Witches Castle

Welcome to the "Witches Castle" in Northwest Portland. It is located about one mile up the main trail in Macleay Park on 29th and Upshur. Supposedly the site of Oregon's first legal hanging when the property owner evaded capture for killing his young daughter's husband in 1859. Legend states there are supernatural gang rumbles at midnight on certain nights, so we thought we'd head out for a little hike and look for some evidence...



What other city has this, virtually downtown? Wildwood trail covers most of the West Hills...


Here it is, just shy of a mile up trail. Supposedly it was a trading post, but it is actually an abandoned public bathroom built as a WPA project in the 1930's. Lore grows with time, and local Goths and self proclaimed witches love to rewrite the past. Amazingly this was built for people using Balch Creek Road, of which there was zero evidence...



There certainly was no evidence of nightly warfare, just lots of mud, moss and hikers. There was the occasional "Wicken" with a walking stick and the wondering musician.

It hasn't been totally abandoned by the city, as there is a relatively new railing up on the top level. Basically it was just a really nice walk with again, no evidence to support any ghostly happenings. Portland has several of these cut rock public bathrooms, one on Burnside and several in parks in Northwest Portland. The same style of building is used for the water resevoir out in Southeast Portland.