Lore - Episode 4: Dinner at the Afterglow

Episode Date: April 20, 2015

Deep in the forest at the northern tip of a small island near Vancouver Island, there is a stone monument standing amidst the trees. How that structure came to be, and what it meant to those who built it, are both interesting stories. But it's the unofficial reports — the sightings and experiences of those who visit it — that truly deserve to be told. ———————————————— Lore Resources:  Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music  Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources  Lore News: www.theworldoflore.com/now  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Access premium content!: https://www.lorepodcast.com/support See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The San Juan Islands are a cluster of small wooded islands off the coast of Washington State just across the water from Vancouver Island. The western most of those small plots of land is San Juan Island itself. It has a population of less than 7,000 residents and has the welcoming feel of a small, quiet town. Seriously, this place is quiet. The most exciting thing most people can think about of their home there is that one of the residents is Lisa Moretti, a retired female WWF wrestler.

But on the northern tip of the island, just beyond Roche Harbor and the resort there is a road that leads into the woods. What is hidden in those trees away from the prying eyes of tourists and residents alike is something so unusual, so out of the ordinary and bizarre, that it practically begs for a visit. Traveling down the long dirt road that runs into the heart of a forest like a withered artery will bring you to an iron archway mounted on stone pillars. The words afterglow vista are woven into the metalwork.

Beyond that, deeper into the woods is a series of stone stairs that lead up a small hill. And it's the thing on top of that hill that immediately catches the eye of every visitor without question. It's an open-air rotunda, a ring of tall stone pillars standing on a flat circular limestone base. They're connected at the top by thick maltese archways, but nothing covers the rotunda itself. Its interior is completely exposed and visible. It's inside a large round stone table surrounded by six limestone chairs.

Odd, but not creepy, until you realize the purpose this monument serves. It's a tomb resting inside each of the chairs are the cremated remains of a human being. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore. In the late 19th century, San Juan Island became known for its lime deposits. Then, as now, lime was an essential ingredient in important products such as steel, fertilizer, and cement, and the lime industry of San Juan Island provided much of the community's jobs and revenue. In 1886, a man named John S. McMillan purchased controlling interest in the major lime deposits

there, and he eventually developed the industry there to be the largest supplier of lime on the West Coast. In the process, he built the 20-room Hotel de Hierro at Roche Harbor, and then a company town that surrounded it. In addition to the lime factory itself, he also built the barrel works, warehouse, docks, ships, offices, a church, a general store, and even barns. He even built houses for the workers, with the single men living in large bunk houses and the families being given small cottages that have been built into neat rows.

All the structures belonged to McMillan, but his army of employees, over 800 of them at the peak of the business, gave them life. McMillan had a vision for everyone living in one big community. The town was self-sufficient with its own water, power, and telephone systems, and he paid his workers in company script, company currency that was only good there in town at the local company store. Of course, workers could still draw their salary in U.S. currency whenever they wished, but the script was used in the store all the way up to 1956.

That wasn't all McMillan built, though. He was far from done. John S. McMillan was an unusual man. He was born in 1855 and attended DePaul University in Indiana, back when it was still called Asbury College. There he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity and helped guide that young organization to form a grand council and executive committee at the national level. As a result, he was elected the very first Sigma Chi Grand Console.

In addition to his fraternity connections, McMillan was a Freemason, reaching the rank of 32nd degree out of the possible 33. He was prominent in business and politics, and even counted Teddy Roosevelt as a friend, who frequently visited and stayed in the hotel. McMillan had four children, and nearly the entire family considered themselves devout Methodists. Only one child, they say, left the family faith, and in doing so, he might very well have locked himself out of the McMillan story forever.

You see, all of those worlds of interest, as different from each other as they all were, coexisted inside the mind of John McMillan. So when the time came to plan an eternal resting place for he and his family, each element had influence on those designs. The result, you might have guessed, was the eerie stone edifice located deep in the forest. The structure really is a thing to behold. Once you've listened to me talk about it, you'll want to visit some websites to see the true beauty of what McMillan built.

When it was first constructed, the forest around it was far less thickly wooded than it is today, and visitors could see Afterglow Beach off to the northwest, perhaps giving the structure its name. It was designed to be a tholos, a circular Mycenaean temple. It was crafted from local limestone and cement. But what's really fascinating is the large number of secret messages and hidden meanings that were built into the structure, some relating to the night's Templar, and others reflecting McMillan's values as a Methodist.

For example, approaching the Mausoleum, requires traveling up three separate sets of stairs, each set having its own meaning. There are three steps in the first flight of stairs, and they're said to represent the three ages of man. The second set contains five steps representing the five senses. And the third set contains seven steps, which stand for the Severn Liberal Arts and Sciences. Around the table are seven pillars that hold up the arches. Oddly though, one of the seven pillars is broken, the westernmost one.

But it was done intentionally. Only a small portion can be seen on the base and protruding from the archway above. And this break was said to be a reminder that death never lets us finish our work. There's room around the table for seven chairs, but the spot that should hold the seventh, closest to the broken pillar, in fact, is missing. Some say it was never there to begin with, and that it's meant to represent the sun who walked away from McMillan's Methodist faith. Depending on who you are, fraternity is a gathering at a table.

