The Haunted Old Washoe Club in Virginia City, Nevada – Road Trip Day 9 Ep.23

Lex sez:

Walking up C Street in Virginia City, Neek, Sar and I decided to explore one last saloon in town.  Like the other saloons, this place has a history going back to the 19th century.  It also, like some other saloons, has reports of paranormal activity.  But there’s something about the Washoe Club that demands a closer look, which is exactly what we gave it!

Often called the Old Washoe Club as this brick building was built in 1862, it first came into existence in 1875 as the “Millionaire’s Club”, a place for the rich to hobnob in luxury. 

Some of the people listed as visiting this exclusive club include Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and former President Ulysses S. Grant.  Eventually due to the declining fortunes at the silver mines, the exclusive “Club” closed in 1897, though years later the place was opened to everyone.

When we first walked in, the first thing we noticed were the signs regarding the paranormal activity inside.  They were advertising guided tours for ghost hunting, as well as the time their place was visited by Ghost Adventures from the Travel Channel.  We decided to do our own self-guided exploration of the place to see if we could detect anything spooky on our own!

After paying the entrance fee, we took a look around.  There were plenty of old antique items on walls and shelves, and often there would be a picture nearby of an item with a strange-shaped orb nearby!  Neek tried taking photos to see if we could capture something while I kept the video rolling.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the place architecturally is the huge spiral staircase leading to the upper levels.  We were not allowed to walk up there, but we were intrigued to find out that it was featured in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not as the longest spiral staircase without a supporting pole.  There was also a creepy photo showing something human-shaped glowing on the staircase!

Going past the staircase into the pool table room, I noticed that at the back of the building was a door that a sign said was for a crypt.  They used to store bodies there during the winter in there – I had to check it out!  It was very dark – all you can really see are the huge stones that make up the wall – and the eerie quiet made the cold temperature seem even more chilling.

When I told Neek and Sar about it, they both decided to join me!  We all sat there, waiting for some evidence of the supernatural.  Were the shivers entering our bodies that evidence? 

We don’t know, but we didn’t stay too long to find out!  We left the Washoe Club for the sunshine of C Street.  It was spooky, but for us it was all in good fun!