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The Haunted Davenport Hotel
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For more than a century, Spokane’s Davenport Hotel has stood as a symbol of elegance, luxury, and Pacific Northwest history. But beneath its grand architecture and celebrity-filled past lurk tales of unexplained phenomena, from the mysterious Lady in White wandering the mezzanine to ghostly activity in Room 1105 and the hotel’s vintage elevators. In this episode of Beneath the Evergreens, we explore the legends, eyewitness accounts, and lingering spirits said to haunt one of Washington’s most iconic landmarks. Is The Davenport simply a historic hotel, or are some of its guests refusing to check out?
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes references to abuse, trauma, and death. Listener discretion is advised.
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Transcript
Introduction to Beneath the Evergreens
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem lurk in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances. 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.
00:00:26
Speaker
So grab your flashlight, lock your doors, and join us Beneath the Evergreens.
Challenges of Podcast Recording
00:00:52
Speaker
Welcome everyone. Hello, hello, hello, hello. Welcome. So just fun flack on that ah intro. yeah This was the first time where I ah i didn't have to look at it. It's so ingrained in my brain now.
00:01:05
Speaker
Go you. I know. Partially because the page didn't load in time. I'm impressed. I applaud you. I will always have to have this. I probably know it in the back of my head, but I have to have that security blanket just in case. I i felt like I was put on the spot and it was like my time to shine.
00:01:20
Speaker
Like it just came out of me somewhere. You're always shining. You're a shining star. Oh, you are too
Summer Heat Wave Discussion
00:01:26
Speaker
kind. too um Can I just tell you, it's been Hot. So...
00:01:31
Speaker
so It has been toasty. I feel like people are talking about like this heat wave, but I feel like it hasn't been that much hotter than summers usually are. Maybe I'm just like, I don't have a very good memory from year to year.
00:01:44
Speaker
i feel like, well, I think what it is is that it's so early for it to be this hot. I don't ever remember it growing up and it being like, I thought the 4th of July was like the weekend where it like finally started getting sunny.
00:02:00
Speaker
Yes. After that. And then you started getting that heat like end of July into August.
Book Recommendations by Jess
00:02:05
Speaker
That's fair. Like it does. We do usually get the rainy days but before the 4th of July. Yeah. Like I was at my dad's house and it was 100 at his house, which is crazy. It's like. Really? And that's like in the mountain pretty much.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's toasty. Maybe. Yeah. i don't know. That's just, it's crazy. Yeah. It made me cry inside. The older I get, the more I'm like, man, the heat and me, I don't know we're friends anymore.
00:02:31
Speaker
I need to move to Iceland. Or it's a balmy 50 degrees in the middle of summer. Well, it's new that to me because I was away for a week. Like if that was the like rainy week in my brain. And I was like, oh, this is just a nice, and nice, like surprise.
00:02:45
Speaker
Oh, that's right. You were gone during that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I did. i do have a book recommendation for you. do Wait, do you like g like fantasy-ish books or do you, are you like, what's your genre? I love a good like romance book. yeah um i love... um i can sometimes do fantasy if it's not like too out there. I do love some true crime, obviously.
History of the Davenport Hotel
00:03:05
Speaker
yeah One is called Gut Instinct, which is based on a true story from the Twin Harbor st State Park.
00:03:12
Speaker
Oh. so a The person that it happened to turned it into like a fictional story, but I'm going to try to find the real story and like do it. but It's called Gut Instinct by Hannah McNamara.
00:03:23
Speaker
Okay. Really good. And then the other one is The Ballad of falling dragons Fallen Dragons. So good. That sounds really interesting, actually. It's kind of similar to A Court of Thorns and Roses, if you've ever read that series. I have not. You should.
00:03:39
Speaker
That's a good series. Okay. and I was just thinking um I need a new book soon, so I'll have to look that up. That one, I think, well, if you like female leads that are pretty badass, they're very good.
00:03:52
Speaker
Okay. um There's a lot of sex scenes, but ah it's it's pretty well written. And it's not just, it seems like it's not just written about, well, at least the first one isn't just written about like taking clothes off.
00:04:05
Speaker
There's actually a plot. Yeah. So that's our book club. Thank you for coming. i Talk to you later. There's no true crime this episode. No true crime is just about books. But anyway, well, actually, we do have a book club. You're going to tell me a story, and it just happens to be a true story.
Ghost Stories of the Davenport Hotel
00:04:24
Speaker
Exactly. So my story today is it's not really a crime. It's just more of a cool happening slash occurrence. So I think we talked about this a while ago, but the the really intense crime was kind of breaking me down a little bit. So i wanted to take a breather and go back to some of our like cool Washington State like finds, history, things like that.
