Haunted Carson Hot Springs Resort: The Ghost of Isadore St. Martin and the Old Hotel St. Martin

Carson Hot Springs Resort sits in a quiet, wooded valley on the Wind River, a short walk from where it joins the Columbia, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Isadore St. Martin found the hot water here in the 1870s, and his family built the white, three-story Hotel St. Martin in 1901. In 1910 Isadore was stabbed to death in a quarrel with a guest, and the old hotel has carried his story ever since. It is one of the more unusual haunted hotels in Washington: a working spa where you can still soak in cast iron tubs in a 1923 bathhouse.

Overnight guests today sleep in newer lodge buildings on the grounds, while the original hotel stands beside them, closed to visitors apart from its parlor. Below we cover the ghost stories told about Isadore and his wife Margaret, what the records say, where to look on the property, and how to plan a stay.

The ghosts of Carson Hot Springs

Isadore St. Martin and the 1910 killing

The haunting starts with a real death. In 1910 Isadore St. Martin, who had built the resort from a tent camp into a hotel and bathhouse, got into a quarrel with a guest. A 2001 Associated Press feature says he was fatally stabbed in the hotel dining room in a dispute over the quality of the mineral water, and a 1994 Seattle Times piece says the weapon was a pocket knife. Other local accounts differ on the details, and why the argument turned deadly has never been clear.

According to that same AP feature, many people have reported seeing Isadore’s ghost at the resort. The stories put him in and around the old hotel he built, still keeping an eye on the place. Clark County writers note that paranormal enthusiasts come to the springs every year hoping to find some sign of him.

Margaret St. Martin in the halls

Older ghost lists, including the first version of this page, say the resort is haunted by Isadore’s wife Margaret, who is supposed to have died of loneliness soon after him, and whose figure walks the hallways and lobby.

The record does not support the loneliness part. Local histories describe Margaret as the person who kept the resort going: she had come to the springs for her own health, added herbal remedies to the treatments, and expanded the business after losing her husband in 1910 and a son in 1911. If a woman is seen in the old hotel, the more accurate version of the story is that the lady of the house never quite left the business she ran.

The bathhouse and the old hotel at night

Most of the atmosphere here is in the oldest buildings. The 1923 bathhouse still uses its original cast iron tubs, and the old routine has barely changed: a hot soak in mineral water, then an attendant wraps you tightly in sheets and blankets to sweat and rest in a dim room. It is easy to see why people feel they are not alone in there.

The Hotel St. Martin itself, a white frame building with long porches, is closed to guests apart from its parlor. Ghost hunters who visit usually stay in the lodge and walk the grounds after dark. Reports are of a presence and a figure rather than anything dramatic, and the resort itself does not promote ghost stories, so treat what you hear as local lore attached to a real and violent death.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• The Hotel St. Martin: The 1901 hotel where Isadore died. It is closed to overnight guests, but you can see it up close and the parlor is used for check-in.
• The old dining room: Where the 2001 AP account places the fatal quarrel. It is part of the historic hotel, so ask staff what can be seen.
• The 1923 bathhouse: Original cast iron tubs, men’s and women’s sides, and the traditional wrap afterward. The most atmospheric place on the property.
• The grounds after dark: Walk from the newer lodge buildings past the old hotel and down toward the Wind River at night.

History of Carson Hot Springs Resort

Isadore St. Martin, a pioneer who hauled ice and freight along the river, settled on the Wind River in the 1870s. Accounts say he found the hot springs while hunting, and that he brought his wife Margaret, who suffered from neuralgia, to soak in them. The family set up their first tub around 1880, and travelers arriving by steamboat and later by horse team slept on tent platforms.

St. Martin began developing the springs for the public in 1897. The Hotel St. Martin was completed in 1901, and by 1907 the family was pumping hot spring water into a bathhouse. By around 1913 the resort had the hotel, a second two-story building, four cottages of four rooms each, a store and a dance hall where jazz-era bands played. Several hot spring resorts once operated along the Wind River; this is the one that survived.

After Isadore was killed in 1910, Margaret kept the business running and expanded it, even after their son died in 1911. The present bathhouse and a row of cabins were added in 1923. The St. Martin family and their descendants ran the springs for decades before the property passed through several owners. It was renamed Carson Hot Springs in the early 1970s.

For much of the 20th century it was a famously plain place: in the 1990s rooms in the old hotel had no TVs or phones and the beds were said to slope. In 2005 the 1923 cabins were replaced by a two-story lodge, and the resort added the neighboring Elk Ridge golf course. Today it has around 67 rooms and suites, a restaurant and a full spa, while the old hotel and bathhouse remain as the historic core.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Book a mineral soak and wrap in the 1923 bathhouse. It is the oldest part of the resort still in use and the best way to feel what the place was like a century ago.
• If you want mineral water in your room, choose one that specifically lists a private hot tub; the indoor pool is chlorinated.
• Walk past the Hotel St. Martin after dark and look at the dining room windows, where the 1910 quarrel is said to have happened. Be respectful: the building is closed to guests.
• Carson is about an hour from Portland and makes an easy pairing with a night at one of the haunted hotels in Portland.
• The bathhouse is clothing optional and split by gender, while the therapy pool is for adults and needs a swimsuit. Check current spa hours and prices with the resort before you go.

More haunted hotels nearby

• The Heathman Hotel, Portland: Portland’s best-known haunted hotel, about an hour west
• The Benson Hotel, Portland: a 1913 grand hotel with its own ghost stories
• Thornewood Castle, Lakewood: Washington’s haunted castle inn, south of Tacoma
• Haunted hotels in Washington

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

• Deseret News / AP: If you go to Carson Hot Springs (2001)
• Seattle Times: Salts of the earth at Carson Hot Springs (1994)
• Clark County Talk: Explore the historic Carson Hot Springs (2025)
• Hot Springs Locator: Carson Hot Springs Resort
• ReVisit WA: Saint Martin's Hot Springs
• Islands.com: Carson Hot Springs Resort

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