Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem work in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances.
Speaker: To true crime cases buried deep in the moss and the mist. We're digging into the dark secrets hiding under the evergreens. Each episode will explore real cases, eerie encounters, and the legends that keep the Pacific Northwest up at night.
Speaker: So grab your flashlight. Lock your doors and join us Beneath the Evergreen.
Speaker: Welcome back everyone. Sorry if you can hear my dogs in the background. Hello, hello. This is, normally we're afternoon podcasters. The time that we're morning recording right now, it's thrown me for a loop.
Speaker: It is. And I haven't had coffee or anything. So I'm like, I gotta to figure out where my energy comes from and like harness that, really bring it through to everyone. Well, buckle up you guys. Cause uncaffeinated Jess is actually a little scary.
Speaker: kind of weird. I'm all over the place. So just fair warning to all those listeners that don't really like our banter. We are going to talk a little bit about a road trip we did, which is why we had a bit of a hiatus last week.
Speaker: It's probably going to take 10 minutes. So on the long side, so, you know, maybe just fast forward and then, ah but you'll miss out on some fun anecdotes. Anna, would you like to start where our adventure began?
Speaker: Absolutely. So we started off in Seattle. We hit up Kel's Irish Pub. So much fun. I loved it. I love all the like, like, I felt there was just like so many different rooms and like you can tell that it was just very old. Yes. um Like the ceilings felt very low. i just, I love that like, i don't know, like old downtown you feel.
Speaker: so that was amazing that was fantastic they also had this delicious like mashed pea mint situation that was bomb so good didn't see any ghosts though but we also weren't really trying to see ghosts that's the yes i did almost make a uh wine corked pig roll down an alleyway that was a little terrifying yeah We will upload the pictures of the of said pig. I swear to God, I barely touched it.
Speaker: I was just trying to be like a nice, like, you know, like a friendly, like arm around the shoulder of this pig for a photo. Yeah. all of sudden I walk away and it starts rolling with me. and I'm like, oh my God. Yeah.
Speaker: It was like a rodeo. I was really excited. i thought someone was going to pull out a rope, you know, last of it. That was actually going to be me. You didn't wait around long enough. ah And then, oh, and that ginger beer place. We also have to give a shout out to the ginger beer place. Oh my God. That's the best ginger beer you've ever had.
Speaker: what's it What's the name of it? Rachel's Ginger Beer. Rachel's Ginger Beer. 10 out of 10. If you're in the Seattle area, go. It's in Post Alley. It's life-changing. Freaking amazing. And they haveve so many different flavors. They have like, when I added a like cucumber tarragon, it is the most refreshing gingerbread you've ever had.
Speaker: Yes. Like that is now the only thing I want to drink on a hot day. I don't know. The raspberry apricot was chef's kiss. Oh, oh dad everything was amazing. And then, um, then we waited an egregious amount of time for the ferry, but that's fine. Washington state fairies.
Speaker: Oh my God. Signage is important. And I just want everyone to know, you know, if you work with a big corporation, Sign everything. Where's the bathrooms? where's the the how about How long is your next wait time? What ferry are you going to be? like ah This is basic stuff, man.
Speaker: No, Washington State Ferries, hit me up if you ever want help because i it would nothing would make me happier than to improve your signage and like your whole process of loading people onto a ferry because it makes me so frustrated, you guys.
Speaker: um then then we so we went from Seattle to Bainbridge Island and I'm just going to say we stopped at Bongo's in Palsbo Oh my god, best food, everyone check it out, it was amazing It was like actually life changing, I'm yeah certain of that It was probably the best morsel I've had in a very long time The whole time we're eating, Jess and I are both like, this is the greatest thing, like this bite so much better in the last bite, oh my god Also, the inside is just – it's, like, really cool setup. Like, the colors are pretty, and then it's got a pretty nice to view. you Yeah, the view is really nice.
Speaker: And hella cheap. Yeah, it was – for the amount of food you got, it was insane. Yeah. And, like – I don't know. I wouldn't say we're both like health nuts, but like we're both like pretty conscious of what we're eating. And like this felt very, it wasn't like really processed, like super like fried or anything like that. Like it was like at its core, like rice, beans and some kind of protein. Yeah. Which like I'm all for that. but It was so good. it was like simple, but fantastic. The flavors were super good.
