The Sutro Forest in San Francisco is a beautiful lush forest in the heart of San Francisco, and it is haunted.   The Forest is known for it’s vibrant, lush, densely-packed eucalyptus trees which were once the sight of numerous hangings.

Sutro Forest Dark History

The Sutro Forest was originally planted in the 1880s by Adolph Sutro.  This Forest as beautiful as it is on the outside houses a dark secret.  Since the early 1900’s numerous people came to this Forest to commit numerous suicides.  Most of the suicides that were carried out in this forest were carried out by hanging however some were facilitated by poison.  The forest was an ideal place for to commit self-inflicted death due to the forest being a very secluded place.  Due to the forest being so dense many of the corpses from the suicides would be discovered months after death, which would make identification much more difficult.

San Francisco Call – March 26, 1904:

SUTRO FOREST SUICIDE REMOVED.

The remains of a man that committed suicide in the Sutro forest were removed to the Morgue yesterday afternoon. They were found on top of the hill east of the Almshouse after a search of three hours and a half by Deputy Coroner Meehan and Messenger Carrick. The clothing worn by the suicide was a gray checked summer weight suit, well worn; a soft black hat and a pair of heavy black laced shoes. The body had been lying in the brush for more than a month and was unrecognizable.

San Francisco Call – April 18, 1904

THOMAS MURNANE HANGS HIMSELF FROM A TREE
Once Wealthy Resident of City, Later — Inmate of Almshouse, Kills Himself.

The body of Thomas Murnane, once a wealthy business man of this city, later a physical wreck and inmate of the Almshouse, was found yesterday hanging to the top branch of a tall eucalyptus tree in the Sutro forest. The body was found by L. K. Pryer of 660 Broderick street and A.E. Pinching of 1104 Divisadero street. Murnane had evidently been dead for two months. The body was taken to the Morgue. Nothing of value was found on it.

On February 27 last, Murnane, who formerly lived at 36 Sixth street, disappeared from the Almshouse. The day before his disappearance he told one of his friends, also an Inmate of the Almshouse, that he had tired of a life of poverty. “My last child died a few months ago,” he said, “and since that time I have been dependent on the city for alms. What is life to me, now, where once I had the best of everything?

The next day Murnane disappeared. He was last seen strolling toward the dense growth of trees near the Almshouse, known as the Sutro forest. Although 52 years of age, Murnane climbed the smooth trunk of the tree and, fastening the noose, swung himself into a better world.

San Francisco Call – November 24, 1904:

DESPAIR CAUSES SUICIDE
Baker Missing for Nearly Two Weeks Chooses Lonely Spot at Which to Die
Woman’s Search Ends in Park
Mrs. Daniel Pfeefer Finds Long Looked For Body of Her Husband in Forest

Two weeks ago Daniel Pfeefer, a baker, who lived at 4057 Twenty-fifth street, was reported missing from his home and his faithful wife, had spent the weary fortnight trying to find trace of him. The woman’s search was rewarded yesterday afternoon when she stumbled across his remains strung to the limb of a tree in Sutro Forest, near the Corbett road.

Every day since Pfeefer had been missing his wife hunted over the hills and among the sand dunes for her husband’s body. She was convinced that he had taken his own life and her surmise proved startlingly correct.

Until about six months ago, Pfeefer conducted a small bakery on Church street, near Seventeenth. When he sold out he made no effort to acquire another business or secure employment. About a month ago it was noticed that he acted strangely. He was pensive and he seldom spoke to anyone. On the morning of November 14, he left his home saying that he would return in the evening, but when he did not do so his wife started a search for him. First she visited all of her husband’s haunts, and when she found he had not been seen in any of these, she started about the city inquiring if anyone had seen “a man with a coat buttoned over an undershirt rambling about.” Yesterday, in company with her brother-in-law, Conrad Dettling, she visited the Sutro forest. After several hours tramp she came upon the body, then she went to St. Boniface’s Church for advice and the priests told her to notify the officials.

A strange feature of the case is that while Pfeefer has been missing nearly two weeks, he hanged himself within twenty-four hours of the time he was found. This was determined by the condition of the body. Just where Pfeefer spent the intervening time is hard to tell, but the Morgue officials will endeavor to ascertain. His family say he was, without doubt, insane, and the deed is attributed to insanity.

