Inside St. Ignatius: 3-Hour Private Investigation at Colfax Abandoned Hospital

St. Ignatius sits on the edge of Colfax, Washington: an abandoned hospital at 1009 S Mill St, Colfax, WA 99111, USA. The 3 Hour Private Investigation - St. Ignatius invites serious curiosity: six floors of hollowed wards, stairwells where plaster peels in ribbons, and long corridors that hold echoes of patient rooms and operating theaters. Led as a private investigation for up to the length of the booking, this experience hands you the tools of contemporary paranormal inquiry—EMF readers, digital recorders, and cameras—and lets you explore in deliberate solitude.

Unlike quick ghost tours that skim the surface, this three-hour private investigation lets you move methodically through a vertical, time-worn structure. The building’s mid-century brick and concrete frame, rusted elevator shafts, and tiled treatment rooms create a kind of industrial cathedral of decay that rewards careful observation: water stains that track past roofline failures, stamped floor tiles, medical alcoves, and a top-floor corridor where afternoon light slices through broken glass. The scene is less about manufactured jump scares and more about close attention to place and evidence.

Practical details matter: come prepared for steep, sometimes narrow staircases and uneven flooring; the operators ask you to arrive at the back door 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Cameras and recording gear are part of the experience, and the private format gives you time to test hypotheses and review footage between locations. For photographers and investigators, the contrast between sterile institutional architecture and organic decay makes for striking images and chilling audio captures.

This investigation is a standout offering in Whitman County’s outdoor and cultural landscape because it turns a disused civic building into an active learning site about local healthcare history and adaptive-reuse hazards. It’s unique in that the circuit covers all six floors—most urban-exploration experiences limit access—so you get a full vertical survey of how a hospital ages when maintenance stops.

Safety is emphasized: no entry after the tour has begun, and participants should have steady footing, a headlamp, and a willingness to move through enclosed, dim spaces. The activity blends history, hands-on equipment, and controlled risk, making it ideal for thrill-seekers, amateur investigators, and photographers who prefer atmospheric interiors over scenic vistas. If you’re visiting Colfax and want something that cuts against pastoral expectations of the Palouse, this private investigation offers a focused, slightly unsettling way to read a building’s past while practicing careful, respectful exploration.

Guides give a brief historical primer on the site before you enter and enforce protocols to protect fragile surfaces and remaining fixtures. Expect pauses to clean lenses and review anomalous readings; those quiet moments often produce the clearest evidence and make the session feel like forensic fieldwork genuinely instead of theatrics.