Speaker: Yes. And that curry. Oh my oh my God. I'm still dreaming about that curry. That was so good. So delicious. And they also have a location in Seattle too. so if you're in Seattle, hit up Bongo's. I think it's near Green Lake.
Speaker: Yeah, we're we're gonna have to I'm gonna have to try that because if it's anything like Paul's Bell, Seattle's a little closer. Exactly. Exactly. But I drive back to Paul's Bell for it anyway. So. Same. So good.
Speaker: And then from there, we went up to Port Townsend where stayed at a a pretty cute hotel. Did some walking. Saw Monterey Castle. Yes. ah i mean, back up. Like downtown Paul's Bell was just so cute. Like everything about Paul's Bell. Paul's Bell. Not Paul's Bell. Jesus. Port Townsend. I was in love with. Yes. Yes. Yes. Unfortunately, we're early birds. So we were walking around Townsend before everything opened. So we didn't get a chance to scope out the actual shops, but the buildings and right on the seat, it's like one of the most picturesque. It reminds me of Practical Magic. In fact, I kept saying that I think over and over and over.
Speaker: And it was just, everyone was really nice there and like, oh my gosh, everything was, it was beautiful. Yes. Yes. Um, Jess did try to shoplift while we were there. I did try to shoplift, guilty as charged. i was looking at sunglasses and I was like, oh, I found the pair that's going to also change my life because this was a life-changing trip. And I put them in my hair, as one does, to your purchased sunglasses.
Speaker: And I forgot they were there because my hands were full. And so when I went up to pay and I'm about to leave, the lady's like, oh, ah are you buying those as well? And I was like, oh, yeah. These things on top of my head after I've already completed checkout. Yeah, let's just just pull up another tap for me.
Speaker: So embarrassing. The woman was so sweet about it. It was like the best case scenario that could have gone. It was like, oh my gosh, what are we doing here? What is happening here? Maybe was like $5 sunglasses. Like...
Speaker: I know. ah They're so cute. I wear them all the time. They look so good. Definitely one of the greatest purchases on this trip. there's actually awesome And then ah from Port Townsend and the shoplifting trip, we went to a gas station in ive mentioned outside hoodsport outside of hoodsport but it's like point what do they call it oh my gosh coming's point coming or something like that point coming yeah yeah anyways there's a giant really for which was a really leaning into innuendo everyone really leaning into that they were really leaning there's lots of shirts um i appreciated i appreciated that the puns though
Speaker: There's also like a 20 foot inflatable Bigfoot outside right next to the port-a-potties, which I thought was fantastic. That was our beacon, actually. That's the whole reason we stopped there. Yes. And at this gas station, not only can you buy all of your snacks, souvenirs, and any point coming information that you would ever want, you can also buy um a handgun of sorts.
Speaker: Which I thought was the most American thing I've ever experienced in my life. That was wild. I kept trying to like, I was just intrigued with it. So I kept like trying to get different angles of what the thing was selling and like what it actually was. And like I kept kind of giving me weird looks. I feel like i did not let the target demographic for a handgun, non-handgun thing.
Speaker: Um, but I was really, I just was so curious about the engineering of this and like, what even is it Yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't quite a gun, but it was a gun. It definitely looked like, like a nine mil or something like that I don't know. It was interesting, yeah but I just thought it was the most American thing ever where you're like driving through. Cause we did kind of the back roads to get from port towns and, and we're going down to hood support.
Speaker: And so this was like on the way to, You're like deep in the woods and all of a sudden there's this gas station and then you're back deep into the woods. And at this one particular gas station, you find all of America's necessities. Anything you possibly need.
Speaker: Yeah. Diet Coke, tornadoes. think I got some like electrolyte beverages. Yeah. Electrolyte beverages. Oh, they had elk meat and deer meat. Oh, here you had, you've you've had deer meat, right? so Oh my God. It's so good. So delicious.
