HGB Ep. 482 - Heathman Hotel

Moment in Oddity - Longest Running Hotel

The hotel industry goes back way further than you might think. Sure, there are classic properties in historic cities such as Paris and Rome, but there's a hotel in Japan that has those places beat by centuries. The hotel is known as The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, and has been in business for over 1,300 years. It’s even been run by 52 generations of the same family until 2017. This Japanese resort is located near Mount Fuji and has been in business since 705 A.D.. The inn was founded by Fujiwara Mahito and its lasting appeal is attributed to the hot spring that has been free flowing without interruption since the hotels inception. In 2011, Guinness World Records officially certified the Keiunkan as the world's most historical and longest-standing inn. Although Mount Fuji is not viewable from the resort, it is located in the same region. Obviously, over its millennium of existence, the inn has continually been updated from the initial rudimentary pools in caves being replaced with more finished baths in wood huts, and so on. The Keiunkan is a beautiful resort boasting 37 rooms, a restaurant and moon-viewing platform. Since 2019, they have even had WiFi and the hot baths' machinery pumps 1,000 liters of naturally heated water per minute. The photographs are certainly stunning and it is obvious why this hotel has remained popular throughout the centuries, but a hotel run by the same family with a longevity of over 1,000 years, certainly is odd.

This Month in History - National Mint

In the month of April, on the 2nd, in 1792 Congress passed the Coinage Act, establishing the first national mint in the United States. During the colonial period, any monetary purchases were done with foreign currency, colonial currency, livestock, produce or other goods. After the Revolutionary War, the United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation which gave authority to individual states to mint their own coins. After the ratification of the Constitution it was determined that a National Mint was needed. At the time, Philadelphia was the nation's capital and thus was chosen for the mints' location. A scientist appointed by President George Washington purchased two lots at Arch and 7th Streets. On these lots a three story building was erected which made it the tallest building in the area and the first federal building constructed under the Constitution. Coins began production immediately and in 1795, the National Mint became the first federal agency to employ women which were hired to the position of adjusters. In 1835, after the initial gold rushes in the Americas, Congress passed legislation to build three new branch Mints to be located in North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana. Later, in 1849 an additional Mint was established in San Francisco to accommodate for the California Gold Rush. Other locations were established as the nation continued its growth. Today, the Mint maintains production facilities in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, and West Point, and a bullion depository in Fort Knox.

Heathman Hotel 

The Heathman Hotel is one of the few remaining historic hotels in Portland, Oregon. It beckons to passerbys with its red and white neon sign on the front of the entrance awning. The brick edifice signals that this is an old building, a historic building. Like so many historic hotels, this one hosted the rich and famous and has stories of tragedies and hauntings. Join us as we share the history and hauntings of the Heathman Hotel.

The Portland area was inhabited by the Upper Chinook Indians and the Multnomah People and they found the area to be rich in fish, berries and root vegetables. This was also prime hunting ground in the Tualatin Plains. These plains inspired the nickname used by early settlers, traders and trappers, The Clearing. Tennessee pioneer William Overton and Boston lawyer Asa Lovejoy bought  640 acres that included The Clearing and the waterfront that proved to be deep enough to allow this to become a port town. This was in 1843. By 1845, Overton was done with trying to tame this land and he sold his share to Francis Pettygrove who hailed from Portland, Maine. And that fact probably informs you where the name Portland came from. Portland was the largest settlement in the Pacific Northwest by 1850 and was the major port in the area for much of the 19th century. Today, Portland is known as being a center of counterculture, underground music like punk and home to so many microbreweries that some people call this Beertown. At the heart of the downtown is an entertainment district located along Portland's Great White Way. The Heathman Hotel was built here.

The Heathman Hotel is located at 1001 SW Broadway in Portland, Oregon and was originally known as New Heathman Hotel. This name was because there was already another Heathman Hotel in Portland. Today, that location is known as Park Heathman Hotel and its a residential building for low income seniors and disabled people. Both of these hotels were built by hotelier George Heathman, the original Heathman in 1926 and the new one in 1927. Heathman was born in Iowa, but his family relocated to Washington state when he was very young. Heathman moved to Portland in 1921 and found work as a general building contractor. His first major project was building the Red Men Hall in 1922. This group was formally known as the Improved Order of Red Men, which was a secret society that formed from multiple Revolutionary War-era secret societies. Heathman went on to build several other buildings in Portland and then he set his sights on hotels with the Roosevelt Hotel being the first in 1924. He then became a hotel executive and formed a partnership with a man named Virgil Crum and they would build the Heathman Hotels. Then Heathman died shortly thereafter in 1930 from a stroke at the age of 49. 

