Walker-Ames House
Port Gamble, Washington, United States
Historic house · local-legend
The Story
On a bluff above Port Gamble, the Walker-Ames House preserves the elegance of a late-Victorian lumber-company residence. Local researchers collect stories of footsteps, voices and apparitions inside the long-vacant home. Authorized ghost walks and reserved investigations offer unusual access, but ordinary passersby cannot enter.
The Hauntings
The Walker-Ames House rises above a Washington waterfront where sailing ships once brought visitors to a company town. Its patterned exterior, steep roof and broad windows belong to a more elaborate world than the mill workers’ cottages below. The house became famous for another kind of resident after it ceased to be occupied. Visitors describe footsteps and voices in rooms that no longer serve as a family home. Port Gamble has since built a remarkable annual paranormal tradition around this house, offering guided ghost walks and scheduled investigations within a genuine nineteenth-century building. Port Gamble's haunting accounts are closely tied to the Walker-Ames mansion. The licensed local ghost-walk operator tells of paranormal experiences across town, but the house occupies a special place in its investigations. Former town manager Shana Smith reportedly began gathering stories from former and current residents after a 2006 request by a paranormal group to investigate the mansion. The operator says recurring similarities among the stories helped inspire tours in 2007, a ghost conference in 2010 and special investigations in 2012. This is a documented account of how the reputation was collected and presented, rather than evidence that all reports refer to a single event. The stories themselves involve apparitions and unexplained movement or sound in the building. One image on the tour operator’s website, described as a photograph taken during a walk, has been discussed as showing an apparition on the second floor. The apparent figure remains the visitor’s interpretation of the image. Guests join organized investigations in the house with the operator’s permission and appropriate tickets. The town promotes such programs alongside its November ghost conference, while the independent operator advertises three-hour investigations. The conflicting impression of a quiet empty residence and an intensely visited paranormal site is the heart of the place. Its doors are not generally open for unscheduled entry; the haunting is experienced through deliberate, supervised access.
The History
The Walker-Ames House was constructed in 1888–1889 as a substantial Queen Anne-style residence in Port Gamble, a lumber settlement founded on the shores of Puget Sound in the nineteenth century. William and Emma Walker lived here, and Edwin Ames—who married Maude Walker in October 1888—also occupied the house. The property once served prominent members of the sawmill management community, with the entrance oriented toward the waterfront when arrivals by water dominated local travel. Architectural surveys by the Historic American Engineering Record identify it as a highly intact example of company-town domestic architecture. The house stood vacant after the mill closed in the 1990s; local tour organizations have used its history as the setting for narrated walks and scheduled investigations. Port Gamble itself is more than its ghost stories, with a heritage district, cemetery and record of lumber industry, land relations and maritime work alongside its paranormal reputation.
A sense of place.
Visitor Experiences
Have you experienced something here?
This future chapter will bring together stories from the PHASM community. An unexpected encounter, a lingering feeling, or a quiet visit—your experience will be welcome.
Submissions are not open yet.
Sources & further reading.
- Library of Congress — Walker-Ames House HAER WA-160 photo 9 item (history)
- HistoryLink — Port Gamble Thumbnail History (history)
- Port Gamble Paranormal — The Story: collecting resident accounts (reports)
- Port Gamble Paranormal — report and tour overview (reports)
- Port Gamble Paranormal — report and tour overview (visiting)
- Port Gamble — Seasonal events and ghost investigations (visiting)
- Port Gamble — Ghost Conference 2026 official programs (visiting)
Plan Your Visit
Port Gamble advertises ticketed ghost walks, a fall ghost conference and scheduled special investigations associated with Walker-Ames House. Use the town’s official events calendar and the licensed tour operator’s booking site. The operator notes that investigations require advance reservations and are for guests aged 16 or older; public ghost walks have separate schedules. The house is not a walk-in museum simply because it can be seen from the street. Arrange approved interior access in advance and follow the event’s exact check-in instructions.