Hauntings at the Goldfield Hotel

In the empty small town of Goldfield, Nevada is the historic and reportedly very haunted Goldfield Hotel. The town was born in the early 1900’s when gold was discovered here in 1902 and a gold rush hit the area. Within a few months, it became the largest town in Nevada. Like other cities, whose only reason for being was its mining industry, when the ore played out, so did the town. In addition to its numerous saloons, the city once boasted three newspapers, five banks, a mining stock exchange, and a population of nearly 35,000. Unfortunately, just a few years after Goldfield was founded, the volume of ore began to decrease and many of its residents began to move on to more prosperous claims. By 1920, the gold was almost gone and the town was reduced to just about 1,500 people. Three years later, a devastating fire wiped out 27 blocks of homes and businesses here in Goldfield. Today, this once thriving city supports a population of less than 500 people, but it still provides a number of views of its prosperous past, with its centerpiece being the Goldfield Hotel.

In 1908 the Goldfield Hotel was opened amidst an array of fanfare. Designed by Architect George E. Holesworth, The hotel was built by millionaire George Wingfield, the primary owner of the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company. The building was built over a mine shaft that had gone dry. The four story building of stone and brick cost alittle over $300,000 to build and included 154 rooms with telephones, electric lights, and heated steam. The lobby was furnished in black leather upholstery, was paneled with mahogany, and crystal chandeliers hung from the beautiful gold-leaf ceilings. The hotel imported chefs from Europe and boasted one of the first Otis elevators west of the Mississippi River. Considered to be the most luxurious hotel between Chicago and San Francisco during the early 1900’s, it appealed to society’s upper class, making its owner George Wingfield an even richer man.

When Goldfield was in its heyday, the hotel entertained all manner of affluent guests. From politicians, to movie stars, to millionaires, all the rich and famous stayed at the Goldfield hotel. However, as the gold began to play out and Goldfield’s population diminished, the Goldfield Hotel began a gradual decline. By the 1930s, when the town supported fewer than 1,000 people, it had become little more than a flop house for cowboys and undiscriminating travelers. During World War II, it housed Army Air Corp personnel assigned to the Tonopah Air Base 25 miles north of Goldfield. After the soldiers checked out of the hotel in 1945, the hotel closed its doors forever.