The New Heathman Hotel was constructed from concrete and covered over with brick, parts of which are dark and light colored brick that make a decorative diamond design. Architectural firm DeYoung and Roald designed the hotel in the Jacobean Revival style and it rose to ten stories. Heathman's vision for this hotel would be something that would cater to the upper crust like wealthy lumber barons, railroad magnates, investors and politicians. The lobby had dark-hued paneling that extended to the mezzanine and tall, arched windows allowed light to flood inside. A restaurant and cocktail lounge and commercial shops rounded out the first level. Meeting and banquet rooms were on the second floor. The rest of the floors had guest rooms, around 224 of them. There were 1,200 workers who constructed the New Heathman and they were all invited to a pre-opening party. This was followed by the formal grand opening on December 17, 1927.

The grand opening was a huge affair for Portland. Dedication speeches were made by both the mayor of Portland and the Governor of Oregon. Business leaders and all the city commissioners came out for the event and local radio station KOIN brought out a live band and orchestral pieces. And that wasn't just because the radio station wanted to be part of the festivities, the radio station would be calling the Heathman home. The station acquired sister station KALE and both used the mezzanine of the hotel for the stations. These were constantly upgraded and by 1940, this was called "the finest broadcast facility in the country." By 1955, both stations had moved out of the hotel. The Oregon Journal described the Heathman as "Portland's newest and most modern hotel" and "Its planning, construction and general appointments are as modern as human ingenuity and talent could possibly make it." The Heathman was in a perfect spot in the center of all the theaters with their bright marquees. Coffee and Portland seem to go hand and hand and the coffee culture started here in 1900. The Heathman contributed to this by putting in the largest coffee shop in the Pacific Northwest at that time. 

Rabbit Hole: One of the city's oldest coffeehouses is Rimsky-Korsakoffee House. This location was originally a private home built in 1902 in the Craftsman style. The coffeehouse was opened in 1980 by Goody Cable and she named it for Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The interior was themed on classical music. It's a quirky little place, but also a haunted one. Apparently the former owners, a couple of writers who had witnessed the Russian Revolution, are hanging around in the afterlife. Some of the haunting activity is actually rigged like rotating, vibrating and elevating tables.

Despite George's death, the Heathman family held onto the New Heathman until the early 1960s. At this time in Portland, much of the downtown had left for the suburbs and business slowed down. City leaders knew they needed to do something to reinvigorate the downtown area, so a performing arts center was planned. The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was opened in the old Paramount Theater. The Heathman was nearly unoccupied. The hotel underwent a major renovation in 1983 that finished in 1984 and cost $16 million. The main entrance was moved to a spot that once housed a gift shop and drug store. That drug store was Portland's first 24-hour pharmacy. Portland architect Carter Case and interior designer Andrew Delfino designed the interior to have new natural materials like marble and teak. The Tea Court was restored and a century old crystal chandelier that was once used in the U.S. Embassy in Czechoslovakia was placed above that Tea Court. All the guest rooms were renovated and furnished in various pieces representing 18th–20th-century styles of Biedermeier, Ming, Empire, and Regency.

The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February 1984. Through the years there have been multiple owners. There was the Stevenson family, the Rim Corporation of Modesto, California, the McCormick & Schmick Restaurants, the LaSalle Hotel Properties and then finally the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust who spent another $20 million in renovations to create a semi-formal and luxurious hotel. As a part of this image, doormen are dressed as English Beefeaters. And the Beefeater costume thing continues inside in regards to a bronze sculpture of an English bulldog dressed in a Beefeater costume that is named Zelda. There is a dog bowl filled with water that is part of the sculpture. Zelda is apparently Zelda Wisdom, the star of a line of greeting cards. The sculpture was donated by Banfield Pet Hospital. The Heathman has always been known for its fine dining and the restaurant here has undergone many variations as well. The Heathman Restaurant & Bar was one of Portland's top restaurants and earned four stars from the Forbes Travel Guide in 2014. And all-offal menu was created in honor of Anthony Bourdain. Offal is awful, it's innards! The restaurant underwent a major renovation and reopened in 2016 as Headwaters that specialized in seafood. Today, the restaurant is apparently under renovation again with plans to open here in Spring 2023.

