Sacramento, CA
Willow Steak House
History
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Main and Willow streets, 18723 Main St., Jamestown, CA
95327 in Tuolumne County.
Phone: (209) 984-3998
Website: http://
History: The first hotel in Jamestown was built in 1848 and called the Jamestown Hotel, until it burned
down. The original multi story building that was called the Willow Hotel was built in 1862, on the site of a
collapsed mineshaft that killed 23 men. The mineshaft may have collapsed as the result of an explosion.
Chronic fires have plagued the Willow; five in the last decade. When the Jamestown Fire of 1896 hit the
town, there was insufficient water to fight the fire, so the locals used dynamite to stop the flames.
Unfortunately, though they saved the Willow Hotel, most all of Jamestown was devastated and
townspeople were killed by the explosions.
Various tragic events are associated with the Willow or its site. Included are stories of supposed violent
deaths of people in the saloon, and the long-ago death of a guest who was strung up in his room by a lynch
mob. One of the best known of the tragic events involves one of the hotel’s former owners. He reportedly
went upstairs and shot his wife in the head before turning the shotgun on himself.
Before the second floor of the Willow burned down on July 21, 1975, there had been a room known as
the “hanging room.” The hanging room was a small upstairs guest room that was located in the back of the
hotel. It is described as dark and spooky, with peeling wallpaper and a little window that faced the hallway.
The most interesting story connected with this room tells of two men – who were unknown to each other –
hanging themselves on succeeding nights.
In 1978 another fire burned the hotel, except the bar. To this day the bar standing is the original bar.
Reported Activity: There are reports of strange occurrences dating back to the building’s earliest
days in the 1860’s The reports include several unnatural deaths involving people of all ages, with both
murder and suicide being among the causes. A number of unnatural phenomena has taken place as well, such
as saloon doors that swung back and forth by themselves, warm feelings of presence experienced by people
in different parts of the building, strange noises coming from the walls, toilets flushing of their own accord,
and lights that turned off and on for no apparent reason. On one occasion when the structure’s electricity
had been shut off, one of the aged electric lights turned on by itself… only to turn off when the power was
restored.
Likenesses of individuals have appeared in photographs when no such people were present. This has
occurred in both color and black and white photos.
Witnesses reported seeing (nine) apparitions hovering around the source of a 1975 fire in the hotel, and in
1985 a mysterious blaze burned down the hotel and several nearby stores. It’s suspected that these
apparitions could be the ghosts of resentful townspeople killed in 1896 when dynamite blasts where used
to save the Willow Hotel at the expense of human life, or the miners killed when the mineshaft collapsed.
Rumor has it that one of the terrible 1970’s fires started in the hanging room when it was empty, and that
“dark figures” could be seen darting around in the flames.
Both customers and employees have reported seeing the ghost of a short man in a white shirt, string tie, and
black pants. He stands approximately five seven and roams through the halls, as if he’s looking for someone
or something. A gambler with a fancy mustache dressed in an impeccable black suit has been glimpsed at the
bar, quick to disappear after being served. Others have seen the “frizzy” redheaded figure of Elualah
Sims, murdered in the bar by her husband in the 1890’s.
After serving a mysterious man with sunglasses and a long trench coat, the owner reported looking out a
back window one winter night and seeing two beet-red eyes staring back at him. After working up the
courage, he attempted to open up the door in order to go outside and investigate, but couldn’t get the
door to open. After an extended period of trying and much effort, he eventually was able to get the door
open and made it outside, but couldn’t find anyone or anything that would explain what he’d seen.
Two people witnessed a deer head that used to hang above the stove jump off the wall and land eight feet
away. After the second time it landed in a chair where an employee just stood up from, he had to take the
deer down.
A psychic investigator exorcised the building in the late 1970’s, claiming to have rid it of spirits that included
a foul-mouthed, loud-talking woman who had stayed at the hotel in the 1950’s; a former worker at the facility
who felt he had been wrongly accused of stealing; and an older woman who is thought to have died when
her own home burned. However, spirits that linger in the building were identified as miners who had once
worked in the mine that ran under the Willow; while two others are women.
To Listen to first hand accounts: Click Here
Sources:
1. Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory, 2002.
2. May, Antoinette. Haunted Houses of California, 2006.
3. Reinstedt, Randall A. California Ghost Notes: Haunted Happenings Throughout The Golden
State, 2000.
4. Hamilton, Sally. Hotel Willow, 1995
5. The current staff and owners of the Willow Steak House, August 2006.
http://www.tcchamber.com/dining.html
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