Speaker: yummy yummy and then uh i think that was just the the most haunted place that we did stop at though that was that was a crazy place oh yeah that was pretty crazy well we were heading towards alala but we stopped belfair for lunch yes at jr's what jr's right yeah yeah this like kind of pub like area They had – so for their side dishes, for their all their, like, sandwiches, you have, like, a salad, a soup, or cottage cheese.
Speaker: And I was like, huh, cottage cheese? I mean, I love cottage cheese. yeah Very high in protein. It's great. was like, no, it's the menu. But, like, I'm getting, like, a sub sandwich. I'll have cottage cheese on the side. yeah And waitress did such a double take when I was like, yeah, this is what I was like.
Speaker: But it was delicious. She's like, are you 82? We have the local 82 year olds around here. ah And then I was trying to be healthy. So I got a salad and man, they do not skimp on the salad dressing. My friends, you can get a whole cup, like an actual cup.
Speaker: I do think our cot, my cottage cheese and your salad dressing came in the exact same size bowl. And it was filled up the exact same size. I thought it was soup. I also thought I was like, Oh, did she got soup with her salad. That's so cool.
Speaker: But the food was banging. It was delicious. It was really good. 10 out of 10 would recommend. Yeah. And then we did this lovely nature hike afterwards. Um, out to like, kind of like this wetlands outside in Belfair. That was very pretty.
Speaker: Yes. It's like maybe five minutes from the restaurant would go there again. It seems like, it was, it was donated by a man, i think in 1972, and it sounds like he donated it to the school district and they do a lot of school like field trips and stuff out there so yeah beautiful walking trails though yeah and it's like everything felt very like fresh out there which i mean i feel like it's a very city thing to say like the air is fresh but no it did feel very like crisp and fresh and just like relaxed it did and then uh there's this also a part of the trail where it's like floating you can like oh my god mean type situation it was lovely
Speaker: ah I was getting seasick and Jess was just having the time of her life like hopping all over the place. I was like probably, i don't know, 30 feet in front of you the whole time because I was like, can't I can't do this. I'm going throw up.
Speaker: ah Then we try to see point in Alala, the starvation heights, but... we didn't We weren't able to like see the actual area. We saw like relatively where it was. It's a pretty area out there.
Speaker: Beautiful. like From what we could see, the where Linda Hazard was at was like right up on the cliff side. You could just like see out. I think it was Vashon that you can kind of see. yeah um Fantastic area.
Speaker: stunning I can see why people wanted to to go there. Definitely. Although, to get there via a horse and buggy would be... insane i like they had to have chartered smaller boats i cannot think of a better way to get there without a smaller boat from like seattle coming coming there yeah yeah they had to have because it's that'd be a trek there's lots of it's very hilly absolutely yeah and then from there we went to olympia and olympia i've got to say
Speaker: Fantastic. I love Olympia. i haven't haven't been in ages, but it like we did some like thrift shopping. We went to all the little shops. It was so fun. Yes.
Speaker: And then um from there, we tried to stock Ramtha. Yes, that was so cool. that She definitely has a compound. Also didn't know there was a back entrance to the compound that's double gated with a guard shack and a sign that's like, don't ask us about COVID or you're going die.
Speaker: Oh, can i can I read the sign really quick? Because that was the craziest thing. Okay, so basically every single entrance to the compound had this sign that says, attention, do not knock on this door to talk about the vaccine in quotation marks.
Speaker: You are trespassing on my property. And if you do not leave after reading this notice, criminal trespassing charges will be filed. Asking about the vaccination status of anyone on this property will be met with civil litigation against both the agency you represent and you as an and an individual. Now get off my property.
Speaker: She's not fucking around. She's not. She's not. And ah barbed wire fences. was pretty cool to see. Yeah, it was wild. And then we stopped to get coffee at Craven's in Yonge, right on the downtown strip.
Speaker: Yeah. And we met Delaney. She was lovely. A barista. Fantastic. She told us, we were telling her about spooky ghost stories and like what we were doing. And apparently for all you folks out there, Cravens is massively haunted. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that, but she talks about like, you can hear women talking weird stuff. Like it's moved around. a garage door was left open, even though they know that they closed it. Like it's yeah. Like one of the original buildings from when it was founded. I think she said like 1902.