00:04:47
Speaker
So today we have the story or at least stories of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane. Oh, yeah. Have you ever heard of the Davenport? I have heard of the Davenport and I've driven by it. It's a very pretty hotel.
00:05:02
Speaker
It is beautiful. Yes. my My grandmother lived in Spokane for her one of her birthdays. it was like a big birthday. We celebrated it at the Davenport. So my family stayed there for a night and it is gorgeous. oh Oh my goodness. I would love to stay there.
00:05:17
Speaker
Put that on a road trip. Oh, yeah. It was like fantastic. it's Yeah. It was really like ballrooms. It just felt so like old and regal and like special. Yeah.
00:05:28
Speaker
So ah the Davenport, it was actually built slash opened in 1914. So it's a very, very old hotel. Nice. Okay. Yes. So the Davenport Hotel was opened in 1914 Louis Davenport. long story.
00:05:45
Speaker
so kind of long story A while ago, and we had an episode about the base of the great fires in the state of Washington. So the Great Spokane Fire burned down most of downtown Spokane, and the city started rebuilding. So Louis Davenport was actually there for the rebuilding of Spokane, and he created a restaurant that became a really popular shopping point. People were coming from all over to go to this restaurant in Spokane, and then he eventually...
00:06:12
Speaker
excuse me,
Personal Ghost Experiences
00:06:13
Speaker
built and grew into a hotel. Nice. And we got some investors and wanted to make this absolutely marvelous, beautiful hotel in Spokane. You know, back in the day that that restaurant must have slapped to get people from all over to come to your, like, that must have been delicious. Yeah.
00:06:29
Speaker
Oh my gosh, yes. But then this hotel was also drawing people from all over. yeah And like even today, like you don't you don't usually go to Spokane just to go to Spokane, right? You're going there for something. yeah People would come to Spokane for the Davenport Hotel.
00:06:43
Speaker
Like that was how special it was. That would be so cool. Right. And when I look like when I was there, i remember looking around and like I could see it. It was it felt like something you would see in like a beautiful European city. Just like everything was sparkling. There was like beautiful like silvers and gold all over and paintings. And one of the things Lewis Davenport really wanted to have was like a fire burning in the lobby at all times. So it was always kind of warm and toasty and comforting and welcoming.
00:07:12
Speaker
And yeah, there was like over the years, so many different celebrities stayed there. Bing Crosby was the big one. Oh, wow. Yeah. So fun fact about Bing Crosby, he was actually born in Tacoma.
00:07:23
Speaker
um Went to Gonzaga. What? Yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of his connection to Spokane. Yeah. But I distinctly remember seeing like photos of him on the wall because he would stay there, which is super cool. Yeah. I had no idea.
00:07:36
Speaker
going to have to look that up. So the Davenport Hotel, it was very popular throughout the ages. It did close for a brief stint in like the late 1900s. But then it was then brought back by some new investors and kind of restored to its previous glory. jo So a lot of the Davenport that you see now, it closely mimics what it looked would have looked looked like when it first opened.
00:07:59
Speaker
I actually love that. I'm glad they kept it. Right. Yeah. And that's something's something so special about that. Like the was it the Fairmont Olympic in Seattle? It is kind gives off similar vibes where like you could I'm just imagining people in like these like glamorous outfits and like the hats and like the long like smoking. Yes. Yes. It's like like like living history. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh my god, I love it. So that's kind of the history of the Davenport. Got it. um And as you would expect, over this history, there's been a lot of stories. A lot of ghost stories, maybe, about things that have been taking place at this haunted hotel. i'm so excited. I love a ghost story.
00:08:39
Speaker
I knew you would. So I'm going to talk about a couple of the the key mysterious visitors have been visiting the Davenport. Okay. so first, we have the Lady in White. Of course.
00:08:54
Speaker
So ah this is one of the more famous, more notable spirits haunting the Davenport. um So she's often seen that drifting through different levels of the hotel or appearing appearing in one of the staircases. um She's dressed in like um a ball white ball gown. um And she kind of just silently moves and floats around the floors or the stairs. That is so cool.
00:09:19
Speaker
her It said that her expression is quite sad, and it's suggested that she was a bride that was left at the altar, or a celebrity who was somehow killed at the hotel.
00:09:32
Speaker
That is wild. I... I'm sad that she's sad, but at least she looks beautiful. You know what i mean? Right. I feel like if I looked like fantastic in a dress, that's the one I want i want to be haunting. let me just go tell him everywhere I was. heck yeah. Yeah. Like i feel i think my wedding dress was the nicest dress i've ever worn.
