Mark Todd's Blog, page 6

Colorado Haunted Hotels - The Bross Hotel

We're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs in our book forthcoming in early June,  


WILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Bross Hotel in Paonia, Colo. (If you missed the earlier account of our own paranormal investigation at the Bross, click here.)


* * *Historical Context

In 1900, William Taylor (W.T.) Bross and his wife Laura Harkness Bross came to Paonia with six children. W.T. bought the lots where the hotel would stand, and in 1905 construction began, using locally fired bricks, still visible both within and without. At the same time, Laura ran an eating and lodging house next door, where the family lived. The hotel opened for business in 1906.
The Bross Hotel became a popular lodging and dining facility, and Paonia’s The Newspaperon April 6, 1906, proclaimed it as “[t]he only really first-class hotel” in Delta county. Triple-brick construction made the building virtually fireproof. The hotel was exceptional for the times, having a basement and three above-ground stories. All floors still display bay windows, attesting to the wealth of the owners. It also contained a furnace rather than a fireplace, indoor plumbing, full bathrooms with hot-and-cold water on each floor, and even electric lights.
OT & Laura BrossW.T. brought guests to the hotel from the evening train, using his horse-drawn cart. Laura, known as Mother Bross, served as the hotel manager, meeting guests at the door, collecting room payments, and explaining the rules of the house. Her granddaughter later recalled that Mother Bross was a “real dressed up lady… in dark skirts, white top, and always white apron. And a black velvet ribbon around her neck.”
When W.T died in 1921, their youngest son Otto took charge and retained ownership throughout the 1930s, upgrading and remodeling the facility.
In 1944, Otto sold the hotel to Lura Atkins, but on the condition that he could remain a resident until his death, which occurred in 1959. He wasn’t the only longtime boarder. Merrill Henry lived for thirty years at the Bross until his death in 1984.
Through the years, the hotel changed hands eight times. For the past 14 years, Linda Lentz has owned and operated the B&B.
Local Legends & Ghostly StoriesWhile staying at The Bross, you can pick up an interesting booklet, Bross Hotel: One Hundred Years, 1906-2006, written by Linda Lentz, which includes accounts of previous hauntings and apparitions.
In 1993, a family briefly rented the hotel for temporary accommodations. The laundry at that time was located on the second floor, and the family’s mother reported she never felt comfortable in that room because it felt like someone was watching her. One day, Mother Bross appeared to her, wearing a black skirt and white blouse. She appeared a second time and the woman tried to communicate with her, but the apparition disappeared.
On another occasion, the children in that family also reported an encounter in the basement with a spirit they felt was a man. They told it to go away and it did. The man in the basement could have been Otto or even Merrill Henry, the other longtime hotel resident.
Mirror that Mother Bross's 
ghost knocked to the floorAccording to Linda, Mother Bross never really left the premises and has made her presence known in multiple ways through the years. One notable account took place in the late 1990s when a former innkeeper made disparaging remarks about Mother Bross’s appearance while looking at the founder’s portrait in the reception room: “Immediately, the large mirror over the back bar in the dining room fell down, hit the counter, and landed on the floor without breaking.” The innkeeper traveled directly upstairs to Room Two, where she apologized, and the mirror has never fallen since. Linda told us the mirror was moly-bolted to the wall and should not have fallen.
The same former innkeeper also said Mother Bross had a tendency to sit on beds, mussing the covers, moving objects, and playing other tricks. 
Ironically, Mother Bross ran the hotel but never lived there; her home was next door. However, her son did reside in Room Two until his death. Linda suggests, “She is happy in Room Two…. Mother Bross probably haunts that room because she’s looking out for her baby, Otto.”
We interviewed Hector Zeferino of Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators, who investigated the hotel during the late summer of 2014. He told us he’d personally spent the night in Room Two. When he turned in, he felt invisible hands tuck the covers around the length of his body – a common experience at the B&B. The team reported interactions with both Laura and W.T. Bross.  Over a period of two days, they also interacted with Otto, his wife, and son Billy as well.
Hotel guests have reported apparitions on both the second and third floors. 
* * *Next week, we share the history and ghostly legends associated with South Fork's Spruce Lodge, where  owners and guests alike have learned to expect a whole range of paranormal activity, including poltergeists and repeated full-body apparitions.
We're now in week six of the countdown toward publication of  WILD WEST GHOSTS!

Creede Hotel - Our Para Investigation

Our latest paranormal investigation took place at the Creede Hotel & Restaurant in Creede, CO.

(This is Part Two of a two-part series. If you missed our previous account of the wild history and ghostly legends for this hotel and frontier mining town, click here.)

But first a S/O to proprietor/chef David Toole and hotel manager Leslie Heller, who both welcomed us and made the whole facility available to our investigation. Thanks, you two!


Since we visited before the hotel opened for its summer season, David and Leslie left the premises and gave us the run of the place to conduct our investigation. This arrangement worked for us because that eliminated external noise and the possibility of contaminated EVPs. (EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon, an audio effect through either a digital recorder or a spirit box as a means for ghosts to communicate.)
They recommended the Calamity Jane Room and the Poker Alice Room – the two guestrooms with the most reported paranormal activity. We headed up the narrow staircase and started with an EMF sweep of these two rooms and the hallway. (EMF stands for E lectro m agnetic F ield, and EM field strengths may indicate ghosts are present or trying to communicate.) At the mouth of the stairwell, the meter showed 380mG and climbed to a steady 460mG near the bathroom at the other end of the hall. The EM field in the Calamity Jane Room registered 400mG on the east side, 530 over the bed, and mid 600s by the balcony. These readings were our baseline measurements to compare against any anomalies.
Calamity Jane Room We set up our camcorder, digital recorder, flashlight, and spirit box to start our first session.  We introduced ourselves, explained our equipment to any invisible presences, and invited them to speak with us or manipulate the flashlight. The light remained steady throughout the time in this room, and we’d have to wait until we returned home to analyze the digital audio recordings. We observed EMF fluctuations from 530mG to 570mG while we asked for interaction.

