McMenamins White Eagle Saloon

A historic saloon opened in 1905 by Polish immigrants, once nicknamed the "Bucket of Blood" for its violent past. The building had a brothel upstairs and an opium den connected to Portland's underground tunnels.

The White Eagle Saloon opened in 1905 on Russell Street in Portland's Lower Albina neighborhood, founded by Polish immigrants Joe Hryszko and Barney Sobolewski as a gathering place for the local Polish community. The two men had purchased the land for $2,600 in 1907, with Weinhard Brewing Company financing part of the acquisition, and paid off the mortgage within eight months. The building was converted from its original wood frame to brick, with lodging rooms added on the second floor beginning in 1914. The White Eagle holds one of Oregon's first OLCC liquor licenses and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In its early years, the saloon attracted suspicion from authorities: in June 1906, five years after President William McKinley's assassination by a Polish immigrant, police raided the White Eagle investigating an alleged anarchist plot against President Theodore Roosevelt. The charges proved baseless, but the Polish community continued to face discrimination. Over the decades, rumors accumulated that the second floor housed a brothel and the basement an opium den, though McMenamins' own historical research has debunked both claims -- the 1920 Census documented nine Polish men, not women, in the upstairs rooms, and the basement vault door often cited as evidence was installed in the 1970s.

Despite the debunked legends, the paranormal activity at the White Eagle is well documented by staff and guests alike. Two spirits dominate the accounts. The first is Rose, described as a woman who worked at the saloon during its rougher years and met an untimely end, either pushed down the stairs or stabbed to death in her room by a customer. Guests staying in the upstairs hotel rooms, particularly Room 2, report seeing the apparition of a beautiful woman and experiencing unexplained tactile sensations while in bed, as though someone is gently touching them. The feeling of a presence sitting on the edge of the mattress is one of the most commonly reported phenomena.

The second spirit is Sam Warrick, said to have been born on the second floor to a woman who worked at the saloon and orphaned at birth. According to the legend, Sam grew up at the White Eagle, trading his labor for room and board, working as a bartender among other jobs. He never left the building and eventually died in his room, making the saloon his entire world from birth to death. Sam is described as a trickster who enjoys mischief: he backs up the toilets in the downstairs bathroom, moves personal belongings in guest rooms, and may appear in historical photographs still displayed on the walls. McMenamins' own blog has chronicled Sam's reputation, noting that paranormal investigators have found Room 3 to have as much or more activity than Rose's Room 2.

Beyond the named spirits, the White Eagle's basement is a hotspot for activity. Employees report that the walk-in freezer door closes on them without warning, a potentially dangerous situation in a space that locks from the outside. Shadowy figures have been seen in the hallways, coins have been observed floating in mid-air, and guests at the bar have felt freezing hands touch their bare skin. Historian Tim Hills has debunked the popular theory that the basement connects to Portland's Shanghai Tunnels, identifying the notorious opening as actually a coal chute leading to a trap door in the front sidewalk, and noting that shanghaiing had largely ceased by the time the White Eagle opened. The McMenamin brothers purchased the saloon in 1998, and today it operates as both a bar and rock-and-roll hotel, where guests can book the very rooms where Rose and Sam are said to still reside.