Geiser Grand Hotel

A Victorian gold rush hotel from 1889 with ornate chandeliers and stained-glass ceilings. It sat closed for decades before a full 1990s restoration — and some say not everything stayed dormant during that time.

The Geiser Grand Hotel opened in 1889 in Baker City, Oregon, then known as the Queen City of the Mines during the height of the Eastern Oregon Gold Rush. The ornate Italianate building was constructed of locally mined volcanic tuff and featured technological marvels including the third elevator ever built west of the Mississippi River, a four-story clock tower, a two-hundred-foot corner cupola, and a second-floor dining room with marble floors and crystal chandeliers. Mining investor Albert Geiser purchased the property around 1900 and reopened it under his name in 1902. Beneath the hotel, a network of tunnels dating to the 1880s Gold Rush era connected to brothels and saloons throughout downtown Baker City, which earned a reputation as the brothel capital of the West. The tunnels also served as passages for Chinese immigrants and later for Prohibition-era contraband.

The hotel's most famous spirit is the Lady in Blue, a beautiful ghost in a Victorian gown who has been seen descending the grand staircase before disappearing into the wall. She's believed to be Granny Annabelle, a wealthy patron who maintained a permanently reserved chair in the hotel bar during her lifetime. Guests who unknowingly sit in her chair have reported being pinched by unseen fingers, and staff have learned to warn regulars about the seat. The Lady in Blue has also been seen gliding through the upper floors, her blue gown unmistakable against the hotel's period wallpaper.

Room 302, located in the cupola beneath the clock tower, is considered the most actively haunted guest room. The entity there is believed to be Maybelle Geiser, wife of the hotel's namesake owner, who takes a particular interest in guests' jewelry. Visitors have reported finding rings, necklaces, and earrings moved from where they placed them, relocated to different surfaces in the room or arranged in neat patterns. Snacks and personal items are similarly rearranged. Beyond these two primary spirits, guests and staff have reported a remarkably diverse cast of ghosts: a saloon girl in red, a cowboy patron and his girlfriend, a young girl encountered in the historic cellar, flappers from the 1920s seen around the upper banisters, a woman in a purple dress from the 1930s, and a headless former chef.

The Atlantic Paranormal Group, affiliated with the television series Ghost Hunters, has conducted investigations at the Geiser Grand using scientific methods including double-blind studies and various recording equipment. Investigator Marie Cuff stated that they capture evidence at the Geiser Grand and that is why they return. During one three-hour investigation, a team member repeatedly heard the name Wayne spoken by an unseen voice across different rooms. Research later revealed that a country music performer named Presley Wayne had died from a gunshot wound at the hotel in 1998, a discovery that stunned investigators who had no prior knowledge of the death. The International Paranormal Reporting Group holds regular tours and ghost hunts at the hotel, offering public access to areas normally closed to guests. The Geiser Grand embraces its haunted reputation, inviting the curious to spend the night in Room 302 and discover whether Maybelle still tends to her guests' belongings.