The Haunted Historic Cary House Hotel

Posted on October 5, 2009

The Gold Rush Hotel in California Has Ghost Residents too!

Since the era of 1800’s turbulence, the Cary House Hotel has emerged with an undeniable arrogance that can only be understood by the strong and unyielding. The Historic CARY HOUSE HOTEL is a survivor! As a glimpse of history, a brochure we picked up inside the front desk stated, “The Cary House Hotel" is “An elegant glimpse of the past featuring private baths, central heat and air conditioning with King and Queen suites available." It is also reported “Cary House for nearly 150 years has been a resting place of the weary traveler visiting Placerville, the Gold Country, and points beyond. The hotel featured such luxuries as hot and cold running water, an elegant grand staircase and a lobby of handcrafter mahogany and cherry woods."

“Echoes from a colorful history linger. In the early days, the Cary House was a regular stop for the stage lines bringing travelers to Placerville and picking up millions of dollars in bullion for transport to the mint in San Francisco. Horace Greeley gave a speech from the beautiful wrought-iron trimmed balcony. The world-renowned ‘Hangtown Fry’ (oysters and scrambled eggs) was created at the Cary house at the request of a miner who had struck it rich.

Haunted Historic Cary House Hotel

Haunted Historic Cary House Hotel

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Milton family beautifully restored this important historic landmark for all the enjoy. In 2000, the new owners, the Cary Group, redecorated using subtle colors from the past and adding antiques to enrich and embellish this beautiful old hotel"

But these new owners of the hotel were not content to stop there. They heard of strange things happening in the building and wanted to explore the possibility that this historic edifice was also haunted. It was rich in ghostly lore. There had been a story or two…. Enter GOLD RUSH GHOSTS INTERNATIONAL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS.

It was not long ago that a former manager of the Cary House Hotel called me. “Please come and explore and tell us what is in our building" she asked. She was very flattering when she said, “Nancy, you are the world renowned psychic and you are the right person for this job. After all, you wrote the book INCREDIBLE WORLD OF GOLD RUSH GHOSTS and coined the phrase GOLD RUSH GHOSTS and started the interest in the ghosts in the gold country. Can you do this for us?" Who could resist! In this initial investigation I was asked if the media could follow us around, and of course word got out that there was to be an investigation and the place booked with guests that were waiting to go along as well.

Nancy Bradley

Nancy Bradley

The investigation took place on a drizzly night. For some people that came to follow along that made the event even spookier. I was able to explain to them that water is a conductor for spirit and therefore they likely could expect the maximum in spirit communication on this visit, if indeed there were ghosts and spirits around. “Rainy nights are always good for spirit communication," I told them. People came from as far away as New Jersey to the California gold country to experience the possibility of having an experience with a spirit or ghost at the Cary House.

I wanted to start the evening getting a feel for the area by walking down the storm-drenched Main Street where the Cary House is located on one corner. No one complained of the weather and interestingly, spirit was throwing coins in our path. I told the group to look down at their feet and see what they would find. The end result was that we retrieved 24 pennies, two dimes and a nickel. Not bad for a block walk. Many of the stores along the route opened up after hours so that the spirit energy could be felt and identified there as well. As we approached the Hangman’s Tree Bar (now closed) the juke-box went on by itself. Several glasses slipped from the shelf where no one was standing. Interesting! Another building on our route had the door slam and lock before we could open it. No hands were around to do this. The owner quickly ran to the door and unlocked it. Books came flying off his shelf as we approached. This was going to prove to be a very eventful evening. Generally, most all real paranormal groups will be honest enough to tell you that it is only one in about ever 8 to 12 investigations that proves to have undisputable activity. We had more than a great start here.

But I have to admit on this investigation the rewards came after dinner at the Cary House as I lead the group from room to room to identify the spirits that were already making themselves apparent. The complete Hotel showed activity, but to narrow it down, the lobby and rooms 208 and 406 showed the most activity. By the end of the evening, reports of sightings, things being moved with twists and turns were commonplace. One guest complained “All night I smelled perfume," and Ron Williams, producer of the television show THE UFO ADVENTURE stated “I stayed in room 208. I had gone to bed around 3:30 in the morning soon after I set up two cameras on the fourth floor to cover the stairways. Our goal was to catch anything strange on film going up or down. After checking everything with the cameras to make sure they were taping properly I went back down to the lobby and I went to my room and went to bed.

“I was not in bed five minutes when someone (or something) put a key in the lock and tried to open the door to my room. I got up and opened the door and there was no one there. I went back to bed and as soon as I lay down, it started again. This time it was more forceful. Someone was trying to open the lock and turn the doorknob."

Frustrated now, Williams again got out of bed. “I got up and went to the door, and again this time, there was no one there. After getting into bed, a few minutes later, there were footsteps by the foot of my bed.

“The next morning, we went upstairs to retrieve the cameras. We had left the door to the attic securely propped open. As I went in to get the equipment, the propped-up door slammed into me with great force. No one (living) was around." Williams smiled at me. “I must say, what an amazing weekend!"

Room 406 turned out to have some great provable activity also. It was occupied by Alicia Garnica, her son David, and their friend Libby. “What I experienced was exceptional" she told GOLD RUSH GHOSTS. “I noticed that the hotel information folder I had previously left open on the bed was closed. At the time I thought nothing of it as I was in a hurry. Soon as I relaxed however, I felt that I had been poked in the back. At first I thought it was my husband, but there was no one behind me, just the wall. Then I felt something heavy putting pressure on my foot, actually on my toes. It felt like someone was stepping on them." She called me to come upstairs. “I asked Nancy who it was and she said ‘His name is Stan and he lives in the lobby of the hotel. He was the lobby clerk there for many years, and he loves the place so he sticks around.’ She then told him to get off my foot!"