Speaker: Yeah, like early nineteen hundreds and Something like that. But that was kind of a cool end to the trip. Well, that was our adventures. It was very fun. Thank you guys for for tuning into that. I will upload some photos to show you all of our adventures.
Speaker: Yes. And if you have any other places that you think we should visit next time, let us know. Yes. especially The spookier, the better. The spookier, the better. I really was really trying to get Anna to stay at the Monterey Castle, but they didn't have any ah rooms available by the time I checked.
Speaker: Well, are you ready again to get into story for today? Yes, let's do it. Well, I'm going to tell you about McNeil Island. Do you know what anything about McNeil Island? I've heard of McNeil Island.
Speaker: Where is it at again? Remind me. just west of Silicon and north of Anderson Island. So it's like its own. Yes. Island out there, obviously McNeil Island. um But the reason why it's significant is it's housed a jail that predates Washington state.
Speaker: No way. Really? Yeah. Oh, wow. Yes. So when most people think about an Island prison, usually you're thinking of Alcatraz or something like that. i think that's the most well-known place. Yes. but launch big tidbit Have you ever been to Alcatraz? I have.
Speaker: Isn't it the coolest thing? It is the cool. And I was eight months pregnant when I saw it. Oh my God. And I think that's why, you know, my child came out spooky.
Speaker: I, I love Alcatraz. think I've been there twice. I would love to go back. It's, it's like a fun little walk through history and it's, it's just interesting. Yeah, and there's like different, like the two times I went, i looked there was different things. Like they had opened up different areas. so like the first time I saw the infirmary and that was really crazy.
Speaker: And the second time we saw like this old, like almost like auxiliary area of it. I think the thing that's interesting about visiting like old jails is it's very, they I think they share the same architecture with the military. Cause I feel like when I'm walking through old jails, I'm just walking through an old base, which I don't know what that says, but. Getting flashbacks. They're very similar. Like it's construction. It's very, all that steel, really heavy doors, very like sterile clinical.
Speaker: Yeah. it's ah It's interesting. But yeah, if you haven't been to Alcatraz, you should definitely go. I don't think, well, you can't visit McNeil Island because it's still fully owned by the government.
Speaker: Oh, really? Technically, you're supposed to stay like 100 feet away from the shoreline.
Speaker: But I did, there is a um a YouTube channel called Vagrant. And in 2020, this guy just went and pretty much broke into everywhere you're not supposed to go. So if you want to like inside look of the original prison, you can watch his video. It's pretty interesting.
Speaker: And you can also get like secondhand, ooh, I'm doing bad stuff because he's like totally not allowed there. And he's like jumping into the bushes so cars don't see him. Oh my gosh. Do not advise you to do that. Stay off McNeil Island, but you know, there's that.
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, interesting. McNeil Island actually has been home to one of the most unusual correctional facilities in American history and has been open for 135 years. and thirty five years Isn't that crazy? thirty five that's great And I think what's more interesting about McNeil and Island is not only was it a prison, but for generations, all of the guards lived there. and They were raising their family on this island as well.
Speaker: Kids went to school there. There's huge farms. People were farming there. They fished there. It was like... A heavily populate populated and like the community interacted with the incarcerated population a lot.
Speaker: Like it wasn't just here's a prison and people are also living on the island. It's like everyone integrated together. Oh, interesting. Yes. So there was homes, schools, community center. The warden's mansion is humongous. It's also what's interesting about watching the vagrant video on YouTube is there are so many abandoned houses that are gorgeous.
Speaker: yeah grassmanship that went into building these houses are just beautiful i feel like you should just look at the video for that and then we should all just say hey actually we want to rebel and we actually do want to reopen this side because there's probably like 60 something houses out there just abandoned that's crazy and a school like all this stuff it's all abandoned well i'm looking it up right now the warden's house is beautiful it's gorgeous like brick Everything, like the like almost like the curved windows and things like that. And it's huge.
Speaker: Yeah. It's got to be like 2,500 square feet. That's crazy.
Speaker: But before the prison was there, so in 1841, McNeil Island was named after William Henry McNeil, a captain of the Hudson Bay Company, who commanded the steamers the beaver, the llama, and the una.