However, the spirit box managed to produce a number of EVPs we could hear at the time. We asked if any spirits were here to talk to us and heard a quick response of “Here?” We weren’t alone in the hotel after all. So we asked again how many spirits shared the room with us and heard twice, “Eight” – standing room only. Then we queried their names. The first reply was “Myrtle.” (We would later research that name for the vicinity and found several possibilities. Myrtle was common during the era, and a number of them lived and died in Creede.) We also heard the names “Liz” and “Fes” as well as a man’s voice saying, “Death.”
An EVP conversation we captured
During our later analysis, we discovered we’d captured a woman’s voice declaring, “I think I’m going to shoot you.” That unexpected announcement followed a less intelligible statement by a man, and we think we recorded an exchange between the two of them rather than a threat aimed at us.
Bob FordDuring the real-time session, Kym heard a voice coming from just beyond the open room door, so we checked the hallway expecting to see Leslie. No one in the hallway – at least, no one we could see since we were locked down and alone on the premises. But when we asked who was in the hall, a woman’s voice told us, “Bob.” Bob Ford? He’d died in 1892, assassinated in his nearby tent-saloon while he boarded at this establishment.
We struck camp and moved across the hall to the Poker Alice Room. On the way we noticed the slight odor of smoke – but only for a moment (a whiff of Alice’s famous stogie?) Since the building displayed a no-smoking sign, we mentioned this to David in a later follow-up interview. He told us that end of the hotel was closest to the buildings that burned when fires swept through early-day Creede. Make of that what you will.
Poker Alice StubsIn the Poker Alice Room, we followed the same routine for the next session. We recorded 500mG throughout the room and 550mG over the bed (metal bed springs may have elevated these stable readings.)
Again, no interaction with the flashlight. But the spirit box captured multiple names and phrases. Most intriguing was “Alice” – given the room bore her name, and we know she boarded in this facility. We also recorded the name “David” and the word “Brave.” Other phrases proved more perplexing, including some clear and some garbled words but each delivered by separate voices. One asked the question, “You have the two (boys?)?” Another proclaimed, “Bless you,” and still another said, “Come to (me?).”

We decided to run an experiment on the dresser where a spirit had knocked over seven consecutive glasses. We set up two coffee mugs near the edge and invited the spirit to repeat the event. After ten minutes, the mugs remained in place. In later analysis, we discovered on the digital audio recording a response to our question, “Did you knock the glasses over?” (in front of the former guest). The immediate answer was a whispered “Yes.”
Poker Alice Room where seven
glasses tumbled from this dresserAll we needed to crown our investigation. Audio-only EVPs are some of the most convincing types of evidence ghost hunters capture.
 * * *Next week, we share the history and ghostly legends surrounding the Bross Hotel in Paonia, CO, where we witnessed a fanny print on a freshly made bed  -- a common paranormal occurrence reported by others as well in this very haunted B&B.
NEWS FLASH: We're now in the six-week countdown for the publication of WILD WEST BOOKS in early June, which includes the above excerpt as well as accounts for thirteen other haunted hotels in southwestern Colorado. Stay tuned!

Colorado Haunted Hotels - Creede Hotel

We're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book in early June,  
WILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Creede Hotel in Creede, Colo. (This is Part I of a two-part series. Next week, we'll share our own investigation of the hotel, including EVPs clips and sample video from our findings.)


* * *Historical Context
Hopeful prospectors worked the canyons surrounding Creede after the first silver strike in 1869, but the region remained too remote to make mining profitable for years. Ranching and homesteading followed when stage stations reached the area by the 1870s, but the three tiny communities of Stringtown, Jimtown, and Amethyst remained small and struggling until a miner named Nicholas Creede discovered a rich vein of silver in nearby East Willow Creek Canyon in 1889.
Legend has it Creede declared, “Holy Moses, I’ve struck it rich!” and his Holy Moses Mine launched Colorado’s last great silver boomtown. Over the next two years, the communities swelled from 600 locals to well over 10,000, spilling over six miles and consuming the other settlements under the name of Creede. Soon the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad began serving the area’s mines. Life was good.
Bob FordThe boomtown days were wild times, drawing notorious figures such as gambler Robert Ford, who’d killed Jesse James. A disgruntled gamer named O’Kelley later shot Ford in the back inside a tent-saloon, but he was pardoned for ridding the town of Ford’s monopoly on gambling. Still, organized graft soon fell to the wiles of Soapy Smith, who operated an extortion racket from the Orleans Club, taking a cut from saloons, brothels, and gaming houses throughout the town.

Other infamous individuals drawn to Creede included Bat Masterson and William Sidney "Cap" Light (the town’s first deputy sheriff, also the brother-in-law of Soapy Smith).
Creede boasted a hundred lodging establishments at the time, and the Creede Hotel, then Zang's Hotel (after its owner), was hailed as one of the town's finest. John Zang, a Denver brewer, had come to Creede to distribute his beer, building
the hotel along with a saloon and brothel.
Calamity Jane Poker AliceNo structure in Creede was ever grand or elaborate – buildings were thrown up as quickly as possible – and Zang’s Hotel was no exception. Still, the hotel was the fanciest place in town to stay, and Smith, Ford, Poker Alice Tubbs, and Calamity Jane all boarded there at one time or another.
Poker Alice worked gambling rooms throughout mining towns in Colorado, usually puffing on a black stogie. She became a well-known figure at Bob Ford’s Creede Exchange. She once remarked, “I’d rather play poker with five or six experts than eat.”