Basement Hauntings at the Davenport
00:09:53
Speaker
Like 100% if I could wear that and like you look gordon not be in the middle of summer and not too hot.
00:09:59
Speaker
That was a beautiful dress. You look great. Thank you. yeah I cannot tell you how much I wanted to take it off by the end because it there were so many layers and it was so warm. Like, please, dear God.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yes. Yes. No. Beautiful dress. Beautiful day. One needed to get it off as soon as possible. Okay. i love it okay So could you imagine just like walking up the staircase and then just seeing this beautiful lady who's just happens to be all in white. And then she kind of just like fades away. Right. I'm imagining like you're checking in, like you look out at the main staircase and it's like out the corner of your eye. It's like, did i did you see that? Is there ride here? What's happening? Is there any like recorded deaths of women in the hotel or is it just kind of all hush hush?
00:10:47
Speaker
It seems a little hush hush. There's nothing specific about like instances that like where this lady in white could have come from. Yeah. um But there definitely have been deaths at the hotel. Like i believe Lewis Davenport himself actually died at the hotel. Crazy. Yeah. Whenever I think of hotels, I never, there's like certain places you think of where you're like, death has never happened here. And hotels are one of the ones, but of course people are going to die there. Yeah.
00:11:10
Speaker
So the next spirit we have that's haunting the Davenport is what's called the elevator spirit. So multiple people have reported just some strange activity, feeling, things happening around the elevators. People say that doors open and close on their own. The elevator will go to floors that no one pressed the button for. um some sounds like some paranormal investigators were actually there.
00:11:38
Speaker
um And they believe that it's a former hotel employee who's just still operating the
Theories on Ghosts and Timelines
00:11:43
Speaker
elevator. Like a bellboy? That's kind funny. Yeah. That would be, okay so if you were to become a ghost, right?
00:11:51
Speaker
yeah Would you be kind of like mischievous like that? Would you try and scare people? Are you trying to be like the regal girl on the stairs? Oh, the regal girl on the stairs, 100%. Unless it's my husband.
00:12:02
Speaker
I want to play pranks on him. I have already told him this. i I'm going to like tap a shoulder and then like, ooh, like, scary. Scary.
00:12:13
Speaker
There was one time after my, after my grandfather died, my grandma, my grandmother was like sitting in her living room, like on the computer something. And they had this like exercise ball. It was like on the, like sitting on a chair in like one corner. She saw it like fall off the chair, roll to a different chair that used to be like my grandpa's like recliner and just kind of stopped there. And there wasn't like a draft in the room or anything. And she was like, he's haunting He's hundred you but still here. Like you just wanted me to know that he's still around.
00:12:43
Speaker
That's kind of beautiful in like a really creepy kind of way. Right. But that was like my inspiration. I was like, I 100% I'm going to do that. yeah Like, God forbid I die first. Yeah. Like my husband's going to know that I'm still there. I'm going be jangling keys or like rolling exercise balls. Yeah. Or just like, I don't know, like move his pillow a little bit or something. Like just leave things a touch off from where he left them. Yes. And like, yes. But other for everyone else, I want to be that regal, just like looming presence of the ghost. I love it.
00:13:13
Speaker
I can see it. What about you? Oh, I'm definitely being mischievous. I'm pressing all the buttons on the elevator. I'm accidentally, I'm going to move your headphones from like one counter to like in the bathroom. Like nothing harmful, but just a little infuriating.
00:13:28
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Make you feel like you're losing your mind just bit. have phantom scents everywhere. You know what I mean? like Like my signature scent like flowing through the hallway you're like, what the hell was that? Yeah. You what? feel like i i don't think there's a ghost haunting me, but I feel like if there was like, so once in a while I'll hear like a phone alarm go off. Yeah. Like I live in a prime building, so it's not uncommon that like I can hear my neighbors doing something, but like it's usually in the middle of the night and I was like, I'll hear a faint alarm. And then i'm like, is that, is that my alarm?
00:13:58
Speaker
What, what is happening? And I feel like that would be a really funny thing to do as a ghost. Like just have like set a distant alarm go off. I feel like that actually would be in the realm of like torture.
00:14:10
Speaker
yeah Every time I hear an alarm, like, or something that, like, because I have, like, a specific ringtone for my alarm. Anytime I hear that go off, I immediately am, like, I have a physical reaction. I'm, like, no, dear God. Like, turn it off now.
