Silver Tailings: Attention Ghost Hunters!

In my experience, there are many places some folks would consider as haunted. One of those places is the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah.

According to legend, Wyatt Earp kept the saloon, Jack Dempsey was a bouncer, and Howard Hughes married Jean Peters at the Mizpah. But Wyatt Earp left Tonopah before the Mizpah was built, Hughes was married in Tonopah — but not at the Mizpah, and Dempsey was never a bouncer.

The five-story Mizpah was the tallest building in the state until 1929 and is named after the Mizpah Mine. The hotel was financed by George Wingfield, George Nixon, Cal Brougher and Bob Govan and designed by George E. Holesworth — or maybe architect Morrill J. Curtis.

The hotel is faced with stone on the front and brick on the sides and rear. Steam heat was provided, which was first, along with the first elevator in Tonopah.

The neighboring three-story building with rooms on the upper floors, now known as the Brougher-Govan Block, served as the first Mizpah and remains connected to the new portion. The  buildings are joined by a wood stairway crowned with a skylight.

It’s also part of my experience that when an old building is refurbished, nails pounding and saws bracing wood, even stranger events take shape. And now would be a great time for those who like to chase the unknown, to visit the old hotel.

The Mizpah, after being shuttered since 1999, was purchased earlier this year, and the new owners are transforming the place. They’re renovating the old building with new carpet, plumbing and electrical fixtures.

If you ask nice, and promise not to open any portals to the underworld, I’m sure they’d would love to have you investigate. I say this tongue-in-cheek of course.

If not rent a room and enjoy your stay. I’m sure it’ll be well worth the price of admission.

And while you’re there, say hi to my friend Valeri Ferrari McEwen. She’s a member of the 2000 Nevada Broadcast Hall of Fame, but now manages the bar and restaurant.

She saved my life one early morning – but that’s a story for another time.