Speaker: The llama? I'm just saying, whoever named the llama, you're in my heart forever. That's amazing. I perhaps absolutely love that. um But um ah what's interesting about McNeil Island's name is that they actually misspelled Captain McNeil's last name.
Speaker: They also have two L's. They left one off when they were doing the mapping and they didn't ever circle back and change it. So for henceforth and forevermore, it's actually been correctly misspelled for its inception in 1841. Yeah.
Speaker: Man, that sucks. Isn't that for insane? Another fun fact is in 1853, an Oregon trail pioneer, Ezra Meeker. Have you ever heard of his name?
Speaker: Oh, yeah. I heard Ezra Meeker. Yes. He settled on the island. Really? and had a whole farm. and But he eventually sold the property in 1862 and headed to Puyallup, which is where most people know him from. The Meeker Mansion down there and his hop farms, all that other kind of stuff. But yeah, he had a significant farm.
Speaker: where the correctional facility was built. So I thought that was interesting because in the pioneer days, I feel like if I'm on the Oregon trail and I reach a coast, I'm not going to say more, let's, let's travel more. Let's travel across the Puget Sound. And I want to, I want to be on that Island. Like, how are you going to get your supplies?
Speaker: Yeah. Right. But then um the prison arrives. So the federal government purchase purchased the land on McNeil Island in the 1870s and Congress authorized a territorial jail in Washington.
Speaker: in the Washington territories in 1867. So in 1870, they purchased, by they, I mean the government, purchased 27.27 acres on McNeil for a federal prison.
Speaker: Fun fact, Alcatraz is only 22 acres. Oh, wow. So McNeil Island is already in its beginning stages is already quite, quite a lot bigger than Alcatraz. um The original cell house was construction in 1873. And by November 1874, the penitentiary had been placed under the direction of the United States Marshals.
Speaker: which I think is pretty interesting. And then at the time of its inception, or by the end of the first year, um there was only nine people incarcerated. Wow.
Speaker: Which seems like a very big cost. It costs a lot to get people to McNeil Island. You have to take a ferry. Yeah. You have like, ship everything in. i just don't know. just It's interesting.
Speaker: Were they just expecting, like, a lot of really horrible people in Washington they wanted to to keep them on island. Maybe they saw the signs. They should have put it closer to Bellingham, though. I feel like that's where everything's popping off. Yeah, that's fair. that is um That is fair. Then in 1889, Washington became a state. And since, you know, there was already this prison that was federally funded, they turned McNeil Island into an actual federal prison. And in 1904, Attorney General...
Speaker: attorney general Knox was placed in full charge of the jail and McNeil Island was officially declared a United States prison. And in 1927, they purchased another 67 acres to establish a prison farm.
Speaker: So now we're at like almost a hundred acres at this point. of prison land interesting that's a lot of land and the reason why they bought these 67 acres is that the farm they were doing a farm it was intended to provide all of the produce fruits vegetables that the prison population will eat so it's like a self-sustaining land interesting and that was actually very successful except for they needed water.
Speaker: The part of the land that they purchased didn't have a lot of freshwater access to like well situation. So in 31, the federal government purchased another 1,618 acres of island.
Speaker: wow so by this point the government controlled more than twenty one hundred acres of the island And so- all of the island is no longer accessible at this point to the public. You have to have a reason to be there, whether you're a prisoner or whether you work there, you're not getting it on if you're not one of those two things.
Speaker: um In 34, the federal farm camp notice North Complex was completed. And at this point in, and 1947, the prison population had grown to approximately 320 incarcerated individuals.
Speaker: Oh, wow. um It also became remarkably self-sufficient. The island produced its own vegetables, fruit, pork, beef, and milk. So it's essentially a commune.
Speaker: Yeah, it really is like a cult commune type situation. So it's all it's. ah And then, you know, all of the corrections officers that are there, all everyone that's there is benefiting from this and everyone's integrating together. So kids are going to school right next to prison farms. Like.
Speaker: It's just a very interesting thing. set up and I would like to, there's not a lot of information on it, but I would like to see, go back to 1947 and see how this truly worked because is this more of a rehabilitation situation or is this like, yeah, prisons now?
