White Eagle - a haunted pub in Portland

White Eagle Cafe, Saloon & Rock 'n' Roll Hotel - 836 North Russell St., Portland, OR

Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 AM to 1 AM.

Friday and Saturday, 11 AM to 2:30 AM.

Sunday, 4 PM to 11 PM.

Location:

The White Eagle Cafe Saloon and Rock and Roll Hotel can befound in North Portland's industrial neighborhood, underneath the glorious span of the city's Fremont Bridge. Conveniently, new MAX Yellow Line that can drop people off just a block away from its location.

Description:

Built in the 1899 building style, The White Eagle Saloon and Rock and Roll Hotel has 2 stories, with a basement area. The basement is where the food storage freezers and main office are located.

The second floor has the original 11 rooms for overnight lodging by guests, who also get to listen to the rock bands who play downstairs for free. Rooms are described as having "simple charm and a definite Old World sensibility." In other words, they are simply furnished, but have lovely antique beds, funiture and lamps. Guests have a sink, but share a floor bathroom.

The main floor houses the corner stage for musical entertainment which ranges from acoustic to rock groups, as well as a dining and bar area, known as the Saloon. There is also a big screen to show sporting events for their customers.

Outside, there is a nice eating area for the warmer months which they call The Beer Garden.

The walls of the first floor showcase the history of this place from the very beginning and the events which took place here. Nice art touches include a lovely ceramic tiled floor, an impressive oak back bar and special memorabilia from its varied past.

Tom and I ate here and loved the food and the fine, on-tap beer, and highly recommend the Saloon for a great place to eat and relax.

Colorful History:

The White Eagle Saloon began as a respectable establishment. In 1905, this White Eagle Saloon was owned and operated by Bronislaw Soboleski and William Hryszko, opening its doors to serve the Polish workers who lived in this then residential area. It also has the distinction of being the place where St. Stanislaus, the West Coast's first Polish Catholic church held their organizational meetings.

At a gradual but steady pace, the surrounding neighborhood became industrialized, so the clientele of The White Eagle Saloon changed, drawing in laborers who worked at the docks, rail yards, and factories. As the Port area developed, more sailors off the ships also began to call The White Eagle their place to enjoy alcoholic beverages, good grub and other pleasures which began to be offered as well, courtesy of another owner of the place.

By this time, The White Eagle Saloon was no place for respectable society. The tradition says that some male customers were sometimes shanghaied onto ships who needed men. Supposedly, there was an underground tunnel from the basement of the building which led outside. This route was taken by the kidnapping thugs who transported the men who were incapacitated in some way to the ship, where they would wake up on the next morning!

History of Manifestations: Considered by some to be the most haunted building in Portland. During its unrespectable years, human pain and suffering were common in this building. Prostitution, having too much to drink, and a general roustabout attitude are some of main causes of the hauntings at this now mainstream hard hat and rock and roll enthusiast cafe and saloon which offers fine musical entertainment, beer on draft and great food!

Manifestations:

Brothel Areas -

It was Brothel Central sometime around the early part of the 20th century, before the government started to enforce vice laws.

The Basement - Housed the Brothel of Color - Offered the services of grown black women, Asian women, and one source thinks a few young female teens from South America. Supposedly, these girls were kidnapped / or bought by sailors in South America port towns, brought to Oregon and inturn wound up as sex slaves in this basement and probably in other brothels.

A) Area is hostile to psychics.

B) Faint music can be heard at times.

C) Freezer doors open and shut by themselves.

D) The Living have been groped and touched by hands.

E) Coins sometimes fall from the ceiling, especially in the office area.

The Upstairs Rooms -

The 2nd floor room were used by the White Brothel. Because of the paranormal activity, the rooms were not rented out as overnight hotel lodgings for many years. Just recently, they were renovated and reopened as a low cost place to stay, becoming the Rock and Roll Hotel part of the business. Several Spirits haunt the 2nd floor; Two known entities are Rose and Sam.

1) Rose was a young prostitute who fell in love with one of her customers. Fearing the wrath of the owner of the bar, she refused the marriage proposal of her boyfriend who killed her in a rage. * Sounds of a woman's crying can be heard at times, which is attributed to Rose.

2) Another source of the hauntings is that of the entity of Sam. Sam was the housekeeper who lived upstairs since he was 10 years old. The kind-hearted owner at the time sort of adopted him when he was 10, giving him a room, meals and a job. He stayed in this hotel his whole life and died in his room.

3) All the doors and windows of the 13 rooms located upstairs have been known to open and shut by themselves.

Paranormal activity observed in both the upstairs and the basement:

A) Apports appear from nowhere, flying through the air.

B) Coins appear on the floor.

C) The Living have been groped and touched by cold hands.

D) "Tear-drop-shaped" apparitions have been seen in both places.

The Main Floor of the Pub - History:

1) To control the rowdies in the early 20th century, a big mean bouncer was hired to control the customers and workers when needed. One night, he disappeared and was never seen again. (thought to have been killed or shanghaied, but no one knows for sure.)

* Some rude entity pushed a waitress down the stairs toward the basement, which gave her minor injuries.

2) Because of the fighting problem, men were probably killed here, or perhaps this is the entity of Sam the housekeeper, going about his rounds, checking the bathrooms.

A) An entity walks through the hallway from the bar to the men's bathroom and flushes the toilet. A hygenic and considerate entity!

B) Toilet paper in the Ladies room has been known to fly around on its own accord.

C) Chairs move by themselves

D) Utensils and cooking tools has been known to fly around the kitchen.

Still Haunted?

Yes. A host of entities call this building home.

Sources include: mcmenamins.com * home.comcast.net * theshadowlands.net
Haunted Places, The National Directory, By Dennis William Hauk, 2002