In the almost ghost town of Goldfield, Nevada is the historic and reportedly very haunted Goldfield Hotel. The town of Goldfield was born when gold was discovered in 1902 and within just a few short years, it became the largest city in Nevada, as millions of dollars in ore were extracted from area mines. 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.

However, just eight 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. Today, this once thriving city supports a population of less than 500, but still provides a number of views of its prosperous past, with its centerpiece being the Goldfield Hotel.
 

As to the ghosts of the old hotel, reportedly there are several, the most famous of which is a woman named Elizabeth*. According to the legend, Elizabeth was a prostitute that George Wingfield visited frequently. When she turned up pregnant, she claimed the child was Wingfield’s, who for a while paid her to stay away, fearful of how the scandal might affect his business affairs. However, when she could no longer hide the pregnancy, Wingfield was said to have lured her into room 109 of the hotel, where he chained her to a radiator. Supplied with food and water, she was left there until her child could be born. Reportedly she cried out over and over for mercy, only to be met with silence. Some say that Elizabeth died in childbirth, but others contend that Wingfield murdered her after the child was born. Her baby was then thrown into an old mining shaft. Afterwards, rumors abounded that Elizabeth continued to visit Wingfield and the sound of a crying child could sometimes be heard coming from the depths of the hotel.

In any event, the legend persists and when the apparition of Elizabeth has been sighted, she has been described as having long flowing hair, wearing a white gown, and looking terribly sad as she paces the hallways, calling out to her child. Others have reported her being sighted in Room 109, which is often described as being intensely cold, and on one occasion a ghostly figure appeared in a photograph of the room. However, most people report that while their cameras function normally everywhere else in the hotel, they refuse to work in room 109.

Two more ghosts who reportedly committed suicide in third floor rooms of the hotel have been sighted by more than a dozen people. While their identities are unknown, one is said to be a woman who hanged herself, while the other is said to be a man who jumped to his death from the hotel.

In what was once the main dining room, called the Gold Room, a malevolent spirit, familiarly named "The Stabber,” is said to randomly attack those who cross the threshold with a large kitchen knife. Though the Stabber has never harmed anyone, he is said to have frightened many before immediately disappearing after the "attack.”

Near the lobby staircase, linger three small spirits including two children and a midget that are said to be pranksters, sneaking up behind people and tapping their backs before giggling and dancing away.

Finally, George Wingfield himself is said to haunt his old hotel, making his presence known by his cigar smoke. Others have reported finding fresh cigar ashes in his first floor room. His presence has also been sensed near the giant lobby staircase. This legend too, has some problems with the history of the old hotel, as Wingfield was not known to frequent the hotel, as it was managed by his partner, Casey McDannell, and Wingfield's interest was only as an investor. Additionally, Wingfield died in Reno, Nevada in 1959. Why would his spirit continue to linger at the Goldfield Hotel?

Many psychics who have visited the old hotel claim that it is a gateway into another world. In the fall of 2001 the Goldfield Hotel was featured on Fox Family TV’s World’s Scariest Places. More recently, it was featured on the Sci-Fi Channel's, Scariest Places on Earth, in 2008.

Goldfield has also been investigated by many ghost investigators including Ghost Adventures and ghost hunters, taps.