When the Geiser Grand Hotel opened in November of 1889, Baker City, Oregon, was known as the “Queen City of the Mines,” a nod to the Gold Rush happening in the region. An Italianate building of mined volcanic tuff, the building contained technology that was practically unheard of for the day: an elevator, the third one ever built west of the Mississippi River. There was a four-story clock tower and a 200-foot corner cupola. A second-floor balcony overlooked the dining room’s marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and Honduran mahogany paneling. High overhead light filtered through a stained glass ceiling it was originally named Hotel Warshauer.
Mining investor Albert Geiser bought the property around the turn of the century, and reopened it under its current moniker in 1902. Back in its early days, the Geiser Grand was the place to go for social events and fine dining. It was a place for wealthy ladies and gents to see and be seen, and one particular character, “Granny” Annabelle, made sure she had her rightful place in the crowd. She presided over the hotel from her permanently reserved chair in the bar. One can imagine this elegant lady making a grand entrance on her way down from her residence in room 302, the cupola beneath the clock tower. It was renamed The Geiser Grand when Albert Geiser bought it in 1900.
But the hotel later fell on hard times and became a brothel, a veteran’s hospital and a casino before it finally closed in 1969.
The hotel is stunning. Owner Barbara and Dwight Sidway, who bought the property in 1993 spent four years and $7 million renovating it. admits she hasn’t yet seen a ghost, most likely because “most sightings are around midnight and I’m sound asleep by then,” she explains, adding that the Grand’s ghosts are “playful, not scary.”
During the renovation, while crews worked seven days a week in three shifts to finish in time for the 1997 summer season, a dozen workers quit, claiming they had encountered ghosts.
Bill Harp, a hotel cook, says he and another employee watched a large carton of glassware rise into the air, float about four feet and crash to the floor.
A few of the apparitions seen here are:
- A little girl who wanders the third floor.
- A 1930s woman in a purple dress,
- A 1920s saloon dancer laced into a red bustier who leans over the balcony railing
- A former chef (Reported to be headless)
- a cowboy who chats up patrons in the bar
- A “Lady in Blue” who floats up the grand staircase.
- A beautiful Victorian woman dressed in a blue gown, seen descending the staircase and disappearing into the wall.
- The most famous ghost is a previous owner known as “Granny Annabelle”. She has been known to admire and rearrange guests’ jewelry and nibbling on their snacks while they sleep. She lived in room 302.
- Flappers – young women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.
Areas with Activity:
Room 302, where former owner Maybelle Geiser lived, is said to be active with paranormal activity. She has been known to admire and rearrange guests’ jewelry and eat their complimentary snacks.
Hotel Rooms – Guests report that items are often moved from one place to another. While most of the ghosts seem to be harmless, they often wake guests up in the middle of the night with their wanderings.
In the Bar – Annabelle presence is most often felt in the bar—as a pinch on the fanny of anyone who dares sit in her chair.
In the hotel’s basement, subterranean windows open to underground tunnels dating back to the gold frenzy of the 1880s, when Baker City was flush with newcomers with new money looking for places to spend it.
The Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, Oregon, is widely considered haunted. The historic hotel, which opened in 1889, has a long-standing reputation for paranormal activity that attracts ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts.