Ghostly Activities Club members, Amy and Jake, couldn’t resist the spooky lure of a ghost tour. What we didn’t know is the historic downtown isn’t where we thought it would be. And its history is served with a chilling side of murder and curses. Get the ghostly scoop after the jump.

Getting Started At An Iconic Landmark

Before our spooky ghost tour, Amy and Jake swung by Ram’s to have some food before the walking tour. You’ve got to fuel up before walking up-and-down the hills of Old Tacoma. The gnosh was great, especially the Pineapple Long Island Iced Teas. Get the pickle chips, too.

Now, it was time for the tour …

We met Anna, our tour guide, in front of the Job Carr Cabin Museum. She checked us in and, shortly after, the tour began. What we didn’t know is the the tour will start with the very founders of Tacoma, weave through the horrible fate of cursed ship, introduce us to the spooky spirits of 30th street, and then learn about revenge on Starr Street.

As for the creepy stories, I had no idea about the history of the area. The strip between Job Carr’s cabin and Starr Street has a few phantoms walking the street AND a faceless ghost!!! I won’t spoil that dreadful tale, but let’s just say humanity is the cruelest animal on the planet.

As for the buildings, they may have new exteriors and paint, but they’re stil the same ol’ buildings as back in the 1890s.

Anna took us along 30th Street and stopped a few times to fill us in on local haunts and ghosts, but none are as frightening as the faceless ghost. Her story is tied to the cursed ship and the terrible 48 hours before it sank.

A Cursed Ship’s Arrival

OK, it’s hard to tell you how a cursed ship caused a ruckus in Old Town Tacoma back in the day. 1899 to be specific. I don’t want to spoil the tour for you, so I’m going to dance around some details. Amy and I really think you need to take this tour if you like your spooky with a massive dose of dark history.

Let’s just say a ship arrived from Shanghai. It had been ravaged by storms all along its journey. Sailors were lost at sea. The captain, more concerned about keeping his crew from a mutiny, did some unethical things. For the 48 hours the shipped docked in Tacoma, the crew brought along some bad juju. The people of Tacoma could tell and tried to get them back onboard and off to their final destination.

Over that 48 hours, murders happened. A seer saw the crew’s demise as well as the city’s demise. But one lucky sailor got a chance to stay off the ship for a single night. But fate caught up to him.

And the next morning, the cursed ship was gone. Never to be seen again … well, for a little while at least.

The Ghosts Of Historic Old Town

Anna took us to the haunted hotspots and dark history highlights (or is that lowlights?) to tell the grisly tales of why Old Town got an outbreak of phantoms starting in 1899. Let’s just say drunken sailors quickly become violent and do things they regret, like Robert Murdoch. I’ll leave his story for the tour guides to tell you about.

Anyway, that shmuck has a direct tie-in to the ghost at St. Peter’s Church, about halfway up the block along Starr Street.

For 30th Street, there’s usually a few spectral ladies walking along the sidewalk. Some of them are looking for their no-good boyfriends or husbands to give them the what’s what.

But the most tragic is the young lady, without a face, simply looking for some comfort and company.

A Grim Neighborhood

The corner of Starr Street and 28th Street contains 3 tales of revenge and tragedy. On the northwest corner, Tacoma’s first hospital stood. Outside the that hospital, a young nurse was tormented by her wrathful husband. Across from the hospital, a drunken and abusive schoolteacher learned a vengeful lesson from his students. Finally, an unassuming lot held a home that tormented its owners. Today, it remains empty, and no one will build on it.

Amy got in some ghost investigating on this stretch of road, so I’ll update this post with her clips when she sends them. It’s oh so spooky.

A Not-So-Lucky Crew

So, back to the cursed ship …

One sailor didn’t make it onboard that final night. He had a bad tooth and he went to a convalescence house for a little toothpulling. And that saved his life … for now.

He woke the next morning, went down to the docks to get back to work, and the ship had vanished. No one saw her leave the harbor, and the other ships went looking for her.

They never found her.

Twenty years later, a diver found the wreck in 200-ft. deep water, covered in silt. That diver perished a few days later under what could only be called a freak accident.

And for that lucky(?) sailor who got his tooth pulled? He died under mysterious circumstances later that year.

It appears the cursed ship continued to claim victims.

A Final Resting Place?

Speaking of cursed ships …

On our final stop of the tour, Anna took us to Ursich Park. It’s pretty much a field with a forest behind it. Anyway, Tacoma knew the danger posed by the cursed ship. To prevent the curse from creating more havoc, the seer told the city to give the ship a proper burial. That meant giving last rites to the crew, but it also meant any ship wreckage that washed up on shore needed to be buried, too.

Alas, Ursich Park became the final resting place for any ship wreckage. I guess it worked because the city is still standing.

Now, the creepier bit is behind the park. Buckley Gulch is known as the most murderous gulch in the state. Two teen girls were murdered there back in the 1980s. It turns out the killers didn’t know each other, and they had the same M.O.: strangle to kill and remove the eyes. This one reeks of an urban legend, but still … the creepy is real.

Today, hikers report all sorts of ghostly shenanigans like phantom runners, apparitions, and spectral whispers. In fact, if you take a picture at night, your pics won’t turn out or they’ll just show cavernous darkness. Then, there’s the orbs. Don’t get me started on orbs.

I had to try it out and my pic (below) was … well … normal. Dude, I tell you my vibe crushes ghostly activity.

As for Amy, something spooky happened. In her pic and just to the right, you can see 2 little beady red eyes peering at you. I hope she didn’t pick up a demonic hitchhiker.

Ghostly Activities Recommendation

👻👻👻👻 of 5: A spooky good time!

So, Amy and I had a great time on the tour and we recommend it. You can get tickets at Pretty Gritty Tours: Old Town Ghost Tour (not sponsored).

My favorite tales of the tour include Rebecca Carr, Robert Murdoch, the school teacher, and faceless ghost. Anna, our tour guide, kept it pretty cozy, meaning she didn’t go into the gory details. She was a great storyteller, cracked plenty of jokes, and we even chatted a bit with her after the tour.

If you’re curious about parking, it’s easy to find a spot on 30th Street. The tour begins and 9:15 PM and finishes by 10:30 PM. It is a hilly walk, and there are some dark stairs to go down. It helps to use your phone’s flashlight in parts. A ticket costs $25 per person.

Disclaimer: Amy and Jake bought the tour tickets with their own money, so there’s no incentive to give a positive review for the service provider.