Paranormal Investigation

I decided to spend one night alone in the forest to see if I could document any signs of paranormal activity.  Immediately when I stepped into the forest I was surrounded by what felt to be a energy that seemed to follow me around.  As the night progressed I was able to capture numerous EVPs, strange magnetic anomalies, and shadow figures that seemed to materialize out of no where.  As I was endlessly walking through the labyrinth of Eucalyptus tree I had seen a figure in a gown on the trail which disappeared. Could this be one of the patients from the Alms House who had ended there life in the forest?

Is the Palace a haunted hotel? This is the question that many locals and paranormal researchers are wondering. This 100-year-old hotel sits abandoned in the heart of Ukiah, full of history and stories, that make it ripe for a haunting,

History

Built-in 1891 the Palace Hotel still stands as a prominent structure in Ukiah, California. The hotel was originally constructed by Mr. Fox and sold the Sandelin family.  They had heard that Mr. Haughsted had lost his life in an oil fire at the hotel and that his widow was eager to sell.

The Sandelin’s purchased a fifty-room, two-bath hotel and all of its furnishings for under $10,000. Eventually, they were able to buy the real estate, too, from Judge J. M. Mannon. Ukiah, the county seat since 1859, had 3,500 inhabitants, twenty saloons and two houses of ill-repute. “Shootouts”, some of which were fatal, were a common phenomenon, but the Palace was more wholesome by reputation.  Instead, its rather respectable patrons could expect a quiet, elegant meal “from soup to nuts” for 75 cents (regular customers paid only 50 cents).

In the early day’s people traveled by train, the Southern Pacific Railroad reaching as far as Eureka with a stop in Will its. Two horse stages met the passengers at Will its and delivered the guests, mostly traveling salespeople, to the hotel. The Palace “bus” was kept at the livery stable next to and underneath the original building. These salesmen paid $1.50 a night for a room and the use of the “sample rooms,” which are now the Ukiah Travel Agency. These rooms were explicitly provided to offer the gentlemen a place to display the wares they brought with them in huge trunks. The structure of the old hotel was both substantial and attractive. To this day one of its more notable architectural qualities is the character of the original brickwork, made by U. N. Briggs at the local brickyard.

No damage was done during the great earthquake of 1906. And in 1915, when Frank Sandelin built the first addition to the hotel, it was only because the
original structure was too small to meet the demand. An extension of twenty or so rooms was built adjacent to the west face of the older building. Considered very modern in its day, it had a bath for every two rooms, and everyone connected. Each room had running water and a wood-burning stove. It was young Walter’s duty to deliver kindling to each room daily, but the guests
were obliged to keep their fires burning. The kitchen stove, too, was woodburning, as was the first steam heat, installed in 1920. Eventually, the primary source of fuel became oil, kept in a 30,000-gallon storage tank, which is still there beneath an office machines store on the ground floor. In 1925, an Otis elevator, which is still running, was installed, soon followed by a large central fireplace in the lobby.

Frank Sandelin died in 1926, and his son Walter took over. In 1928, Walter made friends with a San Francisco garment tycoon who felt another addition to the Palace would be a boon. So convinced was he that he hired an architect for the project before Walter had even agreed to it. He also secured a loan from Wells Fargo by putting up his securities as collateral. In 1929, for $150,000 Walter had built an impressive new addition against the South side of the earlier buildings – fifty-two rooms, each with private bath and a modern lobby. The rooms rented for $3.50 over Walter’s protestations that they were too expensive.

The Depression came, causing severe setbacks in the hotel business. Prohibition had put an end to the sale of liquor. But conventions, such as those of the Native Sons, The Druids, and The Grange, kept the Palace going; and Wells Fargo never pressed the hotel for total payment. Walter’s son Bob, started converting rooms into first-class apartments, which were easily rentable
at $75.00 per month, and, ultimately, it was their partial conversion that enabled the hotel to keep its doors open during the 1930s. Since that time the Palace Hotel has survived the ups and downs of small hotels all over America: gas rationing during a wartime economy in the forties, competition from larger motel chains, and modern preferences for newness and efficiency over age and beauty.  Mr. Sandelin’s younger sister, Stella Douglas, lived at the Palace until major renovations started occurring and forced out her and, as do many senior other members of the community. The owners of the Palace Hotel

The Palace is now shuttered and abandoned, with estimates of seismic repairs and other renovations costing more than 10 million dollars the Hotel is now a shadow of what it used to be.

