Golden North Hotel - Skagway, Alaska

Vladan Novakovic

One of the landmarsk of the small Alaskan town Skagway.The hotel and the place itself looks like it came out of those western movies.So cool!!!!
The Golden North Hotel was built in 1898, at the height of the rush, providing accommodations and refreshment to some of the 1,000 prospectors passing through the city every week. It was this stream of guests that helped provide the basis for the principal ghost story associated with the hotel. The tale involves a prospector — sometimes referred to as “Klondike Ike” — who travelled to Skagway with his fiancé Mary. Mary took up residence in Room 23 at the Golden North while Ike headed out on the 500-mile journey to the gold fields.

From this point, the story takes on a few variations: some say Mary fell ill with pneumonia; some say she grew worried when Ike didn’t return when he was meant to and locked herself in her room; some say, rather ambiguously, that Mary cloistered herself because she was hiding out from local ruffians. Whatever the circumstances, Mary died while waiting for Ike to return from his prospecting expedition (with some versions involving the hotel staff breaking down the door of Room 23 to find Mary dead, wearing the dress she had intended to wear at her wedding).

They say she haunts the building to this day, although reported sightings of “Scary Mary” vary widely, with some seeing a spectral woman roaming the halls or watching at a window for her fiancé’s return, some hearing mysterious noises or feeling blasts of cold air (in Alaska), and some guests of Room 23 waking up in the middle of the night feeling like they’re choking (as if they had ghostly pneumonia…).

Another supernatural event claimed by the Golden North involved Room 14, where staff and guests reported seeing a mysterious light that some described as a sparkle, others as a small twinkling light, and still others as an orb. The provenance of this light is unknown, but it is apparently non-threatening.

While the building is still there and still features the Golden North sign, the hotel closed in 2002 and thus the haunted rooms can no longer be rented by curious ghost hunters. According to a floor plan, Room 23 was located on the third floor in the northwest corner of the building, while Room 14 was (presumably) on the second floor. The building is currently occupied by Frontier Excursions & Adventures.

Paula Dodd Barnes

And they say that Room 23 is haunted by Mary's ghost. Bling Blinky of TEXAS Shout Out: Must make a reservation way in advance for that haunted room! Love America's Haunted Hotels! The Golden North is Fabulous!!!

J Vyas

Historic hotel

Esperanza García del Parapeto

Uno de los iconos de esta pequeña ciudad con su cúpula en forma de cebolla. Se construye en 1898 como sede de una empresa comercial hasta que en 1908 se transforma en hotel con su curiosa historia porque se anunciaba como " amplias habitaciones . No hay bar ,no hay literas . Preferiblemente clientes de negocios ". Ya no funciona como hotel .