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Is the Mizpah Hotel haunted?

A few years ago, Laureen and I drove through Tonopah, Nevada on the way to see one of our daughters in Idaho. The town was founded around 1900 when a rich silver deposit was located in the nearby hills.

And that silver was founded by nothing more than serendipitous luck. 

Turns out that a miner, Jim Butler, was looking for a lost burro and had to spend the night hunkered below a rock outcropping. The next morning he located the burro, and picked up a large rock to heave it out of frustration.

“Wait,” he is rumored to have said to himself. “This rock is plenty heavy. I think I will have it assayed instead of just chucking it.”

In fact, that certain rock started the second richest silver strike in the state’s history, only behind the Comstock Lode near Virginia City.

Tonopah is the county seat of Nye County and is about midway between Las Vegas and Reno at the junction of U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 95. It’s a small town of just over two thousand folks, according to a 2019 statistic from the US Census Bureau.

We could only stay a couple of hours but learned a few things about this little berg during that time.

Wyatt Earp arrived in 1902 and opened the Northern Saloon. Hugh Bradner, the physicist, invented the neoprene wetsuit had lived there. Tasker Oddie, the 12th governor of Nevada and United States Senator lived there. And, Dennis Avner, also known as the Stalking Cat died in Tonopah in 2012 – he was the guy who had fourteen facial surgeries (body modifications) to make his face look like an actual feline.

So, there was a lot to this town – and, it is haunted.

Words can not explain this - really!

According to tonopahnevada.com, the whole town has ghosts and goblins hanging around.

There’s the prank loving ghost, George ‘Devil’ Davis, who plays gags on people at the Tonopah Liquor Company.

 

Then there is Bina Verrault, who left New York City under nefarious reasons, and ended up dying in Tonopah – she loves to stare out the windows of the Tonopah Historic Mining Park’s visitor’s center.

Then there is the cemetery which is haunted right next door to the infamous Clown Motel. Strange lights, full body apparitions, and weird noises can be heard coming from the cemetery.

Tonopah cemetery, next to the Clown Motel

But, isn’t a clown motel creepy enough without worrying about supernatural goings-on in the grave yard?

“Dad, I think that clown opening our door has a machete in his hand.”

“Not to worry, son, I’m only concerned about white orbs floating menacingly about the Old Tonopah Cemetery.”

And, according to USA Today 10Best Reader’s Choice Award in 2018, the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada was voted the most haunted hotel in America.

Hotel Mizpah, Tonopah

So haunted, that many paranormal professionals have visited this town in the south-western part of Nevada to investigate the numerous sightings of things with no explanations.

This hotel really has tales to tell.

Three of the most famous other-worldly residents at the hotel is the Lady in Red, who was stabbed and strangled between rooms 502 and 504 on the fifth floor. Then there are some children who are heard and seen running around the third floor and then just disappear into thin air. And finally, a murdered miner or robber hanging around in the basement – not really hanging there, more like, just hanging out.

Lady in Red suite at the Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah

“We’ve got to come back and book a room on the fifth floor,” I stated to Laureen, as we sauntered through the lobby of the gorgeous hotel.

The Mizpah Hotel was started in 1907, and was going to be the center-piece for the entire region. Architect, Morrill J. Curtis designed the large hotel and for a cost of over two hundred thousand dollars when completed in 1908, the town had their grand hotel.

It had fifty rooms, two restaurants, a bar and other rooms for meeting and social functions. Everything went well for the town and hotel, but like most mining communities, there is always an end to the gold and silver ore bonanza. By 1920 the population had dwindled, with miners looking for the next big strike.

Tonopah hung on with the induction of dollars from the military from the Tonopah Test Range, which was also used for the development of the F-117 Nighthawk. In 2014, a solar energy company dumped millions into the economy by constructing a solar plant nearby.

But, there wasn’t quite enough business to keep the Mizpah Hotel from closing, which it did in 1999 and fell into disrepair. An enterprising couple, Fred and Nancy Cline bought the vacant hotel for two hundred thousand dollars and retrofitted it to its former glory.

They did a marvelous job.

As we walked around the hotel, it felt as though we had stepped back more than a hundred years in time. The lobby, the reception desk, the wide stairways, and every other area in the hotel is painstakingly stunning.

Lobby at the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah

We had to stay – but we didn’t. Time was not on our side that trip, but we made a vow to spend the night in this haunted place the following year.

Nope, Covid-19 struck and that idea floated away like a paper boat in the gutter.

Well, on a recent trip through Nevada, sans Laureen – her schedule is a lot busier than mine – our friend, Paul Bakas, and I decided to see if the hotel is really haunted.

I contacted one guy, who I knew could give me the information I needed for this venture, and I got more than I needed to book a room at the hotel.

According to Cody Dare, from the paranormal investigating team of New Reality 11, they had a lot of action while filming a television episode at the Mizpah Hotel in the spring of 2021.

