Camp Adair, a 57,000 acre site,  was constructed in 1942 and 1943 during World War II as an Army training center and hospital,The camp, or what’s left of it is located just North of Corvallis Oregon. Intriguing story, paranormal activity at an Oregon based POW camp? The camp contained temporary living quarters for 2,133 military officers, as well as more than 37k enlisted personnel.

What remains of Camp Adair is now owned and managed by the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife Department.

This 57,000-acre site was built during 1942–1943 as a World War II Army division training camp, and had temporary quarters for 2,133 officers, and 37,081 enlisted personnel. It was also a POW camp. It is now owned by Oregon State Fish and Wildlife.

I’ve been reading reports from paranormal teams in Oregon most of the week. Many say there’s activity, a few didn’t find much. GhostsandCritters.com recorded some interesting sound bits.

Oregon’s Camp Adair  – Named in Honor of Henry Rodney Adair

Henry Rodney Adair

In all, there were Four infantry divisions trained at Camp Adair specifically for overseas duty. The divisions were the 91st Powder River Infantry Division, the 96th Deadeye Infantry Division, the 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division, and the 70th Trailblazer Infantry Division.

The camp was originally named to honor Henry Rodney Adair of Astoria, the first Oregonian killed during the 1916 Mexican border clashes. Adair was killed in battle during the  Pancho Villa Expedition at the Battle of Carrizal on June 21, 1916

Both Italians and Germans were held in the POW hospital at Camp Adair

After the divisions trained by the Army left, the POW hospital was became the US Navy’s concern. According to reports, by 1945 the hospital had been remodeled and could house 3,600 patients.

The U.S. Army turned it’s hospital over to the U.S. Navy when the divisions left. Casualties from the Pacific Theater were brought to Camp Adair for treatment and recuperation. On March 1, 1945, it was reported that the wounded were arriving by train, and the hospital had been enlarged to take care of 3,600.

The hospital at Camp Adair first cared for injured Italian Prisoners of war, and then for Germans. The hospital was used in the care of POWs from August of 1944 through April of 1946.

Paranormal Activity at Camp Adair in Adair Village Oregon

The Barracks at Camp Addair

Is it possible that Camp Adair is still haunted by POWs from World War II? Its been said that bootsteps can still be heard even though there are no soldiers present. There have also been reports of creaking bed-springs, even though the beds were all removed decades ago.

There are a few other things to take into consideration here as well. How about the smokestack, still standing more than 100 feet tall, where it’s rumored the POW hospital burned the dead, before shipping their remains back to their home country.

400 Bodies Disturbed to Construct Camp Adair

For Camp Adair to be constructed, many families had to give up their homes. The government rerouted railroad tracks and roads, relocated cemeteries, and wiped out the small community of Wells, Oregon.

According to reports,  several people displaced to build the camp  many families gave up their homes, in fact the entire town of Wells Oregon was destroyed.  Many of these evacuee’s were farmers, and most of them were direct decendants of pioneers to America. Railroads were rerouted, roads moved and cemetaries relocated. As one might assume, several gravesites were displaced as well. Including  the graves of many pioneers who might have thought they had every right to rest in peace where they lay. According to the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, more than 400 bodies were moved to an area South of Monmouth to erect Camp Adair. . .

Damascus Pioneer Cemetary

Something about the idea of a Pioneer Cemetary just intrigues me. It stands to reason that every cemetary in the world has the possibility of paranormal activity right? Who knows for sure why some spirits seem to remain here among us, and why some tend to move onto heaven, hell, or somewhere in between. Without that knowledge, we really don’t know whether a spirit is more likely to hang out where they lived, they where they died, or where they were finally laid to rest. Perhaps there are spirits dwelling in cemetaries to be near the remains of loved ones, and they aren’t personally associated with the cemetary they’re ‘haunting’ at all.

One things for sure though, I aim to investigate as soon as possible. I love the story behind a spirtual presence, and old pioneer cemetaries are just chalk full of history, culture, stories and bodies that faced a hard time in our history, hardships, tragedies, and really, well they lived the hell out of life.

I read online that there’s been paranormal activity in Damascus Oregon at the Damascus Pioneer Cemetary, in fact, there are stories of mysterious battery drainage, interesting EVP’s and lots of yummahlicious orbs, in additition to those treats, there are reports of ‘extra people’ in photographs, and shadows, wether there is cause for them or not.

The cemetary has been around since at least 1855.

If you’ve investigated this area before, and have any prior knowledge, or would like to see anything in particular when we visit (likely next week), shoot James an email at Steel2385 @ hotmail . com.

In the meantime, I leave you with some youtube videos of Paranormal investigations done by other teams at the Damascus Cemetary .

Remember the Helms family from Jacksonville Oregon? We recently looked into the possibility of paranormal activity there that involved the spirits of Herman Helms wife August and his baby daughter Minnie, who died of small pox.

While I researched the Helms in Jacksonville, I was continuously brought back to two sisters that lived together in Portland, Oregon. Anna and Emma Helms together ran a boarding house that was located on 6th and S.W. Washington. According to stories that I’ve only thus far found online, Fred Martin, Emma Helms Martin’s estranged husband Fred shot his wife and killed her.

Next he aimed the gun at his sister in law, Anna, and he ‘mortally wounded’ her. Most of the stories I’ve found so far are copies of the first, so there’s not a lot of information as to what “Mortally Wounded” meant. I imagine that he shot her, and she did die, just not immediately.. I’ll be looking into newspaper archives for more information.