Known for her wild tales, Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary) also played cards like a pro, wore only men’s clothing, and had the reputation of out-drinking any man at the bar. She lived in Creede for a time, playing poker at local saloons.
Fires ravaged Creede twice around the turn of the century, both times sparing Zang’s Hotel. 
When silver prices fell in 1893, Soapy Smith headed north to the Klondike. With anti-gaming reforms lifted in Denver the previous year, many others drifted away from town also following the silver price panic. Creede’s boom days were over.
Zang's tombstoneAfter operating the hotel for a number of years, Zang met with an unfortunate end. In June of 1911, Zang broke into a home, made unwanted advances, and attacked a woman who shot and killed him. Mrs. Zang retained and operated the hotel until 1919.
The town survived on lead and zinc in the local ores through much of the 20th Century, but the last railroad run ended in 1973. These days, the town continues as a tourist and outdoor recreation center. 
The Creede Hotel remains the town’s oldest lodging and dining establishment, and visitors can overnight in restored guestrooms that once served as home to many of Creede’s colorful and notorious characters.
The current owner, David Toole, has operated the business since 2000, and he lives in the building’s quarters that once served as the brothel. The bar still attracts celebrities, including politicians and at one point western icon John Wayne, who owned property nearby.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesMost who’ve worked at The Creede Hotel have a ghost story to tell. Leslie Heller, hotel manager for a decade, finds the pictures running the length of hall next to the bar askew every morning. She also feels an invisible presence on a regular basis. Only a few days before we interviewed her, she heard a whistled tune coming from the bar, which was empty. She didn’t recognize the song, and when she whistled for us the few bars she could remember, we didn’t either.
Note registration desk to right,
where apparition vanishedShe often sees movement out of the corner of her eye in the morning before other staffers arrive. That may well be: The former manager saw an apparition of a woman approach the front desk in the restaurant and carried on a brief conversation with the manager before the figure disappeared before his eyes.

One evening, a restaurant waitperson headed toward the kitchen with trays full of dishes, wondering how she would manage the door. She needn’t have worried. An unseen hand opened the door for her and closed it politely behind.
During the summer of 2014, an intern staffer from Europe captured with a camera the image of a Victorian-dressed woman in the antique mirror in the Western Room. The photo revealed a figure with a rather long neck twisted awkwardly to the side in a pose resembling someone dangling from a hangman’s noose.
Staffer captured camera image
in mirror of apparitionSometimes, upstairs guests experience their own share of ghostly encounters. Each guestroom contains a journal to record impressions of their stay. One entry in the Poker Alice Room states, “Besides the ghost presence on our last night … the glasses on the nightstand were falling off one by one. When I picked them up this morning, there were seven on the floor.”
Other guests have reported footsteps walking up and down the stairwell.
Although David seldom encounters ghostly activity himself, he said he occasionally senses  unseen presences: “I feel like they appreciate me taking care of the place and leave me alone.”* * *Watch next weekend for the second part of this account: when we'll share possible EVPs communications with "Bob" (Bob Ford?) and "Alice" (Poker Alice?) as well as intriguing video-clip excerpts from our investigation.
In the meantime, join us for the countdown of the release of  WILD WEST GHOSTS in only seven weeks!

Colorado Haunted Hotels - the Beaumont in Ouray

Between now and late spring, we're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book, 
Beaumont Hotel & Spa
WILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Colo. (If you missed -- or want to revisit -- the paranormal investigation we conducted at this hotel, you can click here, as well as link to YouTube clips from our actual investigations.)




* * *Historical Context
Downtown OurayThe San Juan range is one of the most highly mineralized sections in Colorado, drawing minors to Ouray as early as the 1850s in search of silver and gold. Although the serious rush began in the 1870s, the area’s mining heyday peaked for a decade starting in 1883. Horses, burros, mules, and carriages brought the first prospectors, and the population began to soar with reported silver strikes. The railroad made it to the valley in 1891, and Ouray grew from a miners' camp to a flourishing frontier community. Queen Anne Victorian storefronts and hotels popped up throughout the fledgling town, including the Beaumont Hotel, built in 1886 of bricks fired from the mud of local hot springs.
"unescorted ladies"
staircaseThe hotel began as an enterprise to entertain railroad and mining investors to the area and claims thedistinction as one of the first in the country wired for AC current. Like many Old West towns, soiled doves frequented the local lodging establishments. A private staircase at the Beaumont provided “unescorted ladies” access to their clients – it still exists, though now used primarily by staff.
Most mines in the region closed by 1923, followed by the train’s closure in 1936. Because of diminishing tourism in this area during the mid-twentieth century, the Beaumont Hotel shut down in 1964. For nearly forty years the building stood vacant and fell into disrepair. The hotel sold in 1998 and new owners remodeled and reconfigured the rooms. After reopening in 2003, the hotel received the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation. A year later, it earned one of the first Preserve America Presidential Awards for historic preservation.

Most of Ouray’s permanent buildings constructed between 1880-1900 still stand, skillfully restored.
Lobby staircaseThe hotel’s lounge is named after Luella Huey, the last know prostitute practicing out of the Beaumont. According to a plaque next to the bar, “As young children, her daughter Judy and her two younger cousins would search for Luella in hopes of finding her entertaining one of her many local miner friends. If the pursuit was successful, each child was rewarded a silver dollar…. If all else failed, the three determined children would climb the staircase of the Beaumont Hotel and gingerly tap on the door of Luella’s room. Sometimes their knocks were rewarded – more times not. Years took their toll on the beautiful Luella, and she died at the young age of 40.”
At least one murder occurred on the premises through the early years, involving a hotel waitress named Eller Day in 1887. A jealous pastry chef shot her four times in the Luella Lounge. Authorities incarcerated him for a pending trial, but the jail burned down at the hands of enraged vigilantes that very night with the chef still inside.
The Beaumont boasts through the years such famous guests as presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, King Leopold of Belgium, Chipeta (widow of Ute chief Ouray), actresses Sarah Bernhardt, Angie Dickinson and, more recently, Oprah Winfrey.
Current owners Chad and Jennifer Leaver bought the hotel in 2010.
Today, recreationists can enjoy many of the high-country routes that miners developed over a century ago, still leading to nearby ghost towns and abandoned mines.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesWhen we asked Jen about the hotel’s paranormal hotspots, she seemed hard-pressed to identify any location that didn’t hold such reports.
Luella LoungeAll of the rooms harbor paranormal activity, with doors locking and unlocking on their own. Guests and staff have also detected the smell of perfume and tobacco smoke in every room and all the hallways – even though the entire facility is nonsmoking.
During renovation of the lounge, workers would gather their tools and put them up for the night, locking the door behind them. The next morning, they always found the tools scattered about, thus dubbing the room the “Voodoo Lounge.”
We talked to a staffer who began working when the hotel reopened. He said one specific area in the dining room frequently plummeted 23 degrees in a matter of moments. He also reported seeing a figure behind him reflected in the bar mirror out of the corner of his eye. He’d turn around and no one would be there. The experience recurred two or three times a week, and he always had the impression the figure was a woman. Someone working in the spa told him she often found the beauty products displayed on the table by the door transposed to the floor in the exact same arrangement the next morning. The night person regularly received complaints that guestroom door knobs rattled during the night.
Other regular poltergeist activity includes lamps turning on and off and the presence of inexplicable fog in the hallway. One curious event took place during a couple’s first night in Room 304. The man offered to draw a bath for his wife in the antique claw-foot bathtub. She declined, saying she’d wait until morning. To their surprise the next day, the tub had filled with water awaiting her.
In a different room, a guest woke up to a “nurse ghost” sitting next to the bed, and another guest witnessed a full-body apparition wearing a long white dress on the third-floor atrium.
One source relates the story of a ghostly woman said to walk the halls at 2:15 a.m. on every quarter of the moon. Some say her husband murdered her, and she continues to look for him. Supposedly the ghostly scene replays, but only with her and not her killer husband.
An apparition wearing a long white
dress was seen on this balconyAccording to area author MaryJoy Martin, one of her acquaintances had visited the hotel and found her way to a guestroom she’d stayed in years before.  She took a photograph of an old picture hanging on the wall and, after developing it, found the reflection of two gentlemen standing in period clothing. The figures had the appearance of people engaged in conversation but stopping just long enough to look her way as she snapped the photo.
“Our ghosts are just pranksters,” Jen told us. “None are ever threatening.”
* * *Soon after uploading this post, we head over to Creede for the final investigation we'll include in the forthcoming book. The Creede Hotel has a long history of haunted activity in this historic 1880s building, once home to notorious boarders like Calamity Jane, Bob Ford (who killed Jesse James), Soapy Smith, and Bat Masterson during this boomtown's frontier mining days. You can join us for live tweets starting Saturday at noon (Mtn Time) on Twitter @WriteintheThick

