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V11i10 Oct Haunted Playgrounds
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Narrated by Morrigan Crowe

Two Rivers Park / Hover (Finley)

Hover was a small town along the Columbia River, east of Kennewick. It had a school and a well-known women’s club. When McNary Dam was being built, the residents of Hover were relocated into Kennewick and Finley because of the calculated rise in water levels. Today, what remains of Hover is located at Two Rivers Park in Finley. 

This quiet park may not be as quiet and peaceful as it looks. Many people have drowned, thinking it was safe to go into the water, but the current is too strong for an average swimmer.

Those who have died are said to return to the location of their death. Visitors claim to have seen dark shadows and have even reported hearing cries for help. It is also believed that the ‘Finley Ghost’ may roam the lawn, as he died nearby. 

Some people believe that the ghosts of the residents of the former town of Hover like to visit the park where their town once was. People have reported seeing park visitors wearing pre-1930s clothing, with most accounts describing clothing from the Edwardian period.

If you want to walk with them, the best time to go is at dusk when the spirits like to roam… but remember the park closes at sundown for a reason — you don’t want to be caught there after dark!

Minnehaha Park (Spokane)

By the time the City of Spokane bought the 40 acres of land that makes up Minnehaha in 1913, the plans for its development had taken many forms: first, a never-built spa resort — big dreams reduced to a mere stone mansion, then a brewery with the mineral spring on site supplying the water. 

The City finally planned to build a park, but development didn’t start until 1924, during which time film companies used the land as a shooting location. By the 1940s, the public was petitioning for more development — like a swimming pool and a playground — and neighborhood groups fundraised for the project. 

Ghost children are said to haunt the playground at night — their shadowy figures can be heard laughing and playing. People hear the sounds of footsteps running towards and past them, but see no one. They have also reported whispering from no apparent source. 

Candy Cane Park (La Grande)

CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE, MURDER

Dana DuMars was a waitress at a local bar, murdered as she walked home from work on February 11, 1983. She was last seen alive around 4am in Candy Cane Park, when a passerby saw her together with another person, assumed something sexual was going on, and walked past quickly. The next morning, two men discovered her body, her head mostly removed by a hatchet. Her presumed murderer was caught, but the stories say she came back, bent on revenge.

For a while, the park had a merry-go-round that DuMars supposedly haunted. She would push the merry-go-round whenever someone was riding it. She would push and push until the merry-go-round would be going so fast that the person would be thrown from it, causing injury. The merry-go-round was removed in 2003 for public safety.

But legends say that the loss of DuMars’ favorite toy just means she’s haunting other parts of the park now. She has reportedly been seen sitting on benches and playing with the swing sets. Some visitors claim to hear giggling and laughing.

Pioneer Park (Pendleton)

Pioneer Park started out as something much different: a cemetery. It operated for 20 years, until another cemetery was opened and the bodies started being moved to it. Moving buried bodies is not a simple process of just digging up each grave and moving them — permission from a living descendant is required. To date, 13 bodies still await removal, and an unknown number of unmarked graves may be scattered throughout the park. In 2003, while building a walkway in Pioneer Park, developers were shocked to find three unmarked graves! 

Visitors have reported seeing balls of light at night. And they say when hanging out in the park, you may feel someone watching you, or you could feel a sudden and unexplained cold breeze down the back of your neck. This is the dead, reminding you they existed, even if the world has forgotten them.

Ashleigh is a cosplayer, historian, and folklorist, just living her best life.

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