The Haunted Oatman Hotel, Arizona

Oatman, Arizona Hotel Sign

In the historic town of Oatman, Arizona sits the haunted Oatman Hotel. Oatman was first established as a tent city in the early 1900s and the historic hotel, called the Drulin Hotel, was built in 1902. The eight room hotel did a brisk business to area miners, especially after two miners struck a rich vein that would end up being a 10 million dollar gold find in 1915. Prior to that time, the town had been little more than a mining camp. The rich gold discovery brought hundreds of new settlers and within one year’s time, Oatman had grown to more than 3,500 residents.

In just a few short years, Oatman suffered three major fires that almost destroyed the town. However, the town was rebuilt, and the old hotel was repaired in 1920, continuing to host its many guests.

However, both the population and the mining boom were short-lived. The largest mining company, United Eastern Mines, shut down its operations in 1924 and the town almost died. But with the advent of Route 66, the old town and the hotel hung on, catering to the many travelers along the new highway.

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard after their marriage.

According to the Hotel (*see special note at end of article), on March 29, 1939, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night there after having been married in Kingman, Arizona. Remembering this memorable night, the couple often returned to the hotel for the peace and solitude it afforded them. Clark was known to spend many a night playing poker with some of the miners. Sadly, Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash in January 1942. Though devastated, Clark continued with his life and his career and later married again.

Over the years, the old hotel carried a number of names but was changed to the Oatman Hotel in the 1960s. When Route 66 was replaced with the interstate, Oatman again suffered a devastating blow and dwindled to just a few gift shops and restaurants. Today only about 100 people live in Oatman year-round.

The Oatman Hotel is one of the biggest attractions of the small village as the word of its mischievous ghosts has spread far and wide. The first and foremost ghosts are those of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who evidently had so many fine memories of the old hotel that they simply refuse to leave. Continuing to celebrate, guests and staff have often heard the pair whispering and laughing from the room when it is empty. According to one report, when a professional photographer took a picture of the empty room, the ghostly figure of a man appeared on the developed print.

The room that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard allegedly stayed in

Evidently Clark and Carole are not alone, as there are other spirits that reportedly haunt the old hotel. The second floor houses a Theater Room Museum where distinct outlines of sleeping bodies have been found in the dust on the beds there. Upon closer inspection, none of the surrounding areas appear to be disturbed. Staff suspects that the sleeping spirit is that of a former chambermaid who has often been spotted in the room.

Another guest room is also said to be haunted by an Irish miner who once lived there. Distraught because his family died when on their way to America, he had a habit of heavy drinking. One night he got really carried away with the drinking passed out behind the hotel. He never woke up. It is said that he has haunted his old room in the hotel ever since. The staff refers to this spirit as “Oatie,” who is often heard playing his bagpipe around the hotel. Other common pranks include opening the window in his former room and pulling the covers off of the bed. There have also been reports of the room being very cold – in the midst of a hot desert day.

Downstairs in the saloon, it appears that there are several playful spirits at work here, who have been said to lift money off the bar and raise glasses into the air. Other strange phenomena include lights turning on and off seemingly by themselves, the sounds of eerie voices, toilets that flush in empty bathrooms and footprints that appear from nowhere on recently cleaned floors.

Lucky for the Oatman Hotel it seems as if their bevy of unusual guests are the playful friendly type and don’t make a habit of scaring away their guests.

The Oatman Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. The hotel is filled with memorabilia of the past and the Gable/Lombard Room has been refurbished to the period that they were there.

Today, the Oatman Hotel no longer provides accommodations for guests but still serves as a museum, restaurant, gift shop, and more.

Inside the Oatman Hotel Restaurant-Bar hangs hundred and hundreds of one-dollar bills signed by the many visitors of this historic hotel.

Contact Information:
Oatman Hotel
181 Main Street,
Oatman, Arizona.
928-768-4408

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LeHunt, Kansas

LeHunt, Kansas was once a small town supported primarily by the United Kansas Portland Cement Company. Little is left of the town beyond a few old ruins of the cement plant and an old cemetery. Once a thriving community, now the town can only be discerned from overgrown avenues of trees, broken sidewalks and foundations hidden by grass and heavy brush.

In the 1920s the concrete factory was a thriving business but with the advent of the Great Depression, it shut its doors and the small town died with the plant.

The concrete plant lies about ½ miles to the west of what remains of the old town and can only be reached by hiking through the underbrush. While trees and weeds try to choke out where the town’s cement plant once stood, the walls, ovens and giant smokestack of the factory are still remarkably intact.

The old cemetery lies about ½ mile north of the factory site, with graves dating back to the late 1860s.

The old site of the cement plant is said to be haunted by the ghost of one of the workers by the name of Bohr, who died in a tragic accident at the plant. As the story goes, Bohr fell into a vat of concrete and his body was never recovered. After this disastrous event, his co-workers embedded his wheelbarrow, pick and shovel into a wall of concrete that was under construction at the time. His name, as well as his pickaxe, can still be seen at the factory ruins.

LeHunt, Kansas Cemetery

With the aid of a sturdy vehicle, visitors can make their way down the rutty, dirt paths. LeHunt is located northwest of Independence, immediately east of Elk Reservoir in Montgomery County, Kansas

The old town lies on a bend in the hard-surfaced road and where a few houses exist. The concrete factory is about ½ mile to the west of what remains of LeHunt.

