It’s hard to imagine that the near-ghost town of Goldfield, Nevada, was once the largest city in the whole state. Now, only a few old-timers hang on in what was once a promising community. Many ghost hunters who visit focus on the four-story Goldfield Hotel, long rumored to have several persistent phantoms, including that of a prostitute murdered in one of the rooms. The old hotel has changed hands several times over the decades but so far it is still boarded up. Far more haunted, and still open to the public, is the old courthouse. This two-story stone building has the look of a castle and if the evidence is true, it’s a haunted castle as well. It was built in 1907 when the mines were going strong. Sadly, by 1913 the bloom was off the rose and Goldfield went into steady decline.
Goldfield is the county seat for Esmeralda County (the smallest population of all the counties of Nevada). The old courthouse is a living relic of another day. The lamps are original, as are many of the furnishings. The courtroom on the second floor is rumored to be haunted by a phantom trial with voices heard from time to time. Shadows walk the hardwood floors, and there is even a tale of a ghostly hangman’s noose seen on one of the chambers. The ghostly chair is perhaps the most interesting of all the supernatural events linked to the courthouse. When the staff come in each morning, they find it has moved. Once they even locked it in the vault on the first floor. The door was closed and locked but the next morning the chair was back by its desk—somehow it had moved through the steel door of the fireproof vault.
The whole town of Goldfield is a ghost hunter’s delight, with a rich history and haunted buildings. Be sure to visit the courthouse and ask about the haunted chair. If the clerks are not too busy, they will tell you the tale of the chair with a mind of its own.
Written by — Richard Senate Psychic Investigator/Author Carson Valley Ghost Stalkers
GOLDFIELD COURTHOUSE
GOLDFIELD, NEVADA
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SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger