This 1850’s inn was formerly the county hospital and a boarding house, and is rumoured to be the most haunted place in town to stay. In Room #011, guests staying the night have awoken to find an unseen entity rearranging the furniture in the room, and have also heard a sound similar to the rattling of coins. In Room #010, a man was reportedly turfed out of bed by a violent entity, which had no intention of letting him stay the night. In other rooms, a ghost has been known to hop into bed with couples, while others have reportedly felt the sensation of being watched. However, the most haunted is Room #012, where guests have opened their door to a terrifying apparition and seen a man in an old-fashioned suit standing at the end of their four poster. However, if you thought the hauntings were confined to just guest suites, think again. The apparition of a matronly lady has materialised in the fireplace of the parlour room on several occasions, while a shadow apparition has been known to appear on the stairs.
(Submitted by Callum Swift)
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 286 South Washington Street
Sonora, CA
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 37.9812775, -120.38235650000001
- County:
- Tuolumne County, California
- Nearest Towns:
- Sonora, CA (0.2 mi.)
East Sonora, CA (1.2 mi.)
Jamestown, CA (2.9 mi.)
Columbia, CA (3.9 mi.)
Tuttletown, CA (4.3 mi.)
Mono Vista, CA (6.2 mi.)
Soulsbyville, CA (6.5 mi.)
Tuolumne City, CA (7.8 mi.)
Chinese Camp, CA (8.1 mi.)
Cedar Ridge, CA (8.2 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
One time i was at the hotel and on my first night i felt like this feeling of being watched.I was in room 17.The second night i felt better.
I was born and raised in Sonora.
I’ve never actuallly stayed in the hotel but I had a tragic assault happen to me right in front of it….it was a random attack of violence by a homeless man who hit me in the face and broke my nose severely.
Sometimes I wonder about why it happened right in front of the hotel…
Was just walking with a friend in broad daylight when it happened…2008
Just stayed in Room #6, Nothing to really report. A breaker did blow up when I turned on the TV, but that was all. Although they do have a creepy old style wheel chair outside of the room laundry room.
I was in town for work and stayed in room 12, the gentleman was honest and very friendly.
I asked if the rooms were haunted and he said “people Have said they, however co worker and i still stayed in two different rooms. 10 and 12. Yes it is haunted. I heard a woman’s laugh and later felt a cold breeze. My windows were shut. I prayed and slept very comfortable. Will I stay there again. I don’t know.
I try to look for an explanation on matters like this but I had an experience at the Gunn House in 2012. I was staying there for one night on a journey from Sth Lake Tahoe to Yosemite and arrived late in the afternoon. The person checking me in wasn’t rude or anything but there was something strange about it, I couldn’t put my finger on it but it didnt affect me and I had a rest in the room until I had a walk into town to have a look round. When I did I found the people I met had the same personalities…., I dont know how to explain it but it was like they were there but they couldnt see me. I sound daft I know but that’s how it felt. Anyway, at night getting ready for going to sleep, I rolled over and saw the bathroom door was open. This wouldnt normally bother me but due to the layout and location of the room it meant that people had to walk past my bathroom and bedroom windows and thus would probably wake me up. So I closed the bathroom door and it gave me a bit more protection against the noise or potential noise. This was on my mind, and I really felt I needed to close the door. Low and behold when I woke up at 7am I was surprised to see that the door was wide open! I tried numerous examples of how it happened but I couldnt not get it to open when closed, if anything its default setting was to close rather than to open.
Anyway, something else took my time that day and I didnt get chance to think about it until a month or so later. I happened to be on my lunch hour and went onto Trip Advisor and read some reviews of some hotels I had stayed in on my trip. Remembering the Gunn House, I found it and read the reviews, there were lots and lots and I read them all 190 or so there was no mention of anything strange, but there was one review that described the people of the town in exactly the same way as I felt (albeit in far more eloquent terms than I could). It’s still there so you can find it.
