The Davenport Hotel and Tower

The Davenport Hotel and Tower in Spokane, Washington, stands as one of the city's most prestigious and architecturally significant structures, a hotel that has served the hospitality needs of Spokane since its construction in the early twentieth century. The building represents an era when grand hotels functioned as civic monuments, architecturally and socially important institutions that defined the character and sophistication of American cities. The Davenport Hotel and its associated tower were designed with meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship, featuring elegant public spaces, luxurious guest accommodations, fine dining establishments, and the various amenities that characterized premium hospitality in the early decades of the twentieth century. The tower element of the structure provides commanding views of the surrounding landscape and serves as a vertical emphasis that punctuates the Spokane skyline. The hotel has maintained its status as a destination for travelers, business visitors, and tourists throughout its long operational history, continuing to provide accommodations and services across multiple decades of changing American culture and technological development.

The history of the Davenport Hotel is inextricably linked to Louis Davenport, the entrepreneur and visionary who founded and developed the hotel according to his exacting standards and personal aesthetic preferences. Louis Davenport oversaw the construction, design, and operation of the hotel with the obsessive attention to detail characteristic of successful hoteliers of his era, ensuring that every aspect of the guest experience reflected quality and attention to refinement. Davenport's commitment to the hotel extended throughout his life, making it not merely a business venture but a personal legacy and expression of his values and ambitions. The hotel became an extension of his personality and commitment to excellence, a place where his influence would persist long after his death in 1951. Beyond Louis Davenport, the hotel's history also encompasses the tragic death of Ellen McNamara, who in 1920 fell through a skylight while in the building, meeting an unexpected and violent end in what should have been a safe environment. McNamara's death represented a terrible accident, a moment when the architectural infrastructure failed to protect someone within its confines, an event that would mark the location with tragedy and anguish.

Paranormal investigators and staff at the Davenport Hotel have documented numerous phenomena consistent with the presence of two distinct spiritual entities whose presence appears to be centered on different locations within the building. Ellen McNamara's ghost has been reported appearing on the mezzanine level, apparently peering over the railing at the location where her fatal fall occurred, perhaps trapped in an endless repetition of the moment preceding her death. Witnesses have described observing her apparition in this location, a ghostly manifestation apparently unable to move beyond the trauma of her accident or the specific moment of her fatal misstep. The spirit of Louis Davenport, apparently unwilling to relinquish control of the hotel he created and loved, has been reported by night shift staff and security personnel as appearing in bathrobes and slippers, wandering the hallways and areas of the hotel during the late night hours, approximately at three in the morning. These apparitions suggest that Louis Davenport's consciousness remains at the hotel, continuing to inspect and oversee its operations much as he did in life, apparently unaware or unconcerned with the fact that his earthly life has long since concluded.

The phenomena associated with these two entities include the appearance of both full apparitions and more subtle manifestations of paranormal presence. Flickering lights have been reported throughout the building, suggesting an entity capable of manipulating electrical systems or creating disturbances in the electromagnetic environment. Cold spots have been documented in various locations, areas where the ambient temperature drops inexplicably, a phenomenon often associated with spiritual activity. The terrace doors on certain floors have been known to fly open with sudden force, as if pushed by an invisible hand, causing disturbances and requiring staff intervention. These phenomena occur with sufficient frequency and consistency that staff members have become accustomed to the peculiarities of the hotel's paranormal residents. The Davenport Hotel and Tower represents a case of well-established haunting by individuals whose connection to the location was strong enough during life to transcend the boundary of death itself, with Louis Davenport's continued presence particularly notable given the strength of his identification with the hotel he founded and his apparent unwillingness to accept that his era of stewardship has concluded.