Northwest’s haunted history: the ghosts of Joe’s Cellar
Apparition or imagination? Tales about the supernatural live on
By Tanya Lyn March
Northwest Portland is no stranger to supernatural stories. While many of the city’s most famously haunted buildings are gone, some spectral residents remain. One such spirit is “Tess,” a ghostly apparition said to be haunting the empty dwelling units above the historic Joe’s Cellar bar. Ostensibly, Tess is a prostitute from the early 20th century, a ghost who cannot make peace with her death. Perhaps her lover’s ghost keeps looking for her by Union Station.
History and hauntings
Joe’s Cellar, a former brothel, finds its origins in a building constructed in 1909 on NW Sixth Ave. In 1911, horses moved the building to its present location at Northwest 21st and Pettygrove. The first floor was altered in the 1950s, but the second floor of the structure looks straight out of a scene from “Deadwood” or “Bonanza.” This second story of a former red-light boarding house, boarded up for decades, is “vacantly haunted” by Tess. The establishment, a historic Portland dive bar and diner, has taken on many names over the years, including the Nimar Cafe and the Dinner Bell, and was condemned in 2013 due to structural problems. Vancouver-based developer C.E. John Co. then purchased the building. The bar reopened, but the ghost allegedly remains.
Apparitions and orbs
In 2004, the NW Examiner contacted paranormal investigator Todd Cobb to investigate the hauntings at Joe’s Cellar. Cobb documented the presence of multiple orbs or glowing spheres of energy. He noted the difference between these and a full apparition like Tess, saying, “An apparition is a more complete manifestation, often taking the shape of a person. An orb is more like a raw concentration of energy, a sign that a spirit is present.”
During his investigation, Joe’s Cellar’s then-manager, Kathy Seymour, said she felt a sudden jolt of cold air on her arm—a sensation she attributes to an orb. Meanwhile, a full apparition of a woman supposedly appeared in an upstairs window. Waitress Nancy says she often saw a woman with “abundantly black hair and a white ruffled blouse.” Initially, thinking the woman was a coworker, Nancy waved. When the figure did not wave back, Nancy entered the bar, only to discover that no one was allowed upstairs. This encounter in 2006 is when the staff named the ghost Tess.
Mike Ryerson of the Examiner took a photo of a group of baseball old-timers who had regular reunions at Joe’s and found a mysterious circle on the print that was not visible to anyone in the room when he took it. (Was it the ghost of a since departed teammate?)
The staff at Joe’s Cellar claims numerous encounters with Tess over the years. Nancy insisted that Tess has a playful yet mischievous nature. On more than one occasion, Nancy found a side door, which had been unlocked, suddenly locked between the dining rooms. During one incident, after running into the door, Nancy said, “Tess, you almost hurt me! Quit it!” The hauntings then stopped for weeks. Incidents are said to continue to this day. A current employee said she watched as coffee grounds shot out of the maker all as if by unseen hands.
Staff members describe unsettling moments on the stairs leading to the basement. As you take a step down, you feel “something come up the steps,” accompanied by a sudden, intense cold. The cellar is right out of the tales promoted by the Shanghai Tunnel tour operators. Whether a reader believes in ghosts or not, the tales of Tess and the history of Joe’s Cellar are chilling reminders that in Northwest Portland, the past is never truly gone. Perhaps a reader knows if Chuck Palahniuk’s Lou’s Tavern in “Fight Club” is truly inspired by Joe’s Cellar—perhaps he drank at the bar after his shift at the old Freightliner, then across the street.
Tanya Lyn March conducts history walking tours through Slabtown Tours.