Stay tuned next week for the full account of our investigation there!

Para Investigation - Back to Cripple Creek, Part 2

The swirling of orbs of an angry ghost, the voice of a famous dead astrologer, and invisible touches in front of a portal to another dimension -- this investigation had it all.

This is Part 2 of our paranormal investigation in Cripple Creek, Colo., at the Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum followed by our same-night return investigation to Linda Goodman's Miracle Inn/Last Dollar Inn. (If you missed Part 1's account, click here.)


When Hector Zeferino of Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators (HPI) invited us to participate in their fourth investigation in Cripple Creek, we jumped at the opportunity to work alongside a seasoned professional team.
Cripple Creek's old jail houseAfter we'd encountered the spirit of "Amy" on the jail's third floor (see previous account), we shifted our portion of the investigation to the main cell block, where one of the more notorious spirits resided, an entity known as "Joe." His most concentrated presence was in the confinement cell where he spent a great deal of time before his death, and he'd previously attacked HPI investigator Seth Davis, who was determined to confront the spirit again. We served as his back up when the three of us took our turn in Joe's cell during a lock-down with lights off.

That cell would provide one of several memorable experiences that evening.

Until that night, we'd made the calculated decision to conduct all the previous investigations for our Colorado haunted hotels book during the day. Our assumption was that ghosts didn't necessarily operate on an earthly 24-hour clock and, besides, we figured it was better to see what we were doing. Still, we wondered how our nerve would hold up in the presence of a known hostile spirit. And in the dark.

As it turned out, we were too busy recording the experience to over-think what happened next.

Multiple flying orbs sail around HPI investigator Seth Davis
Seth put on prison garb to goad Joe, and we bravely trooped in and set up our equipment just as we normally would. The atmosphere seemed oppressive in the cell, but this time no violence occurred. However, Joe was definitely present. Although our digital recorder captured no EVPs of Joe, we did record to video a whole series of flying orbs sailing around Seth as he taunted the angry spirit. In fact, we captured 28 flying orbs over the next 15 minutes.

It was a new kind of evidence for us, and we were so delighted with our documentation it never occurred to us to feel scared.

Astrologer Linda GoodmanAfter an hour in the cell -- and three hours total at the jail -- we moved our investigation to the next locale, Linda Goodman's Miracle Inn. We'd arranged to conduct an experiment at this B&B with an e-quaintance we'd met, a psychic and medium who'd known the famous astrologer-author Linda Goodman, who died in 1995. Though a thousand miles away, the psychic tried to contact Goodman while we were there and to have Goodman contact us.

Using our audio-only digital recorder, our EchoVox spirit box, and our camcorder, we conducted two sessions aimed at Goodman -- one in her former bedroom and the other in the living room where she herself had encountered a full-bodied apparition of Nikola Tesla while she lived there. We captured several clear, intriguing EVPs during those sessions, one on the recorder and others when we turned on the box.

A voice immediately said, "Look at the machine" (referring, we assume, to the EchoVox), followed by "Spirit box" and "That's it." Then we heard, "We come." The lines of communication seemed plenty open.

One clear EVP in a woman's voice said, "I can solve that." When we later shared this recording with our new psychic friend, she confirmed the voice was Goodman's.

 Linda Goodman speaks to us through our EchoVox
We also conducted flashlight experiments to establish communication, asking spirits to respond by winking the flashlight once for yes and twice for no. This means of instrumental trans-communication established  Tesla was, indeed, still present in the B&B, and we also made contact with one of the shadow people reported to walk through walls in second-floor bedrooms.(For more on that, click to see our account of the earlier investigation this past October.) We recorded our flashlight queries and responses to video as well.

One unexpected encounter at the Miracle Inn was meeting still another paranormal investigator, Shaun Crusha, who decided to come over from Colorado Springs when he heard we were coming. The more the merrier! Shaun turned out to be generous in sharing both expertise and advice, which we much appreciated. We also loved seeing first-hand his array of ghost-hunting gizmos, which rivaled those of Zac Bagans on  Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures. 
One of Sofia's portal paintings
More exciting was Shaun's offer to collaborate with us by using his equipment in our own investigation of the reported spirit portal in the Miracle Inn's basement, normally off-limits to visitors. B&B co-owner and artist Sofia Balas had begun painting a series of pictures depicting portals a year before she and her partner bought and moved to the inn. Only when she arrived did she learn that other investigators had detected the presence of the portal in their basement.

We could hardly wait to set up our equipment (and Shaun's).