00:14:26
Speaker
When I was in college, my my best friend, she was like the deepest sleeper. yeah but She would only make up to one sound. And I distinctly remember someone played that like when she wasn't asleep and she just jumped. Like she had the most intense reaction. She's like, turn that off. Turn that off. Oh my God. No, that is me. Me and her are very similar.
00:14:47
Speaker
that's so funny oh so the next haunting at the davenport is actually a haunted room oh okay and i when i was reading this my first thought was jess is gonna want to stay there and she's gonna want to bring me along and i don't want to do it i don't want to stay there i am getting ahead of this i'm never staying here with you why not i would not What if we get i wo two rooms?
00:15:15
Speaker
We go in and out of the one that's haunted and then into the other one. How about you go in? No, because you're going to bring whatever ghost is there into whatever one I'm saying. I'll stay like a floor. You stay in the haunted room. I'll stay on a different floor. We'll meet up for breakfast in the morning. No, to knock on your door in the middle of the night. You're going see like tears running down my face and my hair all crazy. Like, please just let me stay here.
00:15:34
Speaker
um sh
00:15:39
Speaker
oh So this haunted room in the Davenport is room 1105. And guests have reported that the lights will flicker, items will move on their own. There's like knocks on the walls, um even like, like cold spots in the room. Like you're like saying someone immediately just get chills.
00:15:57
Speaker
So one person that actually stayed in this hotel room describes seeing this like figure near the foot of his foot of his bed. No. um Yes. Right. And they turn the lights on. The person vanishes. But oh, my God, that would just keep me up at night. Oh, my God.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, i I can't see that. There was one time where I was like sleeping and I felt the bed go down like someone was sitting there and like kind of like go up against. There's something about like my bed is my sacred space. Don't fuck with Oh my gosh. And like I feel like yes see whether you're standing or like looming over my bed or like sitting on the bed, like no, this is my zone. This is yes this is my space. Get away from me. That's so creepy. Absolutely. Especially when you're like half asleep and you see a figure like, oh my gosh. No. No.
00:16:44
Speaker
Especially as a woman, that's extra. Well, maybe not. I think it's the same for everybody, but there's this extra layer of like, oh my God, what's about to happen? Yeah. Yeah. When I was a kid, I used to snore when I slept. um My sister and I shared a room for years. She would like, if I was snoring really bad, she'd like get up and kind of like, like pull my pillow a little bit to like roll me over. oh I thought she was like going to pull it and like suffocate you. really like what's over laura fine yeah She did it for years. Okay. yeah It was like one time, i think we'd both like come to see my parents or staying in the same room. Like we didn't live there anymore. Yeah. um but i woke up to her standing over me with a pillow and i was you doing she's like i've been doing this for years you never wake up and you never wake up i don't know what's scarier waking up to that or knowing that she's been doing that the whole time and you just that you never knew
00:17:40
Speaker
Well, then like my thought was like, what else could be happening? like Have I stayed in haunted room? And was there a figure at the foot of the bed? And I was just so knocked out that I didn't notice it. There are stories like that where couples will go stay in a room and one is just dead to the world. And the other person is like, wait the fuck up, wait the fuck up, wait the fuck up. And they're just like, I'm out, bro. You're not going to wake me Yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. That's crazy. it It was wild. The last haunting that I have at the Davenport is actually in the basement.
Types of Hauntings: Trapped Souls or Residual Energy?
00:18:15
Speaker
Ew. I don't like basement hauntings either. Gross. So the basement was once used for, like, storage of oddball things, know, maintenance supplies, things like that.
00:18:25
Speaker
But people have reported hearing footsteps down there, laughter, and like the sound of like vintage music playing. Like I'm imagining like 1920s kind of like jazz beats, things like that. Like a speakeasy vibe.
00:18:40
Speaker
Yeah. well yeah so it sounds like this has often been described as like um almost like residual haunting, like really, really old hauntings. um And it does kind of sound like it goes back to like the Davenport's heyday and that like the nineteen twenty s right? Because it opened in 1914. It was imagined like a huge hit in the roaring 20s. Yeah, it just seems like some – like maybe some people had too good of a time down in that basement and something happened. No such thing. No such thing. So I think that like brings in a question like different types of hauntings. like Is it a haunting where like someone's stuck or is it just like the timeline gets too close to something else and then you like get like a little imprint of what was once happening there? don't know. I've found that interesting.
00:19:28
Speaker
I mean, I think it's a little bit, i think it's more interesting to think of it like a timeline thing, right? Like not someone that's like just stuck in this weird limbo stage, but like just a, almost like a living memory yeah of some previous time. Like that energy was so fun and so good. It's just like imprinted and every once in a while, so everything lines up perfectly and it's just amazing.