From Independence take US-75/US-160 west .2 miles and turn right on Peter Pan Road traveling north for two miles. The road will change to county road 3525 and you will continue for one mile. then take a left on 5000 Road for ½ mile.

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Haunted Hollenberg Station, Kansas

Five miles northeast of Hanover, Kansas is the only remaining Pony Express stop still standing in its original location. Built on Cottonwood Creek in 1857 by Gerat H. Hollenberg, this station was also the largest stop along the Pony Express route. Intending to capitalize on the many wagon trains passing his way on the Oregon-California Trail, Hollenberg’s six-room building initially served as a grocery store, tavern, and an unofficial post office. Three years later it became a Pony Express station and later a stagecoach station.

The Pony Express Route, which ran 2,000 miles from St Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California was in operation for only 18 months, from April 1860 through October 1861. Amazingly, these young riders carried approximately 35,000 pieces of mail over more than 650,000 miles during this time and it is said they only lost one sack of mail during this time.

Before the Pony Express, the railroads and telegraph lines extended no further west than St. Joseph, Missouri and mail traveled west by stagecoach and wagons, a trip that could take months if it arrived at all. The Pony Express alleviated this problem with riders who could dramatically reduce the amount of time it took for the mail to be delivered. But, it was a dangerous job, fraught with Indian attacks, rough terrain and severe weather.

Pony Express Want Ad

For this reason, a Pony Express an 1860 advertisement in California read: “Wanted. Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred.” Most of the riders were around 20, but there was one that was only 11 and the oldest rider was in his mid-40’s. Usually, they weighed about 120 pounds. One Hundred, eighty-three men rode for the Pony Express, each receiving $100 per month in pay. Riding in a relay fashion, each rider would cover about 75-100 miles before another rider took his place on the route. However, riders received fresh horses every 10-15 miles. The entire one-way trip would take about ten days.

While the Pony Express dramatically improved the communication between the east and west, it was a financial disaster for its owners. Hoping to gain a million-dollar government mail contract, the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company spent about $700,000 on the project, losing about $200,000 of their investment. The owners failed to gain the million-dollar contract and when the telegraph was completed in October 1861, the company declared bankruptcy and closed down.

Afterward, most of the 163 stations fell into ruins but somehow the Hollenberg Station managed to survive. In 1869, the town of Hanover was founded and its residents made every effort to preserve the old station. The building is now located on a state historical park and operates as a museum and visitor’s center.

Hollenberg Station Interior

However, according to many visitors and staff members, some Pony Express riders have chosen to linger at the station long after the building ceased to serve the Pony Express. Many claim to have heard the sounds of pounding hoofs thundering through the night and the distant sounds of young men calling out as their phantom mounts near the station. Others have even claimed to have seen the riders. Witnesses also report the occurrence of many strange sounds and cold spots within the building.

Hollenberg Station is located four miles north of U.S. 36 on K-148, and one mile east on K-243 in Hanover, Kansas. Open seasonally.

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Ghostly Theorosa Bridge - Kansas

About 12 miles north of Wichita, Kansas sits the small town of Valley Center. Now having a population of a little more than 5,000 residents, the settlement was born in 1872 on the banks of the Little Arkansas River. Located along the ever important railroad, the town grew to include a post office, three stores, two blacksmith shops, a grain elevator, and several homes by the early 1880’s.

Though now a bedroom community to nearby Wichita commuters, one of biggest attractions in this quiet town is that of the haunted Theorosa Bridge, also known as the 109th Street Bridge and the Crybaby Bridge.

On an old country road three miles north of town on Meridian Street, this old bridge spans Jester Creek at the intersection with 109thstreet.

There are several legends about the haunting of this bridge all based on a baby drowned in the creek below. Today, the bridge is a simple concrete bridge that normally no one would pay any attention to, except for the legends.

The first legend tells of settlers who were passing through the area in the late 19th century when they were attacked by Indians and a baby named Theorosa was kidnapped. Her grief-stricken mother was said to have left the wagon train to search for her missing daughter and reportedly continues to look today as her mournful cry can still be heard calling out for her child.

Another legend has it that a skirmish between the cavalry and an Indian tribe living by the creek occurred about this time. In this version, an Indian woman is stabbed and her baby is dropped into the creek and drowned.

Yet another tale suggests that a woman named Theorosa is a young woman who has an illegitimate baby and drowns it in Jester Creek to hide her shame. Later, overcome by guilt, she drowns herself in the creek as well.

Finally, another tells of an engaged woman who fell in love with another man and bore his child. Jealous with rage, her fiancé reportedly through the baby over the bridge into the creek and Theorosa jumped off the bridge to save her baby, but drowned herself, instead.

In any event, the bridge has reported to have been haunted for years and years. Many have reported seeing floating balls of light, eerie shapes, and the apparition of a woman in the area around the bridge. Cars are said to mysteriously stall as they cross, or if they should stop, will feel the entire vehicle begin to shake. Others report cold breezes which seemingly come from nowhere, and the sounds of mournful voices or the chilling cries of a baby.

Yet others say that the weather is consistently different at the bridge than it is in the rest of the area. Rumor has it that if you call out to Theorosa, telling her that you have her baby, she’ll come out of the water and attack you.

The original iron and wood bridge that first stood at Jester Creek for decades burned down in 1974, was rebuilt, and was destroyed by fire again in 1976. Afterwards, it was closed for the next fifteen years. However, in 1991, the road was reopened and the current concrete bridge was built that continues to serve travelers across the creek.

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