The ghosts of the Bisbee Inn-Hotel La More

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The ghosts of the Bisbee Inn-Hotel La More
August 15, 2009
Debe Branning
Examiner.com

he Bisbee Inn was built in 1916 over a foundation of a wooden hotel that burned during one of the intense fires on Chihuahua Hill. After construction was completed, Mrs. S. P. Bedford furnished and leased the new two-story red brick building to Mrs. Kate La More. Functioning as a boarding house for copper miners, it was soon known as one of Bisbee’s finest hotels.
Three miners, who each worked separate shifts, split the rent on one room and were provided with hot and cold water, wall sinks, and a shared bathroom down the hall. Hotel La More was just up the hill from the train depot and a convenient walk to the saloons and cribs dotted along Brewery Gulch.

Mrs. Bedford again obtained the lease in the early 1920’s but continued to operate the hotel under the La More name. Later, Grace V. Waters owned and operated the establishment, changing the name to the Waters Hotel. During the 1940’s the hotel was converted into two room apartments and continued to function as an apartment house in the 1960’s when the building became a Peace Corp program training center. In 1982, the hotel underwent a Certified Historic Restoration and became the Bisbee Inn.

There have been many reports that ghosts have taken up permanent residency in the old hotel. As you can imagine, the Bisbee Inn has been the site of many paranormal investigations in recent years. Paranormal teams are anxious to book the entire hotel and assign team members to every reported haunted room.

Investigators and guests alike have encounter strange occurrences throughout the hotel. Cold spots and soothing aromas appear out of no where. Housekeepers report looking into a room moments after making up the beds only to find them in total disarray and unmade once again.
In Room 15, the imprint of a body sometimes appears on the comforter. Guests have reported resting on the mattress and feeling it slowly sag with additional weight—as if someone was sitting or lying beside them.

A ghost of a lady has been seen gliding down the stairway near the atrium wearing a flowing gown of white and smelling sweetly of lilacs or lavender. She has been seen in several of the guest rooms. This lady has appeared outside at the top of the old staircase behind the Bisbee Inn—near the cement retaining wall. This spirit has been credited with saving the lives of a few young boys as they attempted to take a short cut after attending a movie at the Lyric Theatre. Her presence frightened them away just moments before part of the ground collapsed from the monsoon rains.

Another ghost seen from time to time is a tall and slender man dressed in a vest, white cotton shirt, and dark trousers tucked into his knee high boots. He has been sighted in Room 11 and on the back stairs of the hotel. He appears to be a miner from the inn’s boarding house era.

The MVD Ghostchasers conducted their JULY 2007 Workshop at the Bisbee Inn. During the day they did hands on interviews with home owners in Bisbee to practice setting up investigations in private residences. We dined at a restaurant in an historic building, took the local ghost tour and paid a visit to the cemetery. Local author, historian and ghost expert—Fran Powers—spoke at our gathering about spirits witnessed on the streets of Bisbee. Some of the group took a “dead time” walk up the Brewery Gulch in hopes of passing a ghost or two on the road.

Early the next morning, one group of ghost hunters rose early to take photos at the cemetery as the fog began to roll in. Back at the Bisbee Inn, one of the girls snapped a photo and thought for sure she captured a man in a suit walking down the grand staircase. Our tech crew was quick to debunk the photo as a light refraction. But, as you can see for yourself, at first glance, it does resemble a well dressed spirit descending the stairs.

The Bisbee Inn offers more than just pleasing accommodations for your weekend getaway. It’s a historic hotel where shadows lurk down the hallways, doors slam, and the presence of ghost cats play in your room. And there is always that ever present fragrance of lilac that introduces the lady in white whenever she is near.

The Bisbee Inn/Hotel La More
45 OK Street
PO Box 1855
Bisbee, AZ 85603
520-432-5131