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Dark Destinations > Locations in United States > The Flavel House Museum

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The Flavel House Museum

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Nearby Destinations:

	The Ring Two (2005): The City Park
	The Goonies (1985): The Bowling Alley
	The Ring Two (2005): The Daily Astorian
	The Ring Two (2005): The Keller House
	The Ring Two (2005): Astoria Middle School
	Maritime Memorial Park, Astoria, OR
	Uppertown Firefighter's Museum
	The Goonies (1985): The Walsh House
	Oregon WWII Shelling Historical Landmark
	Fort Stevens Post Cemetery, Hammond, OR
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Availability:	Open to the Public
Filed Under:	Halloween Events Historical Locations Movie Locations > The Goonies (1985) Museums/Libraries/Exhibitions Paranormal Hot Spots > Haunted Museums
Added By:	TheCabinet
Added On:	November 07, 2008 - 07:38 PM UTC
Last Modified:	November 09, 2008 - 06:58 PM UTC
Your Rating:	Sign in to add your rating
Average Rating:	5 (1 ratings)
Visited By:	1 Users

Address
441 8th St, Astoria, OR 97103, USA (Astoria, Oregon)

Information
The Flavel House Museum This museum in Astoria, Oregon is rich with the history of the city, but also known today for its appearance in the 1985 film, The Goonies, as well as reports of ghostly activity attributed to its former occupants. The house was built between the years of 1884 and 1885 for the family of Captain George Conrad Flavel - the city's first self-made millionaire. Flavel had arrived in Astoria around the year 1849 and had immediately seen the business potential of the growing city. He started out by using his maritime navigational skills to set-up a business as a bar pilot that would guide ships through the shifting sandbar at the mouth of the Columbia River, part of the so-called Graveyard of the Pacific for the massive amount of shipwrecks seen there. As his business grew and expanded to multiple ships and pilots, he branched out his own business dealings to include real estate and further shipping enterprises that transported goods and services up and down the Columbia River and as far away as San Francisco, California. By the age of 62, he had amassed a fortune and decided to retire in the peaceful community of Astoria. To build his dream retirement home, he hired German-born architect Carl W. Leick to design the Queen Anne-style mansion and by the spring of 1886, it as ready for Flavel, wife and two adult daughters to move in. The Flavel House is a massive 11,600 square feet, two and a half stories big with 14-foot high ceilings on the first floor and 12-foot high ceilings on the second, complete with highly detailed engravings and crown moldings. The house features six unique fireplace mantels composed of materials from around the world, as well its own single story rear-kitchen. One of the most notable additions to the structure is the four-story tower, which was reportedly used by Flavel to look out over the city and watch the various ships crossing the Columbia Bar. Captain Flavel would only live in the house until the year 1893 when he passed away in his bedroom. His youngest daughter, Katie, would join him in 1910 after also passing away in the home. His wife, Mary Christina Flavel, would live until 1928, when she too would succumb to death in her room, which adjoined the Captain's room. After Mary's death, the house would be left to Flavel's eldest daughter, Nellie, who would live until 1933 when she would pass away in New York when visiting relatives. Following their deaths, the ownership of the house would fall to Flavel's great-granddaughter who decided to give the home to the city as a memorial to her family. The city was struggling financially however and, after a brief reconsideration of tearing the home down, the house was passed along until the ownership fell to Clatsop County with the understanding that it would be properly maintained and used for public purposes. Various organizations would call the building home through World War II until talks again emerged of tearing the house down to make way for a parking structure. Fortunately, members of the community stepped forward and turned the facility into a museum to be managed by the Clatsop County Historical Society, who officially took ownership in 1995 after years of management. Various furniture and other antique items of the Flavel's had been sold off or simply given away during the structure's years of community service. However, when the building was transformed into a museum, various locals in the community stepped forward to donate some of the items back so that they could be properly displayed. Other items were re-secured through the hard work of the Society and other community members that were dedicated to preserving the past. While the museum is a grand display of the time period and a living memorial of the Flavel family, there are various reports by members of the staff and guests to the museum that suggest the family has never left the home. The Ghosts of the Flavel House Museum Reports of paranormal activity are spread throughout the home and vary in the sightings or strange occurrences reported. On the first floor, there are two rooms where these reports appear to be centered. The first is the music room, which during the time of the family's occupancy served as something of an entertainment room. The two Flavel daughters were both very talented musically and it was considered a great honor in the society to be invited to their musical recital. Today, there have been various reports of strange music filtering out of nowhere or a musical box that has since been moved mysteriously being opened when no one was around. Similarly, there have been reports of strange photographic anomalies from photos taken in the room. Across the hall from the music room is the Captain's library where the family spent most of their time. Various guests to this room have reported feeling a presence in the room, sometimes focused completely on the Captain's very chair that still exists there to this day. On the second floor, each member of the family had their own separate room and there are various reports of strange experiences throughout the hall. A former staff member to the museum reported coming out of his office at the end of the hall in the former servant's area and seeing a woman walking down the hallway towards them, which caused the staff member to quickly depart the area. Though it cannot be known for sure, the general theory is that the apparition was one of the two Flavel daughters. Mary Flavel's room lies at the end of the hall on the left and is reportedly the room she passed away in. Guests to this room have reported the sudden appearance of a sweet floral scent that will suddenly appear for no apparent reason. Even stranger, it is said that the floral scent will move around the room, sometimes from person to person, as if an unseen presence was walking around the room. Adjoining Mary's room is the Captain's room, as was common in the time period. Inside the room today, the museum still displays the very bed that Captain Flavel passed away in. There are various strange accounts reported by staff and visitors alike, including an actual sighting of the Captain's apparition out of the corner of the eye that appeared to dissolve into thin air. Others have reported a sense of a presence, or even suddenly becoming light-headed and nauseous while standing in the room. Interestingly, the staff was once told by a self-proclaimed psychic that pinpointed a spot on the floor as the "center of evil" of the house. The claim led to a local historian and reporter from the local paper to stay in the house on Halloween night later, with the historian putting his sleeping bag on the very spot. However, either fortunately or unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The Goonies In recent years, the house has gained a new following for its brief appearance in the 1985 Steven Spielberg/Richard Donner cult-classic, The Goonies. In the film, the Flavel House Museum is seen briefly as the museum where Irving Walsh, the father of the main character of Mikey, works as a curator. The museum is located directly across from the Clatsop County Jail, which was featured predominately at the start of the film where the members of the Fratelli family make their jail break. The Flavel House Today The Clatsop County Historical Society continues to run the house as a museum to this day and the general public can tour the grounds and relive the early history of Astoria. On occasion during the Halloween season, the house is featured as a stop on the self-guided tour of haunted Astoria and even holds special public readings of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. For more information, please visit the site below. I would like to offer a special thanks to local historian John Goodenberger and Mac Burns of the Clatsop County Historical Society for their assistance in this article.