It was close to 1:30 a.m. by the time everything was in place. Shaun arranged a series of instruments attached to to two long platforms and then pointed an array of laser grids at the region where the portal was reported. Then we waited.

Investigator Shaun Crusha's laser array 
But not for long.

As we all stood at the mouth of the portal, both Shaun and Mark soon noticed disturbances in several of the laser points of light, and the flickering seemed to advance toward us. At the same time, several of Shaun's motion detectors klaxoned, followed by spikes in all of our EMF meters. (EMF stands for Electromagetic Field, and spirits are said to disturb or even use such fields to signal their presence.)

The disturbance seemed to settle down, but within moments Kym felt something tug the hair on the top of her head. The tug felt like someone (or something) had firmly grasped a handful of hair and pulled straight up hard enough to get her attention. Mission accomplished. The same thing happened to the other B&B co-owner, Jason Baron, shortly afterwards.

We continued to monitor the portal for another 45 minutes, but nothing as dramatic transpired after that. Just as well -- it had been a long night. Memorable, but long.

We packed up everything and headed back upstairs. By 3 a.m., we finally turned in, sleeping that night in Linda Goodman's former bedroom. She could have bounced up and down on the mattress for all we cared.
We slept like the dead -- or next to them -- until mid-morning.

* * *This coming week, we're scheduled to conduct an investigation in the final hotel for our book on haunted houses -- the only chapter left to complete. Stay tuned!

Our latest paranormal investigation - Back to Cripple Creek

Nine months and 16 investigations later, the book is pretty much through. What we couldn't have guessed, though, is that we weren't through with our paranormal adventuring.

Clearly, the ghost hunting bug bit us harder than we expected!

When Hector Zeferino of Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators (HPI) invited us to participate in their fourth investigation at the Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum in Cripple Creek, Colo., we jumped at the opportunity to work alongside a seasoned professional team.

As you may recall from our earlier accounts, we'd already spent time in Cripple Creek investigating both Linda Goodman's Miracle Inn/Last Dollar Inn and the Hotel St. Nicholas (click on either to revisit our previous findings at those establishments). But a famous haunted jail -- that was certainly worth a spot on our bucket list.

Astrologer Linda GoodmanThe trip also gave us a chance to try out an experiment while in town. Earlier this year, we made  the e-quaintance of a psychic who had been friends with the now deceased Linda Goodman, and she offered to try contacting the famous author/astrologer if we ever revisited the Miracle Inn.

The experiment would be this: She would try to channel Goodman and give her three words (one of a single syllable, the second of two syllables, and the third of three syllables) to communicate to us -- words we wouldn't learn until after the experiment was over. (The psychic would email herself a time-stamped message ahead of time to preserve the integrity of the experiment.)

So we contacted her when we set a date for this past weekend and made arrangements to book the night at the Miracle Inn during our parallel investigation with HPI at the jail.

We were not disappointed by the whole experience.

Cripple Creek's old jail houseWe spent the first half of the evening (until after midnight) at the jail. On previous occasions, two of the HPI members experienced harrowing physical encounters with one of the more notorious spirits there, an entity known as "Joe," who was a pedophile in life. His most concentrated presence was in the confinement cell where he spent a great deal of time before his death. That cell would provide one of our most memorable experiences that night. (More on that later.)

The jail building holds three levels -- a basement where strong shadow presences are reported, the main floor which includes two levels of cell blocks (including Joe's cell), and a third floor where supposed ghostly caretakers still remain after their time of looking after children incarcerated or else born on the site.

The second-level cell block on the main floorThe five HPI members and the two of us broke into three teams, in turns rotating from one level to the next
so everyone had a chance to investigate all the hotspots. HPI also positioned a member to oversee a command center that coordinated communication and also monitored motion detectors, static cameras, and sensors placed throughout the building.

They locked the doors and turned off all the lights in the building. The investigation had begun.

We started our rotation with HPI investigator Seth Davis on the third floor, spending most of our time in the cell of inmate/caretaker-turned-resident-ghost "Amy." Amy's spirit is known to be flirtatious with men and aloof with women. Sometimes she comes out to play and other times she ignores her visitors.

For the hour we remained on her floor, we managed to capture a number of EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon, sometimes occurring on audio recordings but can also be generated through a spirit box. Our EchoVox generates only random sounds -- no words -- and it's up to a spirit to assemble and create intelligible responses.) In fact, early on in the session, one EVP voice called out, "Seth."

Our spirit boxAlways nice to learn they know who we are -- or maybe it isn't.

But our most interesting interaction came when we invited Amy to turn off our flashlight to signal to us she was present. Did she ever. On request, the flashlight not only dimmed but drained our new batteries dry within minutes.

Seth pulled out his two flashlights, switching on one and inviting Amy to turn it off or else to turn on the other. After a few moments with no response, Kym announced it was probably too much to have Amy turn the flashlight on. That was all it took. Like a dare, the light glared to life -- something neither of us had seen in our own previous investigations. It's impressive to have a light turn off by request (something that requires drawing from energy we provide), but to have a flashlight turn on? That's a manifestation operating on a whole other level.

It was time to rotate to the main level and the cell blocks. In the dark, all alone. With Joe.

We couldn't wait.

* * *
Be sure to visit us next week when we conclude our account of what happened to us inside Joe's cell. We'll also recount the findings when we "called" on Linda Goodman at her namesake inn, followed by our experience in the basement, where other investigators have reported a spirit portal . It was a busy (and long) night!

Colorado Haunted Hotels - Hotel Norwood

Between now and late spring, we're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book,  

Hotel NorwoodWILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Hotel Norwood. (If you missed -- or want to revisit -- the paranormal investigation we conducted at this hotel, you can click here, as well as watch YouTube clips from our actual investigations.)

