessed the chase.
Others also reported encounters with the phantom and dozens of people, armed with sticks and clubs, went out hunting for it. A policeman, identified as “Officer Grant,” threatened to arrest whatever it was. One boy was quoted as saying, “Well! You may say there are no such things as spooks, but when you put your hand out and it isn’t there, that settles it.”
The Woman in Black or Hog Devil may be Yakima’s first reported ghost, but since that time, specters have taken up residence in several Yakima County buildings. For instance, The Capitol Theatre is said to be haunted by a wraith called “Shorty.” At the North Town Coffeehouse, a “Lady in White” haunts the stairs, and another phantom woman has been seen sitting at a table in the Carousel Restaurant.
Employees at the former Cafe Melange – now the Flying Pig BBQ (pictured above) – on Front Street set the tables at night before going home, but the next day, they would discover the utensils had been moved as though someone, or some “thing” disapproved of the table settings and reset them. But this wasn’t anywhere near as disconcerting as glasses flying from shelves and shattering and strange incidents in the basement reported by employees in the Lund Building at Yakima Avenue and Front Street.
A number of security guards at the William O. Douglas Federal Courthouse have been reporting odd incidents for years and many believe the building is haunted, though by whom or what, nobody knows.
The Pomona Tavern outside Selah is rumored to be haunted by a ghost known as “Captain,” who is in the habit of touching people on the shoulder. In Mabton, the old high school is believed to be spirit-infested and when a group of paranormal investigators set up a video camera in the building, a glow stick is shown flying through the air and it was later found in another room.
The hauntings at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (above) in Prosser include the apparition of a boy, the smell of burning wood and a size 6 footprint that appears and disappears. The strange occurrences are so widely-known that in 2007, the church was included in the “Houses of the Holy” episode of Ghost Hunters (Season 3, Episode 16). During the investigation, a mysterious footprint, cold air and strange atmospheric changes, plus whispers and odd sounds from a closet, prompted the team to declare the church and grounds definitely haunted.
Sources: Tammy Ayer, The Yakima Herald, May 20, 2017, and Ghosts of the Pacific Northwest.