In 2011, Food & Wine listed the Heathman as one of the 21 most haunted restaurants and hotels in America. The paranormal activity at the Heathman seems to be centered on a column of rooms, running from Room 303 to Room 1003. An employee named Fidel Semper told CBS News in 1999 that a guest in Room 703 killed himself in 1975 because he couldn't deal with being blind or perhaps he fell out of the window. Semper was the one who found the body. He believes that this person may be one of the spirits haunting the hotel. People hear the screams of someone falling past these rooms and then the sound of breaking glass. The guest started from 703 and ended by crashing through the glass window of the library. The most haunted room of this bunch ending with 03 is that room, number 703. A woman who was staying in Room 703 came down to the front desk in 2008 and said she was very irritated that her towels had been thrown on the floor. She blamed an incompetent maid. The staff replaced the towels. Later that night, the woman found the towels on the ground again and she knew no one had been in the room.

Another interesting story told about Room 703 involved the TV in the room. A guest was unwinding and jumped in the shower. After clearing the suds from their ears, they heard a familiar sound. The television was on. But the guest hadn't turned the TV on. The guest got out of the shower, made sure the room was empty and then got back in the shower. A minute later, the TV was back on again. After showering, the guest went to the front desk and reported that something was wrong with the TV. A staff member accompanied the guest back to Room 703 and checked out the TV. Everything seemed to be working fine, so the staff member headed for the door. Before the staff member could leave, the TV roared back to life and the sound was all the way up. The hotel moved the guest.

In Room 503, guests have complained of being awakened from sleep by the sound of someone crying. When they look around the room, they see a figure that vanishes once seen. Things move on their own around the room as well. A guest was once again complaining at the front desk about her suitcase and clothing being moved when she had a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. She thought someone had entered her room without permission. The manager did a key audit, so that they could identify who had entered the room. The audit revealed that the only person who had entered the room that day was the guest. The manager gave the woman a new key, but the next day, the woman reported that her clothes had been moved again. A staff member entered Room 503 and saw a giant ball of energy zipping about the room. One day, a housekeeper was actually able to catch a similar ball of energy in a picture and that photo hangs in housekeeping’s breakroom.

There are other hauntings going on in the hotel as well. Guests and staff report hearing strange noises and guests sometimes find that things have moved around in their rooms while they were gone, in ways that a maid wouldn't move things. Like whole pieces of furniture. Male apparitions have been seen by numerous guests, either standing at the foot of beds or sitting on beds. These spirits are not always seen, but sometimes felt as though they are sitting next to somebody. One guest claimed that a man had run out of the closet and then suddenly vanished. The hotel's library is also said to be a hotspot for activity. Room 510 reputedly has a crying woman in a chair. A longtime night auditor named Rob St. Helen collected stories in a packet that staff members and guests shared with him. One of the stories shared the tale of a shadow figure stepping off the elevator on the 8th floor. There used to be a grand piano in the hotel that people would hear playing when nobody was sitting at it.  

Tom Ogden writes in his 2010 book "Haunted Hotels" about a man named Max who stayed in Room 703. Max had gone out to take in some air and enjoy the city and when he returned to the room, he saw that the maid had not been in to clean. However, it DID seem that someone had been in his room. The chair at the table was pushed out and sitting to the side as though someone had sat at the table. And two of the water glasses from the bathroom were sitting on the table. Perhaps he forgot moving this stuff around? He went into the bathroom and was very puzzled to find two towels on the floor where he had only left one. Max phoned the front desk to verify that housekeeping had not come to his room and he was told that indeed, the maid was running behind. The desk offered to send her immediately, but Max said there was no need. He then explained that someone had entered his room while he was away. The person on the other end paused for a bit and then said they would send someone up.

As Max waited, he hoped he wasn't overreacting. Maybe he had forgotten moving things and using a second towel. He checked his suitcase as he waited and nothing was missing. The hotel manager and security arrived and checked the room and reviewed the electronic records for the lock. Max was the only one who had entered his room all day. The manager then cleared his voice, took a deep breath and explained that the hotel was haunted and that this room had an unusual amount of unexplainable activity. They offered Max another room, but he opted to stay put, although there was no further weirdness.

The Heathman Hotel has stood for nearly 100 years. In that time it has collected many ghost stories. Are these just legends or are there really spirits here? Is the Heathman Hotel haunted? That is for you to decide!