* * *Historical Context
Attempts in the 1870s to settle Wright Mesa east of San Miguel Canyon ran into frequent conflicts with Ute tribes, but in the 1880s, cattle operations persisted and developed on the lush grasslands of the mesa. 
San Miguel Canyon, just east of NorwoodIn 1886, Henry Copp from Norwood, Missouri, filed on land and decided to name the new locality after his hometown. He built several structures, including a post office, small store, and way station. Within a short time the town began to grow and soon offered three blacksmith shops, several liveries, three pool halls, two saloons, and a bank. The first school followed in 1888 and a sawmill by 1896. 
In those days, Norwood mail arrived via packhorse. According to an account in the Norwood Star newspaper, “The mail carrier changed horses at Wright’s Spring and turned [his] two horses loose to graze. Sometimes it would take him a day or so to find his horses before he could go on with the mail.”
Entrepreneur John Davis built the Western Hotel in 1897 (now the Hotel Norwood), which also served as a boarding house. By then, area cowboys frequented the town for liquor, gambling, and prostitutes. 
A Stanley Steamer auto of the eraLocal historian Howard Greagor recounts that the first automobile came to town in 1909, a Stanley Steamer. Due to the steepness of the grade out of San Miguel Canyon, the water in the automobile boiler wouldn’t stay over the fire, so he had to turn it around and drive backwards the entire distance up to the rim. 
The Hotel Norwood has operated continuously since its days as the Western Hotel, accommodating many famous guests over the century, including Butch Cassidy and Marie Curie. The facility has operated under a series of different owners through the years, calling the building the Western Hotel, the Back Narrows Inn, and most recently, The Hotel Norwood.
In 1994, owners constructed a new multi-room addition called the New Quarters, remodeled again in 2014 by current owner Logan Tease.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesNearly every staff member we talked to had a ghost story. Most said they have always felt some sort of presence during their work at the hotel, but none of the paranormal activity has ever felt menacing to them. The night clerk said it wasn’t unusual for him to hear – or see – anomalous things during his rounds.
Even hotel owner Logan, who lives in the historical building, has heard invisible footsteps coming from empty second-floor rooms above his own quarters.
Hotel Norwood lobbyOne housekeeper told us she frequently discovers disheveled bedding after she makes up and locks guestrooms on both the east and west wings of the historical building. She’d recently found a distinct impression of a handprint on the bedspread in Room One on the second-floor east wing – not an uncommon occurrence in this and other rooms in the original hotel.
We had the opportunity to chat with several boarders who’d also gotten used to poltergeist activity in their rooms. 
“It’s not scary,” one of the long-term residents told us. “It’s more just little pranks.” He said he had repeated malfunctions with his alarm clock and other electrical devices in his room. He’d also had to keep replacing his batteries – a typical reported occurrence for many locales with strong paranormal activity.
Another boarder said he woke up time and again to his blankets pulled off over the foot of the bed, insisting he was a sound and quiet sleeper. Still another resident had seen a full-bodied apparition in her room across the hall. Rm 12 contains a clearly
defined cold spot
Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators examined the premises in spring 2014 and reported finding considerable activity. Their EMF meter, thermal-imaging camera, and spirit box recorded, in their estimation, clear evidence of ghosts on the premises. In an interview with the Telluride News, the team said the place was definitely haunted, and they wanted to return for a follow-up visit. 
In our own interview with this team, lead investigator Hector Zeferino told us, “A ghost gave us a tour. We pointed our K2 meter at a photo of a previous owner [Laura Hills] and got an EMF spike. When we went upstairs, we asked where to go and received responses via more meter readings.” In the west wing, his team also captured male voices with a spirit box.
The thing that most intrigued Hector about the hotel was all the original antiques: “They collect information of the past and record it for us to find.”
* * *Next week, we interrupt our accounts of the forthcoming book to share highlights of the paranormal investigation we're undertaking this weekend in Cripple Creek, where we'll join forces with Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators (HPI) for a four-way ghost hunt that includes Linda Goodman's Miracle Inn, the notorious old jail museum, the old firehouse, and the Cripple Creek Inn. Be sure to visit the HPI site to follow their ongoing investigations.
And on Saturday evening, March 7, starting at 9 p.m. (Mountain Time), you can follow along during this Cripple Creek investigation as we live-tweet from Twitter @writeinthethick. You can check out our Facebook page for updates.

Colorado Haunted Hotels - Vintage Inn B&B

Between now and late spring, we're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book,  

WILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Vintage Inn in Gunnison, Colo. (If you missed -- or want to revisit -- the paranormal investigation we conducted at this hotel, you can click here, as well as watch YouTube clips from our actual investigation.)


This article is a departure from our earlier accounts in the series in that our findings suggest more of a haunted person rather than haunted hotel! Read on.

