HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Ketchikan's oldest hotel, a 1927 landmark with a Room 208 legend
326 Front Street, Ketchikan, AK 99901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Standard hotel room rates; the building also houses a ground-floor restaurant.
Access
Limited Access
Downtown Ketchikan; the historic hotel has interior stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1927 · Oldest Hotel in Ketchikan · National Register of Historic Places · 1927 Architecture
The Gilmore Hotel was built in 1927 on Front Street in the center of Ketchikan, the southeast Alaska port that grew on salmon canning, timber, and, later, cruise tourism. It is generally described as the oldest hotel in the city and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building stands a short walk from the cruise-ship docks and from the Creek Street boardwalk, which keeps it on most visitor itineraries.
The hotel takes its name from Pat Gilmore, the original owner associated with the building in its early years. The Gilmore has operated more or less continuously as lodging since it opened, and the ground floor has housed a restaurant for much of that time. The interior retains its period layout, including the upper-floor guest rooms reached by stairs.
The Gilmore's place in Ketchikan's tourism is partly historical and partly tied to its reputation as a haunted hotel. It is a regular stop on the city's evening ghost walk, and Room 208 in particular has become the focus of the stories guests and guides tell. The hotel continues to take overnight guests, and the haunted reputation is folded into its marketing rather than treated as a deterrent.
Sources
The Gilmore's haunting is concentrated in Room 208. On the American Ghost Walks tour, guides describe shadowy figures and an apparition in a top hat that they associate with Pat Gilmore, the hotel's original owner. KRBD's reporting on haunted Ketchikan records the same pair of figures: a top-hatted man who appears in Room 208 and is described as friendly but inclined to startle guests, and a woman who is seen sitting peacefully in a chair.
Both accounts treat the activity as longstanding hotel folklore rather than the product of any single investigation. The identities behind the apparitions are described as uncertain in the local coverage, with the top-hat figure linked to Gilmore mainly by association with the building's history.
The Gilmore's reputation persists because the building supports it: a 1927 hotel still operating in its original downtown location, with a named original owner and a specific room that visitors can request. The ghost walk uses it as a fixed stop, and the hotel leans into the story rather than away from it.
Notable Entities
Stay in Ketchikan's oldest operating hotel, built in 1927 on Front Street near the cruise docks and Creek Street. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and houses a ground-floor restaurant. Room 208 is the focus of the hotel's ghost stories.
The American Ghost Walks evening tour includes the Gilmore Hotel, where guides recount the apparitions reported in Room 208, including a figure in a top hat associated with original owner Pat Gilmore and a woman said to sit quietly in a chair.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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