Est. 1880 · Berwind-White Coal Country History · Guinness World Records · Atlas Obscura Featured Location
Windber, Pennsylvania was founded as a company town by the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company in the late 19th century, and the Grand Midway Hotel emerged from that context — a building positioned to serve the transient population of miners, railroad workers, and traveling salesmen who moved through the coal country of Somerset County.
The building accumulated functions over its first century: coal camp accommodation, brothel, funeral parlor, restaurant, wedding venue, and eventually abandoned commercial property. By the late 1990s it had been vacant long enough to fall into serious disrepair.
Blair Murphy, a Los Angeles artist, found it for sale on eBay in 2000 and bought it on impulse. His renovation preserved the building's eclectic history rather than erasing it — the themed rooms retain references to previous uses, and the paranormal history is actively incorporated into the property's identity. Murphy's roof installations earned Guinness World Records for the world's largest Ouija board (44x29 feet, painted in 2019 in tribute to Ouija promoter William Fuld), the world's largest tarot card, and in 2025 the world's largest cenotaph collection.
The Atlas Obscura entry for the Grand Midway describes it as 'one of Pennsylvania's most notorious paranormal locations.'
Sources
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/pennsylvania/ghost-hunts/haunted-grand-midway-hotel
- https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2017/1/haunted-hotel-is-now-home-to-the-worlds-largest-ouija-board-459555
- https://hauntedus.com/pennsylvania/the-grand-midway-hotel-haunted/
ApparitionsShadow figuresCold spotsEVPTouching/pushingPhantom sounds
Martha's death on July 4, 1911 is the building's most precisely documented tragedy. She was 18 years old, watching holiday fireworks from the second-floor porch when a steel pipe launched by a mortar struck her in the throat, severing her jugular vein and rupturing her spinal cord. The building's owner cites her as the most actively present of its documented spirits.
The Canopy Room has generated the most consistent investigator accounts. Its position — directly beneath the rooftop Ouija board — is either coincidence or a detail that accumulated its own weight over time. Investigators bringing spirit boards into the Canopy Room have reported physical responses: impacts, shoves, and touches without an identifiable source. This pattern has been noted across multiple independent investigation visits.
Other documented phenomena at the property include cold concentrations in the former brothel quarters, shadow figures on staircases, and audio anomalies captured on EVP recordings throughout all three floors.
Haunted Rooms America runs structured investigation events here with experienced guides and professional equipment provided. The booking page documents multiple upcoming 2026 dates and describes the hotel as housing 'multiple documented apparitions across all three floors.'
Notable Entities
Martha (July 4, 1911)