* * *Historical Context
The Gunnison Valley served as seasonal habitation for Ute tribes for centuries, for trappers and mountain men in the early 1700s, and for exploratory transcontinental railroad routes in the early 1850s. The region began to see permanent residents during the 1870s when miners started staking and working claims.
Topographers began mapping the Gunnison Country in 1874, and the town of Gunnison took shape and grew into a supply center by the late 1870s. Gunnison in 1882
Two railroads competed to reach the area, but the east and west sides of town disagreed about where to situate the depot, splitting the community into East Gunnison and West Gunnison by the time both railroads arrived in 1880. Only the Denver & Rio Grande survived for the next seventy years.
Capt. Louden Mullin, a Civil War veteran-turned-developer, championed West Gunnison’s influence and built a hotel, school, opera house, fish hatchery, and park to promote his side of town. His projects also included a church, a stone livery barn, and the foundations of an iron works that never got off the ground.
La Veta HotelDuring Mullen’s time in Gunnison, he built his own house in 1883. A later article in Gunnison’s News Champion in 1945 describes the house: “There is little, but not too much of scrolled trimming, the windows are beautifully arched and chastely decorated (to use the phraseology of the 80s), the gables supported by carved cornices. The eight-room structure is topped by a distinctive iron railing. The large lawn is enclosed by a picket fence, matching the dwelling in color. It is a house which cannot fail to attract the attention of anyone interested in period architecture – a good deal less flamboyant than La Veta, [an up-scale hotel of the same local vintage] although of somewhat the same inspiration. The grandson, Elmer Mullen, says it was beautifully and lavishly furnished when the Civil War veteran had it completed.” 
In the years to come, the building would pass through a number of hands, serving many times as a private residence but also at one point as a day-care facility, an antique shop, and even a video rental store.
That home eventually became the Vintage Inn B&B in 2010.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesThe surrounding community environs certainly hold a fair share of reported paranormal activity.
On Tomichi Avenue (Hwy 50), only a few blocks from the inn, sits Columbine Apartments, formerly the Columbine Hotel. The building’s second floor once served as a brothel in Gunnison’s frontier days, and former hotel guests as well as current residents have reported seeing the apparition of a woman – legend says she was a murdered prostitute – wandering the central hallway late at night.
A former B&B that operated as the Mary Lawrence Inn (now a private home) also contains long-time reports of hauntings. Sitting on a residential block in the northern part of the city, this large structure became home to a prominent local family in the middle decades of the Twentieth Century. While growing up in the house, the family’s two children, now grown, told us they’d witnessed poltergeist activity on a regular basis as well as sightings of a full-bodied apparition.
And the local university has recurring reports of hauntings in at least three campus buildings. Generations of students continue to report sightings on the third floor of Roubidoux Hall of the ghost of a man who died of smoke inhalation many years ago. Some students say they’ve seen his apparition at their bedside at night. Others claim the ghost locks doors from the outside, recreating the same circumstance that trapped him during the fateful fire. Nearby Ute Hall harbors accounts of a shadow figure in the basement known to pass through the wall of an off-limits storage and boiler room, harmless if a bit unnerving to those who’ve witnessed the apparition. Additional hauntings occur in Taylor Hall, the original structure for the 1900s Normal School.
Past residents and owners of the current Vintage Inn never kept (or at least never publicly shared) accounts of haunted events on the premises. One former owner of the property, who undertook extensive renovations to the property in the 1970s, claims none of his alterations to the house provoked the sort of supernatural activity typically reported when buildings are disturbed.
Hearth room at Vintage InnHe suggests that current paranormal reports may connect to the current owner herself. This could well prove true since spirits residing on the premises seem to have a strong connection to current proprietor Beth Marcue. 
Our own experience at the Inn (see the full investigation here, including video clips of interaction with unseen entities) revealed the resident spirits do, indeed, have a close connection with Beth. A combination of  responses through spirit box and flashlight suggested these entities may have accompanied her to the house, attached to an antique chest of drawers from Beth's pioneer family arriving by covered wagon in the past century. If so, they were willing to talk to us as guests of the B&B, but spirits clearly preferred talking to the proprietor.
* * *Next week, we share the history and ghostly legends of the *very* haunted Hotel Norwood, site of apparitions, cold spots, and a great deal of poltergeist activity.

Colorado Haunted Hotels - The Fairplay Hotel

Between now and late spring, we're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book,  
The historic Fairplay HotelWILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Fairplay Hotel in Fairplay, Colo. (If you missed -- or want to revisit -- the paranormal investigation we conducted at this hotel, you can click here, as well as watch YouTube clips from our actual investigation.)

* * *Historical Context

Prior to the influx of gold seekers, the First Americans, primarily Ute tribes, lived and hunted in the South Park area. Fur traders found and trapped the park, but it wasn’t until 1859 that the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush spilled into South Park, bringing over 10,000 people.
Greed and violence in the park prompted some miners to establish a new camp where Beaver Creek meets the Middle Fork of the South Platte River. They called their new home “Fair Play,” promising to treat everyone fairly when they staked a claim. That name varied from “Fairplay Diggings” to “Platte City” and then changed to “South Park City” by 1869. But five years later, the town regained the name of “Fairplay,” which remains to this day.
Before long, cattle, sheep, and hay operations came to the park, followed by a railroad completed in 1878.
The railway encouraged the emergence of timber businesses and more efficient livestock transport. Soon, other trades, goods, and services prospered, making it possible for local hotels to flourish in Fairplay.
Fairplay courthouse/jail
with former connecting
tunnel to Fairplay HotelAmong these new innkeepers were Louis and Marie Valiton, who bought a site in 1873 for $87.50 and built the Valiton Hotel (now the Fairplay Hotel). During the Gold Rush days, Fairplay had its share of Wild West antics, and the hotel’s basement until recent years still contained tunnels connecting to other buildings – a more subtle way to access the hotel’s ladies of the evening. Current owner Lorna told us, “Back then, you could rent a room and woman.” 
One of these tunnels led to the old courthouse due north of the hotel, and the site of a vigilante lynching in 1879 by a group calling themselves the “Hundred and Five” and daring anyone to oppose their style of justice. The local newspaper, The Fairplay Flume, printed one of their messages, which read, “Beware the vigilantes,” and signed the letter “Coffin.” Eventually, law and order returned to the community.
Like the town itself, the Valiton Hotel’s name went through a number of changes over the next forty years as new owners left their marks, including the McLain Hotel, the Vestal House, the Bergh House, the Fairplay Hotel, and Hotel Windsor. The Hotel Windsor survived one large fire throughout town but suffered enough from a second town-wide fire to close its doors in 1921. Prominent Park County citizens rebuilt the establishment on the remaining foundation using the original hotel floor plans, and the new facility opened in 1922 with a banquet and dance hall.
Fairplay Hotel lobbyWith Prohibition’s repeal in 1934, the hotel relocated the mahogany back bar from Rachel’s Place, a famous saloon in nearby Alma, and the new lounge has become a favorite among Fairplay locals ever since.
Because of the building’s large hospitality spaces, community members continued to use the facilities for celebrations and meetings through the decades that followed. 
Restorations still preserve the historic flavor of the premises under current management.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesMany stories of hauntings and poltergeist activity have persisted through the hotel’s colorful history over the past century.
Two staff members have reported seeing full apparitions on separate occasions in the basement. In fact, the chef had his own encounter late one night after closing. Ascending from the basement, he heard footsteps above him on the stairs just beyond the landing to the second flight of steps. No one else was on the premises. When he returned to the first floor minutes later, all the lights were off on the main level.
Silver Heels' barstoolOne staff person on another evening witnessed a cowboy in old-fashioned western attire just outside the lounge peer in through the window. When she went out the door to the deck to invite him in, no one was there. Only a few seconds had passed -- too little time for anyone to disappear or retreat from  view on the empty street outside.
Current owner Lorna Arnold told us that when she took possession of the hotel, she placed a half-full glass of beer in front of the barstool favored by Silver Heels, the brothel madam from Alma, when the Fairplay Hotel relocated the bar to their own lounge. They locked the doors and left for the night. The next morning they found the glass empty, with the barstool swiveled away as though someone had stood up after finishing the drink. 
A note on Silver Heels: This good-hearted and popular prostitute worked the mining camps northwest of Fairplay until the smallpox epidemic of 1861 invaded the area. She went from cabin to cabin nursing sick miners but succumbed herself to the disfiguring disease and later disappeared without a trace. Years later, some said a heavily veiled woman frequented a nearby cemetery, and they guessed she might have been Silver Heels.
"Julia" - whose ghost dances
through the halls at nightShe may have never left. Several locals claim to have seen the apparition of a veiled woman dressed in black and wandering the cemetery with flowers in her hand. It’s possible she followed her bar furnishings to the Fairplay Hotel, where her framed license for prostitution is displayed on a wall, issued in 1884 at Fairplay.
The hotel’s most famous and recurring ghost is “Julia,” reported to have died by her own hand in the 1880s. Guests often hear her dancing down the second-floor hallways, hearing music to match her creaking steps on the hardwood floors. Occasionally, the key to her room goes missing. It was curious that the night before we arrived for our investigation, someone had requested her room (205), but no one could find the key so they couldn’t rent out the room. We decided she must have been awaiting an audience with us since we only gained access to her room because it was vacant.
* * *Next week, we recount the history and ghostly legends surrounding Gunnison's Vintage Inn B&B, and 1880s establishment built by a Civil War veteran but presently containing spirits vocally connected to the current proprietor.