Over the years I have been able to secure more information about Stan, as he is easy to connect to psychically. For those interested, Stan was the desk clerk here at the hotel in the 1800s. By his own admission, he was a man who loved his liquor, especially brandy and whiskey. He worked at the hotel and skipped down the road a bit during the day, (to a spot where a bookstore now is) for socializing. Back then that site was a place he could go to visit and to get a drink, especially on cold damp days of winter. He would sneak out during his work day when no one was around, have a tip or two, and hurry back to work. From what he told me, he went out what is now the BACK door, which according to him was in those days the FRONT door. We later confirmed with the owners that indeed the street in the 1800s was behind the Cary House, not in front as it is now.

But back to Stan, we could easily see by watching his ghostly imprint that he loved the women but was rather ignored by them. He was a short, stocky man with reddish brown hair, balding on the top, and not what most people would consider a ‘ladies’ man. Truth be known, he also liked men somewhat. He was not really in demand by either. SO, he did his job and was polite until the alcohol took effect. Stan loved gossip and checking people out, and was known to be a bit ‘mouthy’ and ‘insulting’ when under the influence of ‘the sauce.’

As another piece of history ole’ Stan made a pass at one man on the stairs of the Cary House that did not find him amusing. The man took out a knife and stabbed Stan twice in the chest, leading him to tumble down the stairs, falling to his death. It was well documented that Stan also had a nasty cough, he had it for some time, and it was getting increasingly worse. He had trouble breathing, and when a coughing spell came on it was terribly painful for him and he had trouble stopping the spells. He thought this illness would take his life, he did not think he would die at the hands of another. Today you can often hear him coughing in the lobby and on the stairs, and when you look, no one is there. Stan trusted his whiskey and said it helped stop the coughing spells and his breathing.

Garnica was happy to tell us about the rest of her experience in the hotel. “I went outside for a cigarette, and I noticed a man sitting on the couch next to Libby. I had not seen him before and he was wearing overalls and a white straw hat. I turned to talk to him but he disappeared."

Later she was to have more experiences in her room that were documented by others with her who also saw and experienced the phenomena. “First we heard a noise like something had fallen in the bathroom. I got up to investigate and nothing was on the floor. As I turned I felt I couldn’t walk. About 3 in the morning we heard something hit the chest of drawers and also the television. I saw small circles of white light, like a fog with streaks of blue, green, pink, and purple – like a rainbow. It was flashing and floating and bouncing off the walls. It moved back and forth from the foot of the bed to the closet. Then it landed on the bed and a handprint appeared. Later I clearly heard man sobbing and a child giggling."

In room 208, our meters registered 1-6.5 EMF. Cameras set up to capture spirit activity showed Door knobs being shook as if being checked to see if they were locked ( and EVPs recorded laughter and what seemed to be a man whistling.

In room 406, the meters registered a high of 6.7EMF with a 12 degree difference on the temperature reading and the lights of color that Garnica reported were recorded at 2:30am.

We have explored the Cary House many times, and the beat goes on. There is activity all year round, people seeing figures in upstairs windows, rooms that are unoccupied. I will say that most of the phenomena is reported to us in the fall and winter, rightly so because of the rain. But we receive many email and letters at GOLD RUSH GHOSTS about strange occurrences at the hotel. On subsequent visits we are generally able to assess more sightings of “Stan", a woman in a long dress reminiscent of the 1800s and a flapper type from the early 1930s. There are spirit children running and getting in the way. There are voices coming from nowhere, and everywhere, people clashing, yelling, laughing, and fighting.

The hotel was sold a while back and we are not certain if the new owners are into having paranormal groups invade their space. You can check it out, the Cary house is located at 300 Main Street in Placerville, California. It is clearly worth a peak.

The Celebrities Psychic NANCY BRADLEY can be seen on Channel 31 #KMAX GOOD DAY SACRAMENTO the 2nd Friday morning of every month at 9:15 am (California time). You can call in your questions to her at: (877) 239-CW31. She is also seen on the TRAVEL CHANNEL’S HAUNTED HOTEL SERIES (Check local listings.) More information available at: www.goldrushghosts.com and www.nancybradley.org

Copyright 2009 Nancy Bradley




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Comments

4 Responses to “The Haunted Historic Cary House Hotel”
  1. meli§a says:

    thank you for sharing your haunted experience Nancy!! that’s so spooky, but exciting! i’d love to go on a ghost hunt sometime. it’d be very interesting and who knows ‘what’ or ‘who’ still remains in historical places such as the cary house hotel.

  2. trolldoll1681 says:

    yes! what melissa said! it would be great fun to go on one of your ghost hunts in a old historical place like that. i’ve never heard of you but would love to hear more about your experiences and the places you’ve visited! do share more here when you can!!

  3. Karen M. says:

    Wow great story, but that “hangtown fry” is strange, I’ve heard of scambled eggs with cavier but never with oysters! I know that I get on the food topic sometimes, we own restaurants that’s why!

  4. Anonymous says:

    hi im savanna i am nine years old .i had some exspeirances at the CARY HOTEL .i went to my aunts house for the weekend and we both liked ghost so we found the cary hotel .we went inside and got chills as we got in .i asked the front desk ,”can we look around she said yes .my aunt and i went in the elivator and held hands shaking.we got to the first floor and noticed that the hotel rooms were named after old aged wine .i looked around more and something pushed me i now wanted to be held .i got in the elivator and started shaking again when going to the top floor .my aunt and i walked down theskinny hallway and my aunt and i saw a flash of black and white .we got are recorder and became unfritend and strong and lived.i went out of there and breathed with my aunt and went home and listened to the recorder and we were in shock ,something said leave !so the end .thanks !

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