HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
1895 mine-manager's mansion above Old Bisbee, now a B&B with a labor-strife ghost legend
116 Clawson Avenue, Bisbee, AZ 85603
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Bed-and-breakfast room rates; book directly with the inn by phone or vacation-rental listing.
Access
Limited Access
Hillside Victorian mansion above Old Bisbee with stairs and steep street access
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1895 · Bisbee Copper Mining Era · Mine-Manager Residence · Bisbee Labor History
The Clawson House stands on the hillside above Old Bisbee, built in 1895 by Spencer Clawson, a mine manager during the town's copper-mining era. As one of the larger early houses in Bisbee, it reflected the standing of the mine officials who ran operations for companies like the Copper Queen.
Bisbee in the 1890s was a company town in the Mule Mountains, and its mines were the center of frequent labor friction. The legend attached to the Clawson House grows out of one such dispute at the Queen Mine, when the company brought in replacement workers to cross picket lines. By the tradition, three of those replacement workers were lodging at the Clawson House and were killed during the conflict. This account is carried by regional ghost-history writers and Bisbee tour lore rather than by a confirmed contemporary record, and it should be read as local tradition.
The house later passed out of the Clawson family and was converted to a bed-and-breakfast, which it remains, run as a small inn with direct booking. Its hillside Victorian form and its place in Bisbee's labor history keep it on the town's ghost-tour circuit.
Sources
Two strands of legend attach to the Clawson House. The first is Mrs. Clawson, the original owner's wife, described in the tradition as a calm, gentle presence still moving through the rooms of the family's old mansion. The second is darker and tied to Bisbee's labor history: by the local account, three replacement workers brought in during an 1890s strike at the Queen Mine were staying at the house and were killed during the conflict. These three are said to remain, and the more disruptive reports — crashing sounds, footsteps, and cold spots — are attributed to them.
The labor-killing story is carried by regional ghost writers and Bisbee tour guides rather than by a documented historical record, and the inn's lore presents it as tradition. The men in the story are remembered as victims of a violent dispute; the accounts do not glorify the killing.
The Clawson House appears in roundups of haunted Bisbee lodgings and on the town's ghost walks, usually paired with the better-known Copper Queen Hotel and Oliver House. Its hillside setting and the weight of its strike-era backstory give it a more solemn reputation than the town's lighter ghost stories.
Notable Entities
Stay in the 1895 mine-manager's mansion, now run as a small bed-and-breakfast above Old Bisbee. Booking is by direct arrangement with the inn. The house's ghost legends center on the original family and on the labor-dispute story tied to the property.
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