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Reported phenomena, as catalogued
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An 1866 courthouse turned miners' hospital, now an inn where guests report a black-robed figure keeping vigil
308 W Idaho St, Virginia City, MT 59755
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Overnight lodging; the inn has private rooms (sources disagree on six versus seven), each with a full bath. See the operator for current rates.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1866 building one block off Wallace Street; ask the inn about accessibility before booking.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1866 · Former Madison County courthouse (1866) · Former St. Mary's Hospital run by the Sisters of Charity · Virginia City National Historic Landmark District · Remodeled as a hotel by Charles Bovey in 1940
The building that houses the Bonanza Inn was constructed in 1866, during the years Virginia City served as the capital of Montana Territory. It first functioned as the Madison County courthouse, dispensing frontier justice until 1875, when the territorial seat moved to Helena.
In 1876, three Catholic Sisters of Charity arrived from Leavenworth, Kansas, and converted the building into St. Mary's Hospital to serve the area's miners. The sisters treated cholera, typhoid, consumption, gunshot wounds, and injuries from saloon fights and mining accidents. Among them was Irene McGrath, an eighteen-year-old novice who became a familiar figure in town, making house calls on the sick and needy and leading a catechism class for local children. Town women, concerned for her safety among the rough mining population, are said to have quietly taken turns following her when she went out alone.
The hospital served the community only briefly. As the placer gold was exhausted and the mining population dwindled, patient numbers fell, and the sisters moved on around 1879. The building passed through other uses over the following decades.
In 1940, Charles Bovey remodeled the interior as a hotel, though the exterior changed little from its 1870s appearance. The structure now operates as the Bonanza Inn, a lodging property with private rooms (six or seven, depending on the source) a block off Virginia City's main street, managed within the town's historic district.
Sources
The Bonanza Inn's ghost stories trace back to the building's years as St. Mary's Hospital. From the 1950s onward, guests have reported a gentle female presence that seems to soothe the sick and comfort those who are troubled. Many connect the accounts to Sister Irene McGrath, the young novice who tended Virginia City's miners and made daily rounds through the town.
Several generations of visitors, unknown to one another, have described a spectral figure in a black robe who drifts through the streets and occasionally keeps watch over the beds of the sick. Inside the inn, guests report phantom footsteps in empty hallways, the sound of water splashing in a basin, and the sensation of bed covers being tucked carefully around them as they fall asleep.
The building's ward-era past surfaces in other reported details, including faint medical odors and the sound of keys turning when the inn is empty. The accounts are notable for their consistency in tone: rather than frightening, the reported presence is described as protective and caring, an echo of the nursing work the Sisters of Charity carried out here in the 1870s.
These stories circulate through regional tourism coverage and the writing of Montana historian Ellen Baumler rather than formal investigation. They remain among the best-known ghost accounts in a town with many.
Notable Entities
Stay overnight in the former St. Mary's Hospital building, now an inn with private rooms (six or seven, depending on the source) a block off Virginia City's main street. The building's 1860s exterior is largely unchanged.
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