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Reported phenomena — as catalogued
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1852 Gold Rush Hotel and Saloon in the Sierra Foothills
6260 Main Street, Georgetown, CA 95634
Research updated May 2026
Age
21+ in saloon; rooms welcome all ages
Cost
$$$
Room rates have been published in the $105-$129 range; saloon and restaurant pricing varies. Confirm current pricing on the venue website.
Access
Limited Access
Historic two-story wood-frame hotel with stairs and shared bathrooms on guest floors
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1852 · California Gold Rush · El Dorado County Heritage · Sierra Foothills Hotel
The Georgetown Hotel & Saloon stands at 6260 Main Street in Georgetown, an El Dorado County mining town founded during the California Gold Rush. The hotel was built in 1852, when Georgetown was a hub for placer-mining camps along the Middle Fork of the American River. According to the venue's own history, the building also served at one point as a bordello during the town's mining-era boom.
The hotel survived more than 170 years of fires, economic downturns, and the slow contraction of Gold Country tourism. Today the property operates as a historic 11-room hotel with a working saloon and restaurant on the ground floor. Rooms are arranged around shared bathroom facilities in the manner of period hotels of the era. Room rates published in recent years have ranged from approximately $105 to $129 per night.
The Georgetown Hotel sits within walking distance of several other surviving Gold Rush-era buildings on Main Street and within driving distance of Coloma, the site of James Marshall's 1848 gold discovery. It functions as both a working overnight inn and a destination for paranormal-curious travelers, who book it specifically for its longstanding folklore.
Sources
The Georgetown Hotel publishes its own ghost story directly on its website, which is unusual among working California hotels. The venue identifies four primary figures in its folklore.
Myrna is described as the resident apparition of rooms 5 and 9. Guests have reported the faint figure of a frail woman in period clothing, often described as appearing distressed. The original Shadowlands entry refers to a woman who lost her lover in the mining era and jumped from an upstairs balcony, and Myrna is the name attached to that account in subsequent retellings.
Big Dave is named in venue materials as a former caretaker who is said to have died of an apparent heart attack on the property. The former owner of the hotel has been reported in multiple locations on the upper floors, with a particular association with Room 13. Finally, a child said to have died in his sleep in the building is connected to reports of a bouncing ball heard on lower floors when no children are present.
The hotel posts a certificate signed by the late Northern California paranormal investigator Nancy Bradley, sometimes called the Ghost Girl, certifying the hotel as haunted. The University of California Berkeley has been cited in venue materials as listing the property among the most paranormally active buildings in the state, although primary documentation of that listing is not readily available online.
For visitors, the Georgetown Hotel offers an overnight stay in a continuously operating Gold Rush-era hotel that does not minimize its folklore. Travelers seeking a quiet historic stay should be aware that the venue actively markets its paranormal reputation.
Notable Entities
An overnight stay in one of 11 historic guest rooms above the 1852 Georgetown Hotel & Saloon, in the heart of California's Gold Country. Several rooms - including rooms 5, 9, and 13 - carry their own folklore, including reported sightings of a frail woman in period dress, a former owner, and a child whose bouncing-ball sounds are sometimes reported on lower floors.
The ground-floor saloon and restaurant is open to the public and remains a working Gold Rush-era bar. Guests dine and drink amid the wood paneling and back-bar of a building that has continuously operated since the 1850s.
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