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Related Sites
Clatsop County Historical Society The official Web site of the Clatsop County Historical Society who maintain the reportedly haunted Uppertown Firefighter's Museum and Flavel House Museum in Astoria, Oregon.

Similar Destinations
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See Also on TheCabinet.com
There are no other pages on this site associated with this location.

Available from Amazon.com
The Historic Flavel House
The Flavel House and Family
The Goonies
The Goonies [Blu-ray]
Goonies Officially Licensed Distressed Logo T-Shirt
The Goonies - Movie Logo T-Shirt
The Goonies People Poster Print, 24x36
Goonies - 24x36 Movie Poster

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Images

The reportedly haunted Flavel House Museum in Astoria, Oregon - May 2008.
From: TheCabinet

The front of the reputedly haunted Flavel House Museum in Astoria, Oregon - May 200
From: TheCabinet

The side of the reportedly haunted Flavel House Museum in Astoria, Oregon - May 2008.
From: TheCabinet

The Haunted Queen Anne Victorian Flavel House

This place was incredible. You could almost feel the presence of otherworldly beings.
From: Kansaidan

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The above content is for informational purposes only. Before making any travel arrangements, it is highly recommended that you contact those in charge of the property to check for updated availability and hours of operation. While we do our best to keep this information updated, we cannot guarantee that it is completely valid and up to date. Any destination marked "Closed to the Public" is marked that for a reason and we discourage any visits or attempts to gain access to that facility. Similarly, take note of any "Travel Advisory" that may be associated with a destination. Finally, treat any location and its local residents with respect. Any vandalism and/or unruly behavior is completely despicable and only ruins the experience for future visitors.

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