Ghost of Cathedral Park
One of the best parts of Halloween has to be the time honored tradition of telling ghost stories. As Bear and I quickly found out, Portland has its share of good ones. Not many people are aware of the fact that Portland has a really sordid history. Starting out as a major port town and loggin center, the city was really built by a lot of rough and tumble types- even the term 'shanghai' has its origins in kidnapping drunk sailors from the waterfront. And being in the pacific northwest, we've also had our share of serial killers.
With that said, Bear and I decided to check out one of the more famous hauntings in Portland over the weekend. This one takes place in Cathedral Park- a park located underneath the St. John's bridge in the northern part of the city. As legend goes, the park itself is haunted by the ghost of a teenage girl named Thelma Taylor. Back in the 1940s, Thelma left her home one day and never returned. Instead, she was abducted, beaten and held captive underneath the bridge for several days before finally dying.
Today, those visiting the park at night can still hear Thelma's screams, and the police reportedly receive calls on a regular basis. I don't know if all this is true or not. Thelma was held and murdered under the bridge, and the bridge is definitely spooky in its own right.
The St. John's bridge was built in 1931 and is a famous landmark in Portland for its gothic architecture and is often used in movies and tv shows because it's so unique. The park under the bridge is a different story. Set beneath the bridge, the park got its name from the concrete supports that hold up the bridge. If you stand at the top of the park and look straight ahead, it looks just like the inside of a gothic cathedral with its pointed arches.
Adding to the creepiness factor is the fact that the bridge is not in the best part of town, and the park is probably not the safest place to hang out at night, with Thelma's ghost being the least of your worries. So, Bear and I decided to stop by during the day to grab a few snapshots of the park and explore the area. I don't know if it is actually haunted or not, but it is definitely creepy. Just thinking of what took place there so many years ago is still enough to send chills down your neck, and I guess that Thelma is the only one who really knows for sure.
Stay tuned as we keep you updated with the best of Halloween and maybe even some more haunted places...
- mark
any trolls under that bridge? looks scary enough to me