The Ellis-Waite building is a historic structure located on Main Street in Colfax, Washington. Built in 1893, it is recognized as a significant piece of local architecture.

History

The building originally stood as part of the Waite & Ellis block. Throughout the 20th century, it housed various commercial enterprises. For instance, in 1920, the Linville Brothers Furniture company purchased the buildings and established a passage between them. The Hotel was above the retail stores with an entrance on the street. It was a brothel and half way house over the years. 

Following years of use, the building eventually fell into disrepair and sat vacant and boarded up for approximately 15 years before a revitalization project, often associated with the Colfax Mercantile, was undertaken to restore the structure.

Hauntings and Paranormal Reputation

In recent years, the Ellis-Waite building has gained a reputation in paranormal circles as being haunted. It has attracted the attention of ghost hunters and paranormal researchers, with reports often including:

• Residual Activity: Some investigations have characterized the building’s history as ripe for "residual" paranormal energy, suggesting that past events may be replayed or imprinted upon the space.youtube.com

• General Atmosphere: Visitors and researchers have reported experiencing unexplained phenomena while inside the structure, contributing to its notoriety as a "spooky" location in Colfax.boocrewcasefiles.com

Colfax itself is sometimes cited in regional folklore as having a "dark history," which occasionally leads to wider, anecdotal associations between various historic buildings in the town and paranormal phenomena.facebook.com However, the Ellis-Waite building maintains a specific reputation distinct from other famously haunted sites in the area, such as the St. Ignatius Hospital.