Qualla: Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Barbaracactus, Public domain. The Goldfield Hotel was supposed to last forever. Built in 1908 during Nevada's last great gold rush, the four-story brick palace offered 154 rooms, mahogany trim, Tiffany fixtures, and a gold-leaf ceiling that declared Goldfield's arrival as a permanent city. The gold ran out within a decade. The hotel closed in 1945 and hasn't reopened since. But the guests never entirely left - at least according to ghost hunters who've made the Goldfield the most investigated haunted building in the American West. The story they tell: George Wingfield, mining magnate and hotel owner, impregnated a prostitute named Elizabeth, chained her to a radiator in Room 109, and threw her body down a mineshaft after she died in childbirth. Her ghost, they say, still haunts the upper floors, still angry, still trapped.

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Image: Barbaracactus | Public domain

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: The Boom

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vivaverdi, CC BY 3.0. Goldfield erupted in 1902 when gold was discovered in the desert hills of south-central Nevada. By 1906 it was Nevada's largest city, home to 20,000 residents, three newspapers, and ambitions of permanence. George Wingfield, a cowboy-turned-gambler-turned-mining magnate, built th...

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Image: Vivaverdi | CC BY 3.0

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: The Legend

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jerry Willis from Tomé, NM, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0. The ghost story emerged decades after the hotel closed. According to popular accounts, George Wingfield kept a prostitute named Elizabeth in Room 109, hiding her pregnancy from his wife. When she gave birth, he killed her - chaining her to the room's radiator, starving her, throw...

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Image: Jerry Willis from Tomé, NM, United States of America | CC BY-SA 2.0

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: The Hauntings

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stammberger1973, CC BY-SA 3.0. Paranormal investigators have documented phenomena throughout the Goldfield Hotel: cold spots, electrical anomalies, doors opening, figures in windows. Room 109 remains the focus - investigators report especially intense experiences there. A ghost hunting television show allegedl...

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Image: Stammberger1973 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: The Limbo

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore, CC BY-SA 3.0. Multiple buyers have purchased the Goldfield Hotel intending restoration, then abandoned plans when costs exceeded budgets. The building is structurally sound - brick and stone don't collapse like wood - but the interior has deteriorated beyond simple repair. Asbestos, lead paint...

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Image: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore | CC BY-SA 3.0

Goldfield Hotel: Nevada's Most Haunted Building: Visiting Goldfield

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore, CC BY-SA 3.0. Goldfield is located on US-95 in south-central Nevada, roughly 190 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The hotel is visible from the highway but not accessible to the public - the building is private property and entering is trespassing. Ghost tours operate occasionally; check local so...

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Image: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore | CC BY-SA 3.0