Long-running walking tours embrace Pocatello’s (haunted) history while raising money for downtown improvements
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POCATELLO — The city of Pocatello can brag many innovations and advancements, according to local historian Lisa Brian.
For instance: the nation’s first passenger elevator was constructed in the Gate City; Pocatello was home to Idaho’s first female bank president; and credit lines for jewelry were started by Morgan Jewelers, which supplied timepieces to the town’s many residents who worked in and around the railway that inspired the town’s development, collecting payment for the watches by installment.
“People don’t know how amazing of a community we live in, and how crucial our community was (at the turn of the 20th century) — and still is — to Idaho and to the west,” Brian told EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s cool to be able to share and rekindle that excitement for our community.”
Every October, Spiro Paranormal — which was co-founded by Brian — takes groups of people from Pocatello and beyond on tours of some of the city’s many historic buildings.
The Haunted History Walking Tours focus on the hard-to-explain, potentially paranormal tales attached to some of Pocatello’s century-old buildings. But much of the months of research that go into the tour each year hinges on the easily explained but lost history of a town founded in 1889 around a railroad bringing people across the country in by the hundreds.
According to Brian, on-site preparations for the annual walking tours begin in September. But she begins her deep dive into the history of whichever buildings will be involved in the year’s tours much earlier in the year — often back in April.
One main reason for the extensive research is the fact Brian and her team add new buildings to the tour every year. This year’s tour included one building that was featured on past renditions — Pocatello Electric — as well as the Teamsters Lodge and Goodbye Hello Boutique.
“We try to make it different every year so people can come every single year and have a completely different experience,” Brian said.
This year was also huge in that Brian was able to include a building she has long included on her wishlist but considered ungetatable — the Masonic Temple.
Due to the mysterious nature of the Freemasons, Brian never even thought to ask for permission to investigate their Pocatello home, or to open it up to the patrons of the walking tours. But earlier this year, the group reached out to her.
The Masonic Temple was the first stop on this year’s tour. As part of the tour, Spiro team members spoke about the spirit of a former member believed to haunt the space — cleaning up after current members.
There is also said to be a dark shadow that loiters the temple and museum spaces.
The second stop was the Teamsters Lodge, which houses members of numerous unions.
From there, a quick jaunt down Main Street took the tour group to Pocatello Electric and its attic, which formerly housed the Freemasons.
Employees claim to hear sounds coming from the vacant and fire-damaged upstairs space — where they jokingly stage large dolls for the tours. There was also a single chair placed in the corner of the attic space.
The final stop this year was in the basement of the Goodbye Hello Boutique.
According to the Spiro team, three paranormal entities call the Main Street basement home.
While there, EastIdahoNews.com recorded video of one of the tour participants apparently communicating with something, using a KII EMF Meter — which measures electric currents. The meter peaked several times inside one of the basement rooms while the participant was asking questions.
People come from other Idaho cities and other states all together to take part in the tours each year, Brian said. But among her greatest pleasures during this time of year is hearing people who finish the tour — people who have lived in Pocatello their entire lives — say they learned something they had never known about the city.
Pocatello’s history, she explained, is rooted in entertainment. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, more than 25 saloons, 16 different theaters and numerous other “adult entertainment” centers all operated in what is now downtown Pocatello.
“We were kinda like the Vegas of that time period. … There was a lot of traveling back and forth, so we became that ‘entertainment’ for all those people passing through,” Brian said. “We have a lot of people who come just for that history — just to see pieces of their own community.”
Donating the proceeds from the walking tours to the Historic Downtown Pocatello community, which is working to revitalize the city, is an added bonus.