Welcome back, my spooky darlings! I am so sorry that break took longer than I was expecting. Training took much more time than I thought it would and I was left with zero free time. Once I passed my auditions, I needed to focus on my home (which was neglected for two weeks while I trained) and the podcast. Hopefully you have had a chance to listen to the podcast that came out on Sunday. The podcast is about my two favorite spots in Old Town San Diego, the Whaley House and El Campo Santo. In the podcast I also give a final update about the investigation we had done basically three months ago. Go check out the episode if you haven’t already.
With that all being said, let’s get into today’s topic. This week we are checking out locations in the great state of Nevada. Today’s topic has been mentioned briefly in a previous post from two years ago when I talking about haunted locations in Virginia City, Nevada. Today’s topic is the Gold Hill Hotel and the Yellow Jacket Mine.
The Gold Hill Hotel and Yellow Jacket Mine are located in Gold Hill, Nevada near Virginia City. The Gold Hill Hotel was original a two story home known as the Riese House. I couldn’t find information about when it was built. In 1862, Horace Vessy leased the property and built a three story building next to the home. He opened the Vessy Hotel which in addition to rooms, he offered fine dining and entertainment. Over the next few decades it would change hands and names several times. Also the building that Vessy built, would be torn down, leaving the original two story building. Over the years it would be used as a hotel, boarding house, and a private residence until 1950s. If the 1950s, it became the Gold Hill Hotel.
There are a couple of well know ghosts that haunt the hotel. In the post where I mentioned the Gold Hill Hotel, I mentioned William and Rosie. I had said that the were the former owner and his housekeeper. Since doing more research, I have found that may not be the case. Some theorize that William may be a miner that died in a mining accident (more about that later) and that Rosie may have been a prostitute. Either way, they have decided to stick around the hotel. Rosie’s room is Room Four. She is known to be around when you smell roses. Some guests say its a light scent that is barely there and others described it as being being dowsed with a large bottle of cheap perfume. Rosie also has the habit of turning lights on and off all hours of the day and night. She will also play tricks on the guests by moving their items around until they ask for their stuff back, then the guest will find it resting in its original place. William is close by in Room Five. He is associated with the scent of cigars. Guests say they will enter the room and it would smell like someone had just been in their room smoking a cigar. He has also startled guests by sitting on the bed beside them while they sleep. As the guest wakes up, they will feel him stand back up as if apologetic for waking them. William also has a sense humor by locking guests out of their room whenever he feels like it. Another set of ghosts often experienced is a gaggle of children spirits running around and giggling upstairs. Workers at the hotel and guests both remark that they smelled fresh made chocolate chip cookies when they heard the children playing. Sounds like a pleasant haunting to me.
Located just behind the hotel is Yellow Jacket Mine. Yellow Jacket Mine was used for mining gold and silver. This is also the site of Nevada’s worst mining accident. On April 7, 1869, a methane fire was accidentally started at the 800 feet level when a lantern was left unattended. As miners were being lowered into the mine to begin their shift, they didn’t know that below them timbers were burning and collapsing at an alarming rate while the tunnels were filling with poisonous gasses. Both the Virginia City firefighters and Gold Hill firefighters responded to the call but due to water pressure issues, they couldn’t put out the fire. The fire would continue to burn for about 3 weeks. Over 35 miners were killed and only 34 bodies were found. Thankfully the fire happened during shift change instead of mid-shift. Had it happened mid-shift, the death count would have been much higher.
Now a days, most of the Yellow Jacket Mine is closed to the public. All that remains is the mine’s incline, the head frame, the break house which is now a part of the hotel, and a few spirits. Almost every night people see miners dressed up in their work gear making their way from the break house to the mine. Blue and white balls of light have been seen and photographed by the entrance of the mine. Visitors that ignore the local laws and go near the mine have reported hearing miners crying out in terror and pain. There have also been reports of disembodied voices around the mines.
If you go to check out the hotel, please be respectful and don’t go to parts of the mine that are off limits. There is plenty of activity at the hotel and the area right around it to satisfy true ghost hunters. Not only is it unethical to explore places you don’t have permission, but its also really dangerous. I don’t want to have to report about a visitor’s spirit stuck in the mine because they couldn’t abide by the rules. Come back thursday for another spooky post about a haunted location in Nevada!
Paranormal Housewife 