Cody Dare and his partner Shawn Warren on an investigation

“The basement is no joke. There is an old miner down there, very tall and very territorial. Lots of activity there. Lady in red, we didn’t catch much, but we did feel her presence there.”

I nodded at Paul. “I’m booking room 504.”

He was silent for a moment. “That’s kind of creepy. Trying to sleep in a room where there may be a ghost wandering around.”

“It is cool,” I returned.

Unfortunately, the room wasn’t available, and had a waiting list of about a year, according to the front desk clerk, Brittany.

“Everyone wants that room,” she said. “Weird, how people would want to sleep in a room a woman may have been killed in or near.”

“Yeah, that is weird,” I replied. We got a suite on the second floor and I put Laureen’s name on the waiting list.

All this ghost talk got me thirsty, so we stopped at the long dark polished wood bar on the first floor of the hotel for an adult libation.

Gorgeous bar in Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah

Alex, the bartender then shared some ghostly history of the hotel. There was plenty for at least two rounds of libations, we weren’t driving.

“I don’t believe in that stuff,” she stated. “But, I’ll tell you, I don’t like going into the basement.”

“I know, all those stairs going down that you have to come back up again,” I replied.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Alex said. “There’s just this strange feeling I get down there. As if someone is watching me. I usually ask someone else to get whatever I need, so I don’t have to experience those feelings.”

Cody Dare was correct, there was a lot of activity in the basement.

My plans were solid – stay up and be on the watch for anything out of the ordinary.

I spent the evening sitting in the large and wide hallway outside of the room, but no ghosts or paranormal activity greeted me. After midnight, I called the investigation over – I was tired.

In the morning, just prior to our leaving, we headed upstairs to the fifth floor, to snap some photos of room 504. I brought my phone, since it took excellent photos. Just being past six, no one was stirring, not even a mouse.

Stairwell at the Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah

I shot a few photos – looked at them – and felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

“Look at this,” I stated to Paul.

As I ran wiped back through the five shots I had taken of the door, there was nothing but a tenth-of-second view of the door and then the screen went blue. Each and every one of the photos.

“I think you may have shot a video too,” Paul said.

So happened I had, a short one by accident. The hair went even higher on the back of my neck.

There was the door, with a greenish hue plainly seen at the bottom of the door, and then a loud crashing sound.

No one in the hall, but a loud crash and light below door

There was no one else in the hallway but Paul and me. 

“Did you hear anything when I took those photos?” I asked.

“No, but I think it’s time to go,” Paul replied.

It was and we did.

Did I witness a paranormal activity? I don’t know, but just before heading downstairs, I took another couple of photos of the hallway away from the door, and not an issue. Each one came out clear and bright.

Is the hotel haunted? Again, I don’t know but when Laureen’s reservation comes up next year – perhaps we’ll find out.

Eureka, along the loneliest road in America

 

An article in Life magazine from July, 1986 listed U.S. Route 50 as ‘The Loneliest Road in America’.

That sounded rather sad, and lonely. I just had to visit and try to cheer up this long stretch of remote asphalt up. I’m that kind of guy – always thinking of the road.

Route 50 extends west to east over three thousand miles from West Sacramento, California to Ocean City in the state of Maryland. That is one long piece of highway. I did not have the time to travel it all at the moment, so a decision was made. I’d only travel the roadway across the section which traversed the state of Nevada. That was still over four hundred miles, but at least two-thousand six hundred miles shorter than the entire route.

That was doable.

“Won’t you be lonely out there on the loneliest road in America?” Laureen asked.

“I thought you’d like a short outing,” I replied.

“No can do this week, really busy,” she answered.

So, I cajoled my buddy, Paul, to venture out for this newest adventure. He was game.

“I’m game,” he stated.

We drove north on U.S. Route 395 and enjoyed visiting the towns of Olancha, Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, Bigger Pine, Lee Vining, and Biggest Pine. Cruising the eastern side of the Sierra mountain range is always a great road trip. Desert brown turning to forest green is awe inspiring. It’s as if Mother Nature is showing all the colors available on her palette. 

We grabbed Route 50 just east of Carson City and were on our way along the loneliest road in America.

I felt a tear slowly fall, as I made that turn.

Within a hundred miles, it dawned on me why this stretch of highway was given the moniker by Life magazine – it was lonely. There is nothing to be seen except flat lands stretching to the horizons on either side of the road.

“Do you see anything?” I asked Paul.

“Nope, nothing to see.”

Of course, there are the small towns of Fallon, Middlegate, Austin, and such along the way, but in between these locales there was nothing but mile after mile of nothingness and loneliness.

We drove for hours and never saw another vehicle. When it was time to camp for the evening, I didn’t even have to pull off the side of the highway. No, just pitched a tent in the middle of the road – no semi-truck ran us over during the night.

In all transparency, we didn’t camp in the middle of the road, which would be dangerous and stupid. Things I try to avoid, or don’t tell Laureen about.