So my fiancé and I stayed in room 7. I don’t have any horror or bad stories. Just the at around 1 am we were about to go to sleep and my purse flew from the chair to by my side of the bed ( about 10 feet). The other odd thing was we could hear running shower water for about an hour in a half( oddly long for a person to shower) I would stay there again but maybe keep my purse in my suitcase this time.
room 8. something had been sleeping? between my wife and myself. early morning loud noise and sheets lifted up. my wife asked who is there it communicated Maria.to her.
Wow! I’m so glad to hear that others have had “experiences” 🙂
We just stayed there last night in room #20, nothing to report, sadly. But about two years ago we stayed in room #19 and I did have an experience which my husband did not sense, feel, etc.
During the middle of the night the floor had creaked next to my side of the bed which brought me awake. Then I felt the bed depress next to me and it was cold. I had reached over to see if my husband was in bed with me and he was, fast asleep. At that point I tried to say something to my husband and couldn’t! I can’t explain how I odd the sensation felt not being able to speak.
The bed sprung back, so to speak, and the cold went too. So AWESOME.. never even thought about having an experience like that but went there again on our ride yesterday and needless to say was disappointed.
My wife and I were staying two nights in room #5. This is our second time staying in this hotel, and in the same room. The first time was two years prior to our most recent stay. On our first stay, we were laying in bed (not moving) and the remote was on the bed to her right about a foot from the edge. The remote fell off the bed and hit the floor. We didn’t know exactly what made the noise at the time. It startled my wife and confused me, because of the fact we were laying still at the time. The second stay (one day ago from this post) I woke up in the middle of the night at about 2 am. I barely opened my eyes and saw a shadow pass the windows in the door. It was clearly a short lady with a late period hat. Her head didn’t go up and down, like when someone walks. It was a steady motion (kinda like floating). I read about sightings before I posted this and to my surprise the matronly woman that was seen before fits this exact description. Scary part is, when I woke up, my wife said she saw something similar that night, when she was awake for a brief minute. At the time she had no idea of my sighting and the two incidents were at separate times of the night.
My friend and I slept in room 11 last night. I did not feel anything ominous. My friend fell asleep while I thought it odd she fell asleep with her glasses on and a remote in her hand. I just took the glasses and the remote. Soon I was tired and I turned on the light in the bathroom and turned off the light. I noticed someone was pounding on the door/ windows of the room Nextdoor and this went on for some time. I finally had it and called the non emergency number for Sonora Police asking them to have whomever is out there to keep it down. The police department representative made no mention of this history or any comment about room 11 it was only after I returned home the next evening I thought to see if that hotel had any issues. I was quite surprised to find I had spent the night in a haunted room. I didn’t feel watched or see anything move.
We stayed in one of the side rooms. In the middle of the night I heard someone whistling an old tune. Later I heard a chain saw running. Who uses a chain saw at 3am? Our room felt creepy.
Stayed in room 25. The drawer in the bedside table with the bible in it would open by itself. I checked the drawer when I closed it after the first time it opened and couldn’t make it open at all and the drawer was stiff enough to not roll open, nor is it slanted. i am not able to move the ground by jumping or walking by the table making the drawer open or even shake a little as I think the ground is cement. I went about my evening and after a quick second in the bathroom later I came back into the room to find the drawer open again. I tried to talk to the ghost and asked it to open the drawer while i watched him do it instead of behind my back each time and I closed the drawer once more. Few minutes later I noticed the drawer started to move and I actually watched the drawer open back up like I’ve been finding it open. I thanked the ghost and suggested it could be a code so if I asked Yes and No questions the Yes answer could be the drawer being opened. So i closed the drawer again and started asking questions to identify the ghost. After I asked if it was Mr. Gunn and this was his house the drawer opened up again!! I thanked him for letting me stay here and I closed the drawer one last time. It got quiet after that which I could understand because moving objects as a ghost uses a lot of energy and he could have drained himself out. Proof was the drawer remained shut for the rest of the night!!