Paranormal Activity

The Palace hotel is reported to be haunted.  Is it possible that the haunting could be caused by the past hotel guest or by the previous owners? One of the ghosts said to haunt the hotel is Mr. Haughsted who lost his life in an oil fire at the hotel.  Reports have also surfaced of occult / satanic rituals taken place in the rooms of the hotel.  When we investigated the hotel, we did evidence of this room.  During our interviews some of the types of paranormal activity that witnesses have experience included:

• Shadow figures
• Full bodied apparitions
• Disembodied voices
• Phantom footsteps
• Feelings of being touched

Paranormal Investigation Video

We were allowed to investigate the hotel live for one night, and we caught numerous unexplained voices and sounds on tape.  In many ways, the Palace Hotel reminded us of the haunted Cecil Hotel, in Los Angeles CA.  At one point I did feel as though something touched me which was pretty eerie.  The building manifested several cold spots and high emf fluctuations which coincided with the paranormal activity which caught on video.  There were times that we did capture evidence of demonic activity.   We do feel that the presence of demonic activity, is a sign that there were occult / rituals that took place on the hotel property.  We also find several animal remains that looked as if they were placed on the ground in a ritualistic manner. The Palace is a fascinating location, however, due to its enormous size and structural issues makes it especially difficult to investigate.

In 2016 livescifi.tv was the first paranormal investigation team to spend three nights at St. Ignatius Hospital.  Being the first paranormal team to investigate, this abandoned hospital we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  St. Ignatius Hospital in Colfax Washington, is what an abandoned hospital should look, feel, and it is without a doubt haunted by the ghosts of the patients that once walked its halls.

St. Ignatius Hospital History

The St. Ignatius Hospital served the Palouse region of Washington state from 1893-1964. The hospitals’ construction began in 1893 by Rev. Jachern who saw the need for healthcare in the Palouse area of Washington, while the three Sisters of Charity provided medical care in wooden buildings that were located close to the construction of the new hospital. As soon as construction of the St. Ignatius hospital was completed in 1894, it opened its doors. New additions to the hospital were added in 1917 and in 1928 which accommodated longer-term patient care.  The St. Ignatius School of nursing

was established and graduated its first class of nurses in 1911. One interesting note is that Washington State’s first two male nurses earned their degrees in 1941 from this school.

However, during the 1950s to 1960s, the hospital began to decline and would eventually close its doors in 1964. Once it closed the building served as assisted living for the elderly and for people with mental disabilities. It is widely speculated that it was during this time that the patients were neglected.

Without government assistance, rising healthcare costs, the hospital fell into disrepair and began facing closure. In August of 1964, the state closed St. Ignatius Hospital and built a new hospital in the surrounding area. St. Ignatius Hospital later became an assisted living facility until it was closed in 2000.

Hauntings and Paranormal Experiences at St. Ignatius Hospital

During our three day paranormal a psychic sketch artist

reported seeing an unsettling shadow figure numerous times. However, she along with our other investigators were unable to capture the shadow man.  She believed that the shadow man had been in a horrible wreck of some kind.  Interesting enough one of the ghosts that are observed in the abandoned hospital is of F.E. Martin who w the first patient to ever die in St. Ignatius Hospital. In 1893, F.E. Martin was crushed between two railroad cars, only to die on the hospital grounds. His ghost is said to be very active on the first floor and fourth floor and appears to the living as a dark and menacing shadow figure.

Some of the other interesting parts of the investigation, playing ouija in the “left is dead” section of the hospital and coming up with a girls name “Emily” on the board, which was also validated during a live EVP session.  Rosie’s room on the third floor always was very interesting due to that fact during our investigation we had experienced poltergeist activity, audible disembodied voices, and our electronic equipment malfunctioning. To watch the full investigation you can visit our YouTube channel, where the full paranormal investigation can be watched!