Around noon, on the second day of our trip, we pulled into the town of Eureka, Nevada. I believed it would only be for a tankful of gasoline, but I was wrong.

This town, first settled in 1864 by a group of prospectors who found rich silver-lead ore in the nearby hills, was more than just a fuel fill-up. Turns out there is much more to Eureka than being one of the best preserved historic old mining towns I have come across. 

Part of downtown Eureka, Nevada

The downtown looks like you have been transported into the late 1800’s. Pristine buildings like the Eureka Opera House, the Colonnade Hotel, the Owl Club Saloon Roadhouse, the Eureka County Courthouse, and the majestic Jackson House Hotel, just to name a few.

One of the many older but well maintained buildings

And the best part about Eureka – it’s haunted.

According to Dana Lee Fruend, the Eureka Tourism Director, the town has more ghosts than can be counted.

John R Beyer with Dana Lee Fruend

So haunted, in 2017 the Travel Channel sent Zak Bagan and his crew from the series ‘Ghost Adventures’, to investigate. Since then, professional and amateur paranormal investigators have paid Eureka many visits.

We met Fruend in the Jackson House Hotel, built in 1877, and is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in the town.

Jackson House Hotel in Eureka, Nevada

Many people have reported sitting at the bar inside the Jackson House Hotel and seeing the words – ‘I’m watching you’, mysteriously appear on the fogged mirror behind the bar.

“Perhaps it’s just Alexa, or the government” I stated to Fruend.

“I don’t think so,” she replied.

During the heydays of Eureka back in the late 1800’s, a violent or mysterious death wasn’t an unusual event for the town. For example, a man keeled over one night while drinking at the bar – he was dead before he hit the floor. Another man collapsed outside the hotel’s front door after receiving a fatal gunshot during a heated argument.

Violence in mining towns was not rare, and Eureka experienced its fair share through the years.

“I actually had a strange occurrence myself,” Fruend stated. “One evening I was doing some paperwork here in the office when suddenly doors starting opening and slamming shut. I heard footsteps right outside the office, but when I investigated, there was no one there. There was no one in the entire building. It freaked me out, so I gathered my things and went home to finish the work.”

Another employee, saw two children going up the hotels stairway and then just disappear into thin air.

“There’s a guy we call Ray, who really is active in the kitchen,” she said. “He’s not there, but the utensils move around a lot as though he’s trying to cook something.”

A ghost cooking? Talk about empty calories – I couldn’t resist that one. 

It also turned out that the Owl Bar, just down the street from the hotel is haunted. 

Owl Restaurant and Bar in Eureka, Nevada

“There’s an employee there who has been photographed with floating white orbs around her in numerous photos. There’s a cowboy who has been seen, just hanging out at the bar, but isn’t really there. And, a mirror where a woman is seen in it, and then the mirror can only be cleaned using Gin. No other cleaning product works after she is seen.”

That’s a picky ghost. 

“No, Vodka won’t do. You’ll have to use the good Gin to get me out of the mirror,” the ghost was once overheard saying.

Interior of Owl Bar in Eureka, Nevada

“There are other sightings in different parts of town and at different times of the day or year,” Fruend told us. “But this is a beautiful town with wonderful people who live here. I couldn’t think of anywhere to live.”

Eureka receives over ten thousand tourists a year – not bad since it sits on the Route 50. Most come for the beauty of the countryside or the numerous events held in the town. In June, there is the Legends of the West Bike and Car Fest, the great 4th of July celebration, in September the art, wine and music festival, and so much more.

Fruend is a fount of knowledge concerning Eureka, so much so, she described an old dilapidated part of town that most tourists don’t know about. It too is supposedly haunted.

We got the directions and within minutes were on our way.

Driving approximately a mile and a half over paved and then dirt roads, we found ourselves on a hill high above Eureka. There was a large production plant of some sort to the northeast of us and then a cluster of really tattered looking old wooden buildings to the southwest.

Outside of the town of Eureka, Nevada

Exploring buildings in disrepair must be approached carefully. You don’t want a roof beam falling down on your head. I do it because I’m a professional explorer and have a very hard noggin.

“Check this out,” Paul stated while he was standing in front of one of the buildings. No windows, no doors, but a very creepy cloth painting hanging on the rear wall. He was snapping photos with his phone.

“That is creepy,” I stated. It was a painting of a woman, tattered, and blowing in the breeze with two dark orbs as eyes.

A haunting image in Eureka, Nevada

“My camera won’t take a photo,” Paul stated. He then showed me multiple shots he had taken of the cloth painting and each one only came out dark blue. He then took a photo of another building and no issue. Clear and bright.

Again, I’m a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal stuff, but there was something in that small house that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

We walked around a bit, snapped a few more photos and it was time to go. I felt a bit better as I looked in the rear view mirror watching the rundown buildings disappear.

Eureka is more than just a place to look for hauntings. As the tourism director told me, the town’s motto is – ‘Eureka! You’ve found us! History, Folklore and fun, we have it all.’

And, they certainly do.