HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
1950 motor lodge where former owner Annabel Goan is said to keep watch over rooms 223, 224, and 226
415 N 29th St, Billings, MT 59101
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Overnight room rates vary by season; the three rooms with the most reported activity (223, 224, 226) are sometimes booked a year ahead. Call the front desk for current rates and ghost-tour details.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Single-story and second-story motor-lodge layout with paved courtyard parking
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1950 · National Register of Historic Places · Postwar Motor-Lodge Architecture · Billings Local History
The Dude Rancher Lodge opened to guests on December 17, 1950. It was built by Percival 'Percy' Goan and his wife Annabel Arnott Goan as a Western-themed motor lodge in downtown Billings, a single- and two-story complex arranged around a courtyard in the auto-court style popular in the postwar years.
Percy Goan died in 1962 following a car accident. After his death Annabel took over as president of the family corporation. In 1973 she converted two of the lodge's rooms into a private apartment and lived on the property until 1982, when she moved into an assisted-living facility. She died in 1983.
The lodge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 22, 2010 (reference number 10000489). The National Register nomination itself notes the building's reputation as a haunted site, an unusual detail for an official preservation document.
The Dude Rancher remains a working hotel and leans into its ghost reputation, publishing a 'haunted history' page and arranging ghost-focused tours by request. Local outlets including KTVQ have covered the lodge's paranormal claims, and the Montana Paranormal Research Society has investigated the building.
Sources
Staff and guests credit most of the lodge's reported activity to Annabel Goan, the former owner who lived on the property for nearly a decade. The accounts cast her as a benign presence — housekeepers describe televisions turning on while they clean, lights switching on and off, and stuck doors found unlocked.
The three rooms with the most reports are 223, 224, and 226. Room 226 belonged to the family member who ran the hotel after Annabel's time, and it is the one guests most often request for that reason. Reports there and in the adjoining rooms include knocking on the door with no one in the hallway and the sound of children running where no children are present.
The Montana Paranormal Research Society has investigated the lodge and reported capturing a female voice on audio recording in the basement. Other accounts describe dark shapes in the basement and a man in a blue shirt some staff associate with a former cook. The lodge does not hide from the reputation: its own website hosts a haunted-history page, and the rooms tied to the stories are sometimes booked a year in advance.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Book a room at the 1950 lodge — rooms 223, 224, and 226 draw the most paranormal reports, with 226 having belonged to the family that ran the hotel. Guests and housekeepers describe lights and televisions switching on without cause. Reservations through the front desk.
The lodge markets its own haunted history and arranges ghost-focused tours of the property by request. Contact the front desk for scheduling and availability.
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