Portland Ghosts

9. Macleay Park

Portland, OR

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Macleay Park, one of Oregon's first, is a pleasant area with many trails and nature walks. But it's not all pleasantries and sunshine here, because the property has a bloody history going back at least 150 years. In 1850, Danford Balch and his family settled on the plot of land that would eventually become Macleay Park. A nearby land claim was filled by Mortimer Stump and his family. Stump fell in love with Balch's oldest daughter, 15-year-old Anna. Against her father's wishes, Anna went with Stump to Vancouver, Washington, where they were married. Two weeks later, when the newlyweds returned to town, they were found by Balch. He would say it was both witchery by his wife and a complete accident, but whatever the case, Balch shot Stump point blank, killing him instantly. Balch was arrested and put into jail, but he broke out; he was caught again, being hanged in 1859 in front of 500 witnesses as the first legal hanging in Oregon. Whether or not Mrs. Balch was a witch, this is the reason the ruins here are now called Witch's Castle. Feelings of being watched and touched are rampant along the path leading up to the old Balch property. People have reported loud, high-frequency buzzing, even though there are no electronics nearby. There have been sightings of children, and people hear their playing when there are no living children nearby. Perhaps this is a ghostly scene of days gone by, when the Balch family were still happy. The building that stands today as the Witch's Castle is open to public exploration, but is not actually the old Balch residence; instead, it's a former ranger station and restroom built in 1929 and gutted in the 1960s. Still, that doesn't seem to deter the spirits that linger around it.