Not finding a seat with your family would be a ruthless punishment indeed. These are all fantastic architectural details. But what's missing from every photograph of the mausoleum is the long list of reported sightings, all of which started sometime in the mid-1950s. The mausoleum was built with no dome on top, although that had originally been the plan. But it was expensive, amounting to about 40% of the total budget, and so it was scrapped near the end to save cash. Even still, visitors on rainy days have frequently reported that they feel no rain on them while

inside the ring of the stone pillars. Some people have spoken of cold spots near the table, while others have heard voices, even when no one else is around. Those daring enough to actually sit on one of the chairs, keeping in mind that they are tiny little tombs containing the remains of the McMillan family, say that they felt very uneasy doing so, and more than one person has reported the sensation of hands pushing them off. A frequent account is the sight of strange lights at night, including blue lights that

seem to hover above the chairs. Some visitors have also reported seeing the members of the McMillan family themselves on nights with a full moon, seated around the table, while laughing and talking. The mausoleum isn't the only place with unusual activity, though. Originally John McMillan built the family home, right beside the Hotel de Harro, and his longtime secretary, Ada Bean, had a cottage on the other side of the hotel. Later, the Roche Hotel was built around the old hotel, and the other buildings were combined into the structure.

Bean's Cottage, for example, became the current dining room and hotel gift shop. That dining room restaurant has been the focus of quite a bit of unusual activity. The resort's restaurant manager has reported that, on more than one occasion, he has closed up shop, turned out the lights, and headed for the door only to look back over his shoulder and see that a candle on one of the tables has reignited. When he walked back in and blew it out, all of the kitchen hood fans turned on at once. Other appliances have been known to turn on as well. Employees over the years have reported stoves, blenders, and toasters, turning themselves

on and off. The storeroom door has been known to open and close by itself. Furniture in the back room has even been found rearranged in the morning, with no explanation. The gift shop, located in another part of that old cottage, has also been home to some unusual activity. In the hotel itself, there are rumors of ghosts. The second floor is reported to be haunted by what has been described as a middle-aged woman wearing a long dress.

Employees have told the owners that they frequently hear the sound of rustling clothing in rooms where no one else should be. Is it the ghost woman's dress they hear? It's funny how the people who live around us have a way of making an impression on us. We feel them when they're here, like the gravitational pull of another planet, but sometimes we even feel them when they're gone. They leave memories behind when they go, treasured gifts, belongings, or perhaps a worn spot on a favorite piece of furniture.

Ghosts are a concept almost as old as time. The people we love are here for a while, and then they're gone, and humans have always struggled to understand what happens to them after death. Maybe ghost stories are a way for us to grapple with our own loneliness and loss. Perhaps they're our way of bolstering ourselves against our own impending death. We must go somewhere, right? Are we ready? Will we be forgotten?

John Macmillan believed with all his heart that his life needed to be remembered, and that his body, and those of his family, deserved a resting place equal to their position in life. The afterglow vista stands as proof of one man's faith in something beyond the veil, and that light over the limestone seats that some people report to have seen since the 50s. Well, it turns out there just might be an explanation, depending on what you're willing to believe, of course.

Remember how the building that houses the hotel's gift shop and dining room used to be the home of Ada Bean, Macmillan's longtime secretary? Well, along with being a key figure in the day-to-day business of the company, she also helped as a governess to the Macmillan children, and she was practically part of the family. So when Miss Bean died prior to Macmillan, it was obviously an emotional loss. Rumors persist to this day that her death was suicide, but official records list nothing more than natural causes. Regardless, the family lost someone dear when she passed away.

After her death, her body was cremated and placed in a mason jar, and that jar somehow made it onto the mantel in the office of Paul Macmillan, John's youngest son. It wasn't until the mid-1950s that the resort manager learned from Paul, still alive and working for the company, that she was there. And that's when they moved her. Where did they take her remains? Why to join the others, of course. Her ashes were added to the copper urn in one of the seats around the stone table in the

mausoleum, putting her back where she belonged, among friends as dear to her as family. But Miss Bean might not have been too pleased about that decision. Perhaps after looking over the family and estate for all those years, being moved to the cold, dark tomb didn't settle well with her. It was only after the move that people began to see lights and hear voices. At the same time, the pranks and unusual activity started up inside the hotel. Coincidence? Or the actions of an upset woman who would rather spend her eternity away from the tourists

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This episode of lore was researched, written, and produced by me, Aaron Mankey. Lore is much more than a podcast. There's a book series in bookstores around the country and online, and the second season of the Amazon Prime television show was recently released. Check them both out if you want more lore in your life. I also make two other podcasts, Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, and Unobscured, and I think you'd enjoy both. Each one explores other areas of our dark history, ranging from bite-sized episodes to

season-long dives into a single topic. You can learn about both of those shows and everything else going on all over in one central place, theworldoflore.com slash now. Then you can also follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Just search for Lore podcast, all one word, and then click that follow button. When you do, say hi. I like it when people say hi. And as always, thanks for listening.