Colorado Haunted Hotels - The Hand Hotel in Fairplay

Between now and late spring, we're sharing the history and haunted legends associated with each of the hotels and B&Bs included in our forthcoming book,  
Fairplay Hand Hotel
WILD WEST GHOSTS:
an amateur ghost hunting guide
to Haunted Hotels
in southwest Colorado.
This week, we feature the Hand Hotel  in Fairplay, Colo. (If you missed -- or want to revisit -- the paranormal investigation we conducted at this hotel, you can click here, as well as watch YouTube clips from our actual investigation.)

* * *Historical Context
The town of Fairplay lies within the high, broad South Park valley, stretching over 900 square miles bordered by the Mosquito and Park mountain ranges.
Ute tribes summered in the region, and eventually French trappers arrived to hunt and trade in furs. By the mid-1800s, cattle and sheep operations moved in, but it was the discovery of gold in South Park in 1859 that brought large numbers of eager miners and the development of camps and towns like Fairplay.
A prospering mining industry encouraged migration to the South Park area, followed by permanent settlements. As more people moved in, the community demanded such skilled services as carpentry and blacksmithing. Wagon roads gave way to narrow gauge railways, and soon entrepreneurs provided dance halls, saloons, and gambling houses.
Room Six, "Mattie Stiles" room, named
after famous frontier bothel madameA fire ravaged Fairplay in the 1920s, destroying much of the town, including the building on Front Street where the Hand Hotel now stands. The Hand family built this new structure in 1932, and it stayed in their family for many years. Decades later, however, the hotel became abandoned and condemned, so rundown that the sky shone through the roof. Pat Pocius and two partners purchased the building in 1987 and began massive renovations.  She ran the new hotel for the next decade. The hotel changed hands again in the late 1990s and eventually came under the current ownership of Dale and Kathy Fitting.
Next to the Hand Hotel stands the monument and grave of “Prunes,” a burro that worked in the mines for sixty-two years. He turned into something of a town pet when he became too old to work. The burro’s life-long (human) partner, Rupe Sherwood, requested he be cremated and buried beside Prunes when he died. The annual Burro Days celebrates the important role burros played during the mining era. Each July, burro races start on Front Street near Prunes’ monument.
Legends, Stories, and Guest ExperiencesThe Hand Hotel has a fair amount of paranormal activity, with reports of full-body apparitions manifesting on the second-floor hallway, faces appearing on at least one guestroom mirror, and child-size imprints on freshly made beds. Housekeeping staff often find messed-up beds after they’ve prepared and locked rooms. The hotel reputedly hosts five different ghosts.
One of the daytime receptionists said she thinks multiple ghosts roam through the building. She once saw an apparition standing at the window in Room Six as she walked past the open doorway. She could see through the shadowy figure, but it was gone when she stopped to take another peek back into the room.
Former hotel owner Pat Pocius shared several encounters, most notably with two little girls who haunt the building. They reportedly died during a smallpox epidemic in an earlier era in Fairplay. Occasionally seen near the staircase, the girls also made their presence known in the kitchen, repeatedly turning off the heavy knob pilots on the commercial grill during a busy morning. When Pat investigated the wiring underneath, she discovered charred receptacles that could have started a fire. She felt sure the girls were doing their part to avoid catastrophe. 
Photo captured by hotel guestPat also recounted the time when a friend came to visit and wanted to see the second-floor rooms. Pat was busy and let her friend wander around on her own. The friend encountered an older man pushing a cart down the hallway and told her his name was Ben and to call him if she needed anything. When she returned downstairs, she complimented Pat on the courteous staff. There were no staff in the building that day, but Ben was the name of the former hotel caretaker, dead many years.
Our favorite paranormal sighting, though, is about the ghost dog, which roams the entire premises. Rooms Two and Eleven have many reports of guests inquiring about who’s keeping a dog at the hotel – but it’s not there for a one-time visit! On one occasion, a town constable emerged from the downstairs bathroom with pants still around his knees, complaining about a dog that had chased him out. No one could find a dog in the facilities afterwards. 
The ghost dog also has a reputation for appearing in various rooms and tugging bedcovers off guests during the night, sometimes barking or growling. Another account occurred in the basement which, at the time, was the site for a children’s Halloween party. Two tykes came upstairs, reporting they enjoyed playing with the dog in the basement. Pat said she could see the imprints on their little hands, looking like a puppy had playfully nipped them.
There are also reports of feet tramping on the second-floor ceiling. Pat remarked guests have often inquired how to get to the party on the third floor. There is no third floor.
Other poltergeist activity also occurs. The wife of a previous hotel manager twice smelled the scent of rosewater perfume in the Grandma Hand Room. The wife later learned that was the very scent Grandma Hand used to wear. 
* * *Next week, we share history and ghostly stories for another locale in this same town, this one going by the name of the Fairplay Hotel, haunted by at least three separate apparition.