Tonopah, Nevada: One-Night Road Trip

We heard about the best places in the U.S. to experience breathtaking stargazing in the darkest skies was at Tonopah so, we packed our car and took off for a road trip. 

The Tonopah Star Gazing Park

What we found was a town that is filled with history, all things odd with its haunted history, the infamous Clown Motel, and Historic Mining Park.

Me & Jim Found Tonopah

How the town of Tonopah came to be involves quite a tale. In the year 1900, a man named Jim Butler lost his burro. He eventually found it snoozing in the desert. To rouse it, he grabbed a rock, but the rock felt heavier than normal. He quickly realized his runaway burro had led him to an untapped reserve of silver ore that in today's money ended up over a billion dollars. 

The spot where his burro decided to siesta is now home to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. The Park covers more than 100 acres to discover all of its nooks and crannies as we took our time exploring. The approximate elevation is 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) above sea-level so we were very careful to wear a hiking boots, sunscreen, and drink plenty of water.

For a little spookiness we visited the Clown Motel, the Tonopah Cemetery, and the Mizpah Hotel.

The Clown Motel has 2,275 donated clowns that you can see and take photos. It is said that the motel is haunted.

The Tonopah Cemetery is right next door from the Clown Motel. The first burial in the old cemetery was in May of 1901. In 1911, the tailings from the Tonopah Extension Mill were washing over and destroying the graves. The Tonopah Extension Mill donated property for the new Tonopah Cemetery, and burials at the old cemetery ceased.

About 300 people are buried in the old cemetery. Resides have died from plague, injury, the Belmont Mine Fire, suicides, and even murder!

Original Map of the Old Tonopah Cemetery

The Marojevech Brothers, Frank and George died on June 20, 1907 due to a horrific accident at the Belmont Mine. 

George "Devil" Davis was the first African American in Tonopah. He was beloved by the entire community, he worked hard and became the political leader of the African American community and eventually came to own his own saloon. However, George had a dark side. Witnesses said that George was an abusive husband. On the night of June 22, 1907, his wife, Ruth, came into the saloon and shot George in the back. She continue to fire as he went down. Ruth only served 1 year for his killing.

Sheriff Thomas Logan was serving his 3rd term as Sheriff when he was shot to death by an unruly gambler in the Manhattan Red Light District on April 7, 1906. 

The 3 Merten Brothers all died between September of 1908 and July of 1910. First Albert died of typhoid fever. Next, Sam was killed in an accident in the Montana Tonopah Mine. William was the last brother to pass away. At only 17 years of age, he died of heart failure.

Bina Verrault and her friend, ran a "Love Syndicate" in New York City. The women claimed to be wealthy widows. They would seduced rich men into giving them expensive gifts and money. One man fell in love with Bina. When she refused his attentions an ddid not return his gifts, he went to the authorities. Bina was arrested. It was estimated that the two women collected about $100,000 in fine clothing, jewelry, and money, which in today's dollars is about 2.5 million. During the trial, Bina pawned some diamond rings and fled. About a year later, she found herself in Tonopah. Her time on the run had taken its toll, and she died of alcoholism.

During the 1911 Belmont Mine Fire, a hero miner named Bill Murphy gave his life saving men from the fire. When workings at the 1100-foot level of the Belmont Mine caught on fire, Bill went down in the mine cage a number of times to rescue stricken miners. On the last trip, from which he never returned, Big Bill said, "Well, boys, I have made two trips and I am nearly all in, but I will try again."

A statue honoring Big Bill is located in front of the post office on Main Street. There is also a mural depicting the funeral procession, which took place during a blizzard.

A statue honoring Big Bill

A mural depicting the funeral procession

Mizpah Hotel

Another place supposedly is haunted is The Mizpah Hotel. This c.1907 hotel was the swankiest and fanciest in town - often referred to as "the finest stone hotel in the desert" - and still holds that same charm.

Its most famous permanent guest is "The Lady in Red" and has been featured on numerous ghost hunting shows. 

The Lady in Red

As the story goes, this purveyor of female companionship at the Mizpah in the 1920s resided on the fifth floor and met an untimely and brutal demise outside her suite, when she was strangled and stabbed by a jealous ex-lover. The Lady in Red themed room is 504, it is exquisite beyond doubt, but the allegedly haunted room is down the hall, in room 502.

Gracing a table across from the hotel's front desk is a book of ghost stories penned by guests over the years, and over by the restaurant, you can photos of Celebrity with a signed checks.

Elizabeth Montgomery, Jessica Walter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Lansbury
Carol Lynley, Annette Funicello, Ave Gardner
Donna M Owen, Myrna Loy, Mae West

Tonopah is where the real stars come for their nightlife so for an added adventure, we received permission from the Tonopah Station Hotel to park our car overnight in the parking lot to sleep. 

Tonopah Station

After getting our car ready for the night, we sat outside waiting to see the stars. 

Beautiful night sky but, unfortunately, the night sky was not clear enough to see the stars but the few starts that we saw seemed very close.

One other place we had to see before departing to another ghost towns adventure was the Yellow Road. A short section of desert road covered with strange yellow and white stripes. Line painting test runs? The painted road is about an eighth of a mile long.

We hope you enjoy reading and learning about Tonopah. Safe travels!