So Anna’s dead, Emma’s mortally wounded, and now… Fred Martin shoots himself in the mouth. In his suicide note, Fred asked that he and his sister in law be buried together, as far away from his wife as possible.

I’m currently on the search for any solid info about this case. Burial sites, newspaper clippings, a copy of that suicide note? This is a fascinating story in and of itself, and what’s more, is these Helms women seem to stick to this earth.

The story is that these two women, or their spirits at least, still dwell in the building located at 655 SW Washington Street in Downtown Portland Oregon. Visitors to the location have also described a ‘cloud of emotion’ that continues to dwell over the building.

Herman Helms House in Jacksonville Oregon

One of the most interesting pieces of paranormal history in Oregon involves the Helms family. A family who in life saw tragedy, murder, and suicide, and in death, some say continue to haunt the homes they once dwelt within.

The first of the Helmes Haunts, located in Jacksonville Oregon is an old wood framed home that was originally constructed in Jacksonville back in 1862, the same year that tobacco was first taxed federally and Joseph Etienne Lenoir invented the first ever automobile.

In the basement of the home is the tombstone of a child that once lived there.  The child, Herminne Helms, known to her family and those that loved her as Minnie, died of smallpox in 1868, before she was even two years old. Initially, the baby was buried in a grave located in the front of the home, which at that time was just a modest wooden cabin.

After the Helms made their money in the gold rush, with their saloon, and bakery, the cabin was remodeled into the mansion that stands today, as a result, the child’s grave was built over, and her tombstone moved into the families basement.

Little Minnie wasn’t regaled to the basement however, she was later reinterred in the cemetery with an
ornate tombstone in the same cemetery her parents are buried in. The old gravestone was put under the home, in the basement area, where it’s since been shown to visitors.

Does the Spirit of Mrs.  August Englebrecht Helms Remain in the Helms House in Jacksonville?

It’s said that there are two spirits that still dwell within the home, the first, the Lady of the House, August Englebrecht Helms, wife of Herman Helms who was once a baker, and a saloon keeper in what was then called Table Rock, and is now known as Jacksonville Oregon.

Some say the Jacksonville house. located at 320 S Oregon Street, Jacksonville OR, is the most haunted paranormal site in the entire state. From the outside though, nothing at all looks amiss, in fact, visitors to the neighborhood are treated to a beautifully restored old fashioned house, done in a bright and inviting yellow..

The Helms Saloon and Bakery

Jacksonville Historic Cemetery

Witnesses say that the elderly spirit roams the halls crying over the families many sorrows, and likely the loss of her young child. The other spirit, The other paranormal spirit said to remain at the residence is that of a young girl that sits at the bottom of the stairs and also cries.

Nearly a century after baby Minnie’s passing in 1982, Bill Cottrell, who spent some time house-sitting at the Helms home 10 years before (around 1972) reported to the Mail Tribune that he had been awoken from sleep during his stay at the house by a female sobbing. Cottrell said the sobs came from the entry way. Even Cottrells dog noticed the presence, as he whined and hid underneath of a bed.

Cottrell reported searching the Helms house, and finding nothing.

The mother is said to be in mourning, for her daughter and the other trials and tribulations that her family have faced, such as murder, a small pox epidemic, and suicide hence the reason for her sobs. In fact, these tragedies took the lives of more than a dozen members of the Helms family during the ladder part of the 1800′s. Two more of the Helms daughters died tragic deaths later in Portland, Oregon, Emma and and again, it’s said that their spirits remain, haunting the people of Portland where the Ella Rooming house once stood.

As for the Helms House in Jacksonville Oregon, the house isn’t currently available for investigations or tours, and I wasn’t able to find a single photograph of Minnie’s grave stone from the basement. The house is reportedly lived in as a private residence. Both Mr and Mrs Herman and August Englebright Helms were buried in the Historic Jacksonville Cemetery which can be visited daily up until one hour before dusk.

We believe in Paranormal Activity, but do we believe in Vampires?

The Helms Home isn’t the only place in Jacksonville that’s said to be haunted however, The Wolf Creek Inn might just be hiding a paranormal anomaly or two itself. According to the county website, The owner, Inn’s employee’s, and even the guests have reported seeing an apparition of a vampire like creature. The apparition reportedly has blood dripping from his mouth, and a bit harder to fathom,  two guests were reportedly bitten in the neck while sleeping there.

Over the next few months, we’ll really be picking up the pace and doing a lot more local investigating. In fact, before you know it, we’ll have Portland Paranormal Tours up and running full steam!

Is Witches Castle in Portland Oregon Haunted?

Some of the places we’re looking to investigate soon include a return trip the Witches Castle where our investigator Sabrina once before caught an image of a female spirit on film.

While we were at Witches Castle in Portland, all of our walkie talkies mysteriously turned to channel 13, until, with no explanation, they eventually returned to channel 6, the channel we’d initially chosen to utilize.

There was no spirit or witch war or fight there during our last visit, however, there was a fire, and a robbery at the local store. So while we wait for our next visit, here are some videos offered by other visitors to Wtiches Castle here in Oregon.
Check out the video’s, let us know what you think, and what specifically you’d like to see when we visit next.

I have found it to be most interesting that many people are experiencing more paranormal activity.

There is some credence to it.

Time of man has much to do with it as time draws closer and things get a little more tense the spirit world is braking through the barrier into the physical.

Many apparitions and presence feelings while no physical person is around.

The powers of darkness and the powers of light are in full conflict mode.