Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 1923 five-story Casper landmark, once the city's premier hotel and now Natrona County's Townsend Justice Center, where thrill-seekers have long reported disembodied voices and the smell of fresh-brewed coffee on the former coffee-house floor.
115 N Center Street, Casper, WY 82601
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active county justice center; no admission as a haunted site. Public areas are accessible only for legitimate county and court business.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Renovated multi-story government building with elevator access; downtown paved sidewalks
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1923 · National Register of Historic Places (1983, ref. 83004303) · Casper's premier 1923 luxury hotel · WWII USO and officers' lodging · Adaptively reused as the Townsend Justice Center
The Townsend Hotel was constructed in 1923 by Charles H. Townsend, a prominent Casper settler and businessman, on the site of the William Anthens pioneer homestead. Designed by the architectural firm Garbutt, Weidner & Sweeney, the five-story brick building was the finest hotel in Casper during the booming oil-and-cattle era of central Wyoming.
For decades the Townsend was a center of the city's social and civic life. It hosted the Casper Rotary Club and other organizations, and during the Second World War it served the USO and provided accommodations for commissioned military officers. Its upper floors, lounges, and dining spaces, including a coffee house referenced in local lore, anchored downtown Casper's gathering culture.
By the 1970s the building had badly deteriorated, and it closed in 1982. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1983 (NRHP reference 83004303). The structure stood vacant until Natrona County purchased it in 2007.
Following an extensive renovation completed in 2008-2009, the building reopened as the Townsend Justice Center, housing district court offices, the county clerk, and the circuit court. Historic features such as the original marble staircase were preserved. The building was never demolished; the anonymous lore describing it as gutted and emptied reflects its vacant period before restoration. Today it is an active, secure county government facility at 115 N Center Street.
Sources
During the long years the Townsend stood vacant, it became a rite-of-passage destination for thrill-seeking Casper teenagers. According to the original anonymous account and local coverage from CasperCowboy, visitors reported hearing voices throughout the empty building. The signature phenomenon, repeated across accounts, was the smell of fresh-brewed coffee on the upper floor where a coffee house had once operated, lingering despite the fact that all fixtures and furnishings had been removed.
Unverified online posts have speculated that 'several murders at the hotel' might explain the reported activity, but no documented homicide or specific named victim has been connected to the building in any credible source. Local reporting frames the haunting firmly as internet rumor and ghost-listing folklore rather than verified occurrence; the CasperCowboy article itself approaches the claims with open skepticism.
Several cautions apply here. The paranormal lore traces essentially to a single anonymous submission echoed by ghost-listing aggregators, with no independent corroboration of the phenomena. The 'murders' explanation is unsubstantiated and carries fabrication risk, so it is reported here only as an explicitly unverified rumor and is not stated as fact. Finally, the building is now an active, secure county justice center, so there is no public paranormal access. The rich, well-documented history of the Townsend is real; the haunting tradition is thin and unverified.
Admire the restored 1923 facade of the former Townsend Hotel, now the Townsend Justice Center, in downtown Casper. The interior is a working government building, so this is an exterior architectural and historical stop rather than a guided ghost experience.
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