Speaker: Exactly. And like, what, how were they aiming at? Were they interacting? Like I would imagine they're interacting if they're in that close of quarters, but like, what were those interactions like? Yes. And like, there's also this church there and i was like, is the church only for the community or is it like everyone's mashed up together? It'd be just interesting to learn a little bit more about that.
Speaker: yeah Yeah. By 1948, construction had begun on a community center and school for the families that were living on the island. So approximately 52 homes are on McNeil Island right now.
Speaker: And the school opened for the 52 to 53 school year. So it's very much a bustling town at this point to have a school. And the school I think is, If I remember correctly, I think it's a 12-room schoolhouse. So they must have had a lot of kids there.
Speaker: That's pretty big, yeah. yeah Especially for 52 to 53. Yeah. That's a big, yeah. There was also the Warden's Mansion community facilities and infrastructure are so necessary to support an actual village. Anne Kane Berkeley, who was a child that grew up on McNeil Island when it was more of a village situation. She became the president of the McNeil Island Historical Society. And she remembered living on top of a hill, being able to look out in one direction towards the sound and she could see Anderson Island, Ceilicum, and in the other direction, she could see the Olympic Mountains.
Speaker: She and other residents like fished, they clammed, they spent a lot of time outdoors. She said there was tons of wildlife out there. There was deer everywhere, coyotes, raccoons. They even saw a bear and cougar.
Speaker: Whoa. Which is, how did a bear and a cougar get out there? Do they swim? Maybe. don't know if that's cool. I mean, because it's, like, pretty close. Like, it's it's definitely an island, but, like, it's still, like, in the middle of the sound. Like, it's not that far from. Yeah, I think it's, like, a 15-minute ferry. You can get there by kayak.
Speaker: Well, even, like, but to, like, the other side, like, the Kitsap side, it's pretty close. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: I thought it was just interesting. I would not expect like a cougar and ah and a bear to be to be out there, but that's fascinating. um Also, there was a ton of raccoons and apparently the raccoons, speaking about domestication, call back to an earlier episode, um the incarcerated people like fell in love with the raccoons and the raccoons fell in love with them and because they would like feed them food and they they were like their pets.
Speaker: That's really cute. to sing ever So I just checked. It's only half a mile between the the west coast of McNeil Island and like Kitsap County. Oh, that's easy peasy.
Speaker: Yeah. book A bear could totally swim that. Oh, that's interesting. For some reason, I feel like islands are way out in the the middle of nowhere, but they really are very close. I mean, it was only like a what? 20 minute ferry ride to Bainbridge from Seattle.
Speaker: Yeah. 20, 30 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. And that's pretty far. That's a decent length ferry. Very interesting. Yeah. Well, if I think about living next to a prison, I think of more of like a terrifying experience, especially when I'm on an island, even if it's like a half mile away, because what happens if like someone crazy gets out? yeah but oh But according to the people who actually grew up there, it was a little more complicated. um The families weren't necessarily afraid of the incarcerated people. In fact, there were times where like unusual relationships happened, where, you know, the prison populations that were working the farms would actually get really close with the families of the prisoner, like the prison employees. And there was this kind of understanding where it's like, we have a line.
Speaker: So like, becky Berkeley recalls that some inmates were kind and even protected, like protective towards children that were living on the island. Like if they saw they maybe were getting in trouble, the prisoners would say, hey, like, don't do that. Or like, go go back to your parents. Or they would like keep the kids away from certain individuals that may have proclivities.
Speaker: of hurting them, which I thought was pretty interesting. So they acted kind of like big brothers. And so it was just like a real strange contradiction of like, you have these prison guards and their whole families are there, but they're also like fraternizing with the prison residents and and how, you know, just because you do something bad doesn't mean you're a bad person. I think it highlights how that can, that relationship can work.
Speaker: Absolutely. Some of the fra famous prisoners that have been there, um, or infamous, if you, if you want to say that was Robert Stroud, also known as the bird man of Alcatraz.
Speaker: Whoa. So he was the one that I saw. There was a plaque in the infirmary at Alcatraz about him. Yes. He, that's crazy. Yeah. He stabbed one of the guards on Alcatraz.
