Linda Hazzard

Hazzard's cabin, Renee Totten Forgotten Places Photography The living can be far more frightening than the dead, especially when the living includes a starvation specialist intent on 'curing' her patients.

2011 marks the 100 year anniversary since the conviction of Doctor Linda Hazzard. In 1911 she was found guilty of manslaughter in the murder of Claire Williamson. The doctor from Ollala is the subject of one of our stories on the ghost tour because of her connection to the Butterworth Mortuary and the Market area. Northwest author and New York Times bestseller, Gregg Olsen wrote Starvation Heights, a true crime novel about Doctor Hazzard and we use his writing for much of our story. It is a fascinating book.

Photographer Renee Totten captured the emaciated remains of the Doctor's original cabin in a series of photographs. We have written about her before for the ghost tour blog. She is a ghost hunter herself and her eye for detail in her photos hint at her own inquisitiveness. Her photographs are online at www.forgottenplacesphotography.com.

Mercedes from Market Ghost Tour will be involved with an event on July 16^th, 2011 alongside Gregg Olsen and Darren Thompson, from WSPIR (Washington State Paranormal Investigations and Research.)

Starvation Heights Centennial Celebration "Last Gasp Tour"

Olalla Grange, Olalla, WA

Benefit for the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation: Enjoy an afternoon with acclaimed author, Gregg Olsen, as we revisit the home of Dr. Linda Hazzard. Tour her original 1911 residence; view the famous front room, living room, and infamous claw footed bathtub. Be careful, as we pass the ravine, on the way to what's left of her famous sanitarium deep in the woods.  This may well be the last time a tour will be available to the public on the "Hazzard" property before the woods reclaim history.  An event not to be missed!

Saturday Tour includes:

We will first gather at the Olalla Grange (7554 Fragaria Road SE, Olalla, WA 98359)

12:00-12:20 Gregg Olsen presents Starvation Heights

12:20-12:45 Ghost Stories presented by Mercedes Yeager of Market Ghost Tours

12:45-1:15Paranormal talk by Darren Thompson of WSPIR

1:15-2:00 Guided tours of the Hazzard home, ravine and sanitarium

**Special VIP tour, Friday, July 15th Twilight Tour $150.00 per ticket includes: special dinner, lecture and tour guided by Gregg Olsen. For special VIP tickets call 360-475-9039.

You can buy tickets through Market Ghost Tour: CLICK HERE

GAC in Seattle

Doorway to 1921 First Avenue, Butterworth Building photo by Richard

The Ghost Adventures Crew visited Seattle for the Travel Channel. They were locked down in Kells Irish Pub. The episode first aired on December 17, 2010. The episode focuses heavily on the mortuary, in which Kells is a tenant. Mercedes, owner of the Market Ghost Tour, was interviewed as a "Ghost Historian" for the episode. She has spent a lot of time inside the building and doing research on the history of it. The building itself has several levels and has been office spaces at the top, restaurants below.

The First Avenue side, 1921 First, now under construction, is where the Chapel is located. It has been dubbed "the place restaurants go to die" by a local journalist. Every restaurant has struggled to stay open in the former Chapel space.

Could it be that the victims of stravation specialist Doctor Linda Hazzard remain in the building? 

1921 First Avenue is the first 'mortuary' in the world. Mr. E.R. Butterworth coined the term. A prestigious man who went on to open two additional mortuaries, he was also implicated in one of Dr. Hazzard's murders. He established the Butterworth Mortuary on First Avenue in 1903. 

vintageseattle.org

During  the time period that the mortuary was open at this location, diphtheria, influenza, and murder were all causes of death. During the Klondike Goldrush, $50 was paid for corpses that may otherwie have been left to rot in the streets or below the piers. The offer was extended to all Undertakers in Seattle. It was a campaign created by the city of Seattle. During the early Klondike Goldrush, 300,000 men and women made their way through Seattle in pursuit of gold. Dead miners in alleys = bad marketing.

That handsome finder's fee is referenced in several books including Cemeteries of Seattle and this passage from Four White Horses and a Brass Band, "It was not uncommon for a thug to take a drunk for a walk and push him off a pier. An associate waiting below in a rowboat took good care that the victim drown and then tied the corpse where it could be handily located the next day."

Some of the incidents the mortuary were involved in were shady but Mr. E.R. Butterworth himself often forgave debts and was involved with charitable works. His descendants still live in Seattle. To call his dealings corrupt is a stretch. Corruption was rampant in Seattle. The streets were filled with con artists, thugs, and swashbucklers yielding "medical licenses." 

Doctor Linda Hazzard is a very good example. If you want to read more about her, pick up a copy of Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen. We talk about the Doctor on the tour. Her story will soon be a major motion picture. 

In November, several guides for the Market Ghost Tour participated in a three day convention in Seattle with Darkness Radio and the GAC team. Mercedes was a featured speaker for the event. She investigated locations in the Market including a store in the Lowest Level as part of a private investigation. The building Kells is in has had many tenants, both living and dead. It remains a curious place today. For a compilation of articles, blog entries and you tube videos about Kells and the former mortuary: CLICK HERE. 

Starlite Lounge

In the past two weeks the Starlite Lounge on 1st Avenue (inside Seattle's first mortuary) has been dark. It's doors closed with no explanation given. In searching on the internet I find no reference to what has or is happening. I did however find information about an event that happened in December of last year and it is very sad news indeed. Here is the link to the article from the PI. At the bottom of the article is a call to action, for donations. If you have an update to this article or know what is happening, feel free to email me. One storm story left by the side of the road