00:19:50
Speaker
That would be, yeah. i I feel like a 1920s party would be so much fun. like For sure. Ooh. For sure. Maybe a, You need to start planning something, Jess. So three hauntings. There's this lady in white and then there's the 104.
00:20:05
Speaker
Then there's the elevator guy and then there's the creeper, the night stalker, if you will. And then basement. Basement. Yeah. So there's four distinct hauntings in Davenport.
00:20:16
Speaker
And like I imagine there's more. like Those are like the most well-known like talked about ones. like There's got to be little ones that like only a couple people have noticed. For sure. I mean, a hotel is like, there's so many people that go in in and out and so many
Tangents on Timelines and Relationships
00:20:28
Speaker
things that happen. There's got to be like other anomalies. But I wonder if the the stuff in the basement too is like partially because nothing's really been changed. Like they kept it the same. night And so it's great. I wonder if it's like like something that's attached to like the stuff that's in there.
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah. i I wouldn't be surprised. I feel like. ah, I want to go experience it now. Like the time I was there, it was very, very specific reason, but I want to kind of go look for some of these haunted things, yeah not stay in the haunted room, but just look for like the, like, see if I can hear like champagne, like bottles popping or things like that. Do you know what room is the haunted room?
00:21:04
Speaker
1105. is a cool number to be. Right? love know Right? And if what I was reading was correct, I believe that um Louis Davenport actually died on, not in that room, but in a room close by. Mm-hmm.
00:21:19
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. Which I imagine would like, could cause something crazy to happen. You know? I wonder if they have renovated like the rooms up there. Cause I'm guessing like in 1914, that was still when it's like common to have hotels where you share bathrooms.
00:21:35
Speaker
So I'm wondering if they like redid some stuff and maybe the room that he died in is actually that room. It just happened to be like when they added bathrooms and stuff. You know what mean?
00:21:46
Speaker
I don't know. Potentially. But would I don't know if he'd be haunting people, though. He loved that hotel. i feel like he would want to make it more welcoming. Maybe he's he's offering. Hey. No, i'm just kidding. I mean, if you're in my room, I'm definitely going be lurking over my my bed. like Okay, from a ghost point of view, if that is his room and he's trying to go to bed after that wild party in the basement, he walks upstairs and he's like, who the fuck is in my bed right now?
00:22:08
Speaker
I would be looming at the end of your bed, too. Okay.
00:22:13
Speaker
I guess I was thinking from like a, like he's like a friendly ghost. Like he's going to have, like, going to smell like chocolate chip cookies wafting your way. Hotel aroma. Yeah. Okay. Okay. here i get what you're saying. I'm just, maybe who knows? Maybe he just had a hard night at the bar and is like trying to just plop in his bed and you're just in it.
00:22:34
Speaker
I could see that as well. Have you ever heard the theory like we don't actually have ghosts, it's just people from other timelines that happen to be living in the exact same space that you are just in different realities. And so when you have ghosts, it's not actually a ghost. It's just another person from another life.
00:22:52
Speaker
I haven't, but that's very interesting. Oh, I need to like ruminate with that for a little bit. Yeah.
00:23:03
Speaker
okay
Episode Wrap-Up and Call to Action
00:23:05
Speaker
It's a theory. When we we talk about different timelines, like, okay, this is going to be a weird tangent, but when like the Avengers started doing multiple timelines, I had to stop watching because it hurts my head. When I think about how many different timelines there are, how many different versions of me and the people I love and like, like it hurts my head. And then I feel like I get into this weird, like almost like analysis paralysis. And I just like shut down.
00:23:29
Speaker
It's like, like brain cannot compute all that. I just wonder like, Would all of the people that I interact now, if I went into this new timeline, would they, would we still have the same relationships? And like, would I even like myself in a different timeline?
00:23:46
Speaker
Or would you be like the same person? It'd be like a clone if you clone yourself. Is that? I feel like it'd have to be different because I feel like so much of your personality is shaped by your experiences. And if those experiences are different, like you're going to be maybe at your core, you're similar, but you're not going be the same.
00:24:04
Speaker
It's very interesting. Hmm. Yeah. Wow. We went on a wild tangent. Sorry for always bringing us all over the world. No, that was fun. I feel like now i I want to go visit other haunted hotels. For sure. And maybe we can do a haunted hotel tour.
00:24:21
Speaker
I would love it. 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.
00:24:36
Speaker
We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us. Until next time, keep your eyes open and your doors locked. Duck, duck.