Speaker: Wow. Apparently he was, he was pretty famous. So he's there from 1909 1912.
Speaker: And then, but he was there for my manslaughter and then he became famous at Alcatraz because he studied birds. All this other kind of stuff. to my seat Another infamous prisoner was Charles Manson.
Speaker: Charles Manson was here? Are you kidding me? From 1961 to 1966, he was here for federal check forgery. Wow. Mm-hmm. Ugh.
Speaker: Yes, so that means that Manson's history with McNeil Island occurred years before he was associated with the actual Manson family murders. So he was kind of getting his start out, and that's kind of creepy to know that he was just checking on him.
Speaker: I really don't like that at all. Yes. Imagine like seeing that later on, being like some of the kids that like grew up over there. Like, oh my god, yeah, I remember that guy. Well, and this is where he learned how to play playated the guitar.
Speaker: Oh, whoa. Yeah, so you know he was like getting his cult leader tips from this. Yeah. er Yeah. the Don't love that.
Speaker: I don't love that either. there um And so, yeah So in the middle of the 20th century, McNeil Island had become almost completely self-contained. It had its own prison facilities, farmhouses, schools, so on and so forth. In 1944, Butterworth Lake was formed. So they created their own lake.
Speaker: Oh, okay. Okay. on the island. end And then there was a final major land transaction where the entire island. So at this point before 1940, they owned like three quarters of the island by they, I mean the government. Now they just purchased the whole thing. So roughly seven square miles is now under federal control. So definitely don't go there because you'll have federal charges.
Speaker: Some of the remarkable things, I just want to highlight some of the remarkable things that people did behind bars. One man built a violin while he was there. So apparently there was a word working in like furniture store where, or not furniture store, a furniture making section of this prison where people would go in and you would be able to build furniture that would be sold. So, and it would come back to the prisoners so they could buy food and stuff. Well,
Speaker: essentially this man had smuggled, had one of his friends, a visitor come and would smuggle in things in a diaper bag so that he could build a violin.
Speaker: And so he, so wholesome, isn't it? So he, he essentially worked in a furniture shop. He would take the scraps of wood that was being built in the furniture shop. And then he would take like the strings or whatever that were being smuggled in. And he would,
Speaker: he essentially strung a violin, created the whole thing himself. And it was, it was later found because he was playing it. And so now you can see it at the Washington state historical society,
Speaker: museum because they've they still have it like this violin that this guy created that's really cool but the one thing about mcneil island is it's it's expensive so building maintenance and then also you've got ferries that are coming in that's like a ah pretty penny to to keep funding especially when you have other prisons that you can use so by 1976 the federal government decided it just was becoming too extensive it was also outdated So they declared it as obsolete and it's that vacant for a little bit of time. But then in the 1980s and 1990s, the war on drugs was a big thing.
Speaker: People were getting sent to prison left and right. So Washington was like, okay, we're overcrowded in these prisons. Is there a solution? And they said, oh wait. There's McNeil Island. So it took a little hiatus, but back in 1976, but then in 1981, it became state prison and that operated um as the McNeil Island Correction Center. And this is where I know it from. i had a neighbor that worked here.
Speaker: Oh, yes. And it was very interesting to hear some of his stories, but essentially it, it operated until 2011 eleven When it just became too much, it was too expensive. So if got just for a little budget outline in 1990, the Washington legislature approved $392 million dollars to expand McNeil Island into the correction center it is right now.
Speaker: Whoa. It's a lot of money. that And then by 1993, five new medium security resident buildings had been constructed. The old federal prison is no longer being used. So it's just like wasted space at this point.
Speaker: Built something totally new. Each house could hold 256 incarcerated individuals. And then there was a segregation unit, which contained 129 single cells. And the old cell box, well, parts of it was demolished in 1994. But again, it became too much for the state to hold. So in April of 2011, the correction center was permanently shut down, which is kind of sad, but...
Speaker: It didn't actually shut down because oh something I found out that was very interesting. Have you ever heard of the Special Commitment Center or SEC? Okay. So in 1998, the Washington legislator approved a new bill essentially, which is called the Special Commitment Center or SEC. This facility is specifically designed for individuals who,
Speaker: who have served their prison sentence, but are like essentially not allowed to incorporate back into society. Most of this is like sexual predators, like reoccurring sexual predators that are like, okay, technically you've served your sentence, but we know you're going to reoffend again.
Speaker: And you have to go to a special place. You can't be part of the regular population or you're going to do this. You're going to hurt somebody else. So Part of, in 2000, part of the facilities that are on McNeil Island started operating as a special commitment center. So it's like, just put them on an island kind of a situation and they can just live there. And that is very much how this operates now is the prison itself shut down, but it's still actually in use because all of these rapists, sexual abusers are now being sent to this island and this is where they're housed and they can't leave.
Speaker: but technically their prison sentences are over. You should have led with that. Cause my initial thought was like, Oh, that'd be really cool to go visit McNeil. Now. Nope. No part of me wants to go to go there. But again, if you go see the the video that vagrant did, um It's very much – it's like a prison. Like these people that are there in the special – the SEC, they're behind barbed wire. In the middle of the night, they've got like watchtowers. So you're not – So are they – is it like – are they living in like houses or they still living in like their cells? sell Cell blocks. So they've repurposed the prison and now it's just – you're still in jail without being in jail, which is an interesting – I would like to explore –
Speaker: what that means a little bit more. i didn't get too deep into it just because I was like, okay, this is going to be a deep dive. That's going to take a little bit too, too much. know I think it's like for their protection and the protection of everybody else, because they're so violent and such like sexual predators and stuff that it almost seems like a mental hospital, but for people with sexual proclivities and That feels like a weird middle ground, though.
Speaker: And they're trying to say that, like, well, because if you go to prison and you're a sexual deviant, you have a really rough time. So we're trying to give you, like, a more humane place to land.
Speaker: But also you can't leave. It's just interesting. Yeah, I guess, like, i'm I'm curious more on, like, the legal aspect of it. Because right because they've served their sentence. They're no longer incarcerated.
Speaker: But you're still... holding them, like they they still don't have free will to to go ah move as they please. Okay, so what I did find, on I'll read this, maybe this makes more sense, but it is a civil commitment facility for people who have completed their criminal sentences but have been determined through legal process to meet the state's criteria for continued civil commitment as sexually violent predators.
Speaker: Which again... ah I'm like, I'm still, I'm just still intrigued how, how we're able to do that. Like, i I feel like there are a number of like crimes that you commit to like, they're like rehabilitation really is not going to be an optional term, right? Or if you've continued to show that you're not willing or able to be rehabilitated, generally a good thing for the world, yeah right?
Speaker: But then from like an individual liberties perspective, like how, how does that work? it's it's a good It's a good point. I'm wondering if it works like the three strikes you're out rule or it's like you three strikes and then if you can if you have three valid cases or three convictions, you no longer, you have to go here.
Speaker: That's an interesting parallel actually. Yeah. That would that would make sense. Like you have you're you're given many opportunities to be here at re rehabiilt rehabilitated, but if you just can't. do it then you go here but I would be interested to see what the living conditions are like there if it's yeah like a normal prison that would be but I mean if you're raping little kids trigger warning post saying that trigger warning supposed to go before i um yeah i don't know i don't know But ah so to access this, ah you can only get there by water or by air.
Speaker: And that is the story of McNeil Island. It's still technically, you know, being used as a prison, but not really. It's the SEC. The main prison shut down in 2011, like I said, just because the state had no money. And then and now it's used for like training exercises by the government still owned by them.
Speaker: That's the story of McNeil. That's really cool. I had no idea about any of that. It is kind of interesting, isn't it? I i feel like it's kind of a kept of the best kept secret. Yeah, like we had our own little Alcatraz over here. Yeah, who knew? But you just can't visit it. So sad. ah I'm not that upset about it anymore, actually. You don't want to go front eyes with the SEC inmates?
Speaker: Can't say that I do now. Yeah.
Speaker: Well, that's it for today's dive into the dark corners of the Pacific Northwest. If you love the stories or shivered a little, be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss what's lurking beneath the evergreens next time. Thanks for joining us on Beneath the Evergreens.
Speaker: We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us. Until next time, keep your eyes open. And your door is locked.
