HAUNTED DWELLING:
The Connor Building: The Connor Hotel
of Jerome, The Spirit Room and the Artesian Gift Shops.
HISTORY OF THE BUILDING:
The hotel, after burring down twice,
David Connor, who had fire insurance, was determined to have an upscale
"lodging establishment" and other related businesses, and built
the building once again in 1898, with a stone foundation and brick walls.
The 2nd floor had 20 upscale rooms with electricity, individual wood stoves
and a call button to rent for the very upscale price of a dollar a day.
The first floor offered activities to pass one's free time in an entertaining
fashion, in the barroom, card rooms, and billiard tables. The hotel even
had a bus to take its guests to the train depot.
Though the Hotel was too expensive
for the "Ladies of the Night" to use for their customers, there
was a false store front located at the west end of the building, which
opened up to the infamous "Husband's Alley," where the Ladies
had their own cribs, (little shacks with beds) to entertain customers,
on the street just below Main Street.
As long as the mines flourished, so
did The Connor Hotel and first floor related businesses. However, as the
mines waned, so did the profits of the Hotel. The Hotel closed in 1931,
and the rooms were not used again for 30 years.
The first floor was rented out to
various merchants who eeked out a living, through the 1950's. To survive
economically, in the '60's, they started offering items that would appeal
to the beginning slow trickle of tourists becoming interested in visiting
Jerome because of Jerome's notoriety of being a ghost town. The shops
continued to stay open throughout the '90's to the present, though perhaps
with different renters.
In the 1960's through the 1970's,
Jerome was discovered by "counter-culture", hardy people (some
calll them hippies) who saw new possibilities in Jerome. They opened natural
arts / artesian shops, from candles to pottery to stained glass, which
began to draw in more people, which started to stimulate Jerome's economy,
saving it from becoming a real ghost town.
The barr room was made bigger by adding
the lobby of the Hotel to be a part of the bar itself. Throughout the
years, the bar room transformed into a smoke shop, a restaurant, a freight
office and then was turned back into a bar. It is currently called The
Spirit Room. Live musical entertainment is offered to the public on Saturday
and Sunday afternoons, from 2:00 - 6:00 PM..
In the early 1960's, The Connor Hotel
opened up once more, but with 10 rooms, not 20, as the rooms were made
bigger. It was no longer a luxury hotel, but a "a low budget flophouse
of sorts." Alas, The Connor Hotel was closed once again in 1980,
because of safety concerns.
In the year 2000, the current owners
started to renovate the hotel, bringing it up to current safety standards
such as putting in a sprinkler system, fire escape, and adequate wiring,
as well as renovating the rooms to their original splendor, plus some
other modern perks the people of today expect. The rooms now offer "a
wonderful blend of antiques and overstuffed furnishings, with great local
artwork, and photographs depicting the history of Jerome."
John Conner would be very pleased
with the current Hotel of Jerome, The Spirit Room and the artesian shops
which are on the first floor, catering to tourists and people who come
to enjoy the recreation opportunities in the area.
1) The Connor Hotel of Jerome
LOCATION: 164 Main Street, P.O. Box
1177, Jerome, Arizona 86331.
PHONE: 928-634-5006 * 800- 523-3554
* Web-Site
Room 1 and Room 5
MANIFESTATIONS:
At least two spirits haunt the building,
a Lady in Red and a Male Spirit, who make their home base on the 2nd floor
- The Connor Hotel of Jerome.
Room 1: Haunted by the Lady in Red
and her friends? Room 1 is located directly above the Spirit Room.
A) It was reported that one can hear
women whispering, out of the ordinary noises not associated with anything
else in the building and scratching sounds.
B) A cold unseen presence tried
to join one frightened gentleman in bed, by lying on top of him, which
inspired a hasty retreat of this gentleman to his van, where he spent
the rest of the night! He wasn't that kind of man!
C) An
artist who stayed in Room 1, kept seeing a Lady in Red in his dreams.
He painted the large mural found above the bar in the Spirit Room, including
a picture of this Lady in Red .
Room 5:
A) People staying in Room 5 have experienced
both hot and cold spots, having the hair on their arms and neck stand
straight up, and heard strange noises as well.
B) The electrical appliances such
as the TV & lights, and guest's Palm Pilots have been known to malfunction.
Entities in general are fascinated with electrical gadgets and can't
help but play with them!
C) When Room 5 is empty, the alarm
clock has been known to go off by itself, not been set by the living
but a ghost getting some chuckles.
2nd Floor Bathroom:
A) A relative of the current owner was
using the bathroom facilities in the second floor bathroom, when she
heard a very soft but clear man's voice calling her, not once but twice,
encouraging a hasty retreat downstairs. She thought she was alone on
the 2nd floor; She was except for a friendly Male Spirit!
Stairs and Hallway
A) Spirit Photographers, as they photographed
the stairs, hallway and rooms, felt they were being followed by an unseen
entity. When they developed their pictures, they captured "the
vortex of an Invisible Entity on the stairs."
2) First Floor: The Spirit Room
ADDRESS: 166 Main Street, P.O. Box
155 Jerome, AZ 86331
928-634-8809 * Web-Site
MANIFESTATIONS
A) In the past, the Lady in Red has
appeared to unsuspecting people who were alone in the bar or in other
parts of the building. She is reported to just stand there, looking at
the person, and then slowly fades away.
B) In the past, people have reported
that they were touched by an unseen entity in the bar and other places
in the building.
C) People have reported having "odd,
strange feelings," in the bar and other parts of the building.
3) First
Floor Shops - Two ghosts, a man and a
woman, like to wander through the artesian shops, to keep on eye on the
living, "help out" and get some chuckles and attention at the
expense of the living. Perhaps these two ghosts, are the ones who make
their home base on the 2nd floor in The Connor Hotel of Jerome.
A) My Own Observation: I was looking
in one of the first floor artesian gift shops, standing behind an older
woman, who was looking at the small candles sitting in a box on a lower
shelf. Suddenly, the box was on the floor with a big bang, like someone
had pushed it off the shelf, which flustered the older woman.
The shop attendant who was working
in the store room behind a curtain, came out and explained to us calmly
that not to worry, it was just one of the ghosts "helping"
the woman to get a better look at the candles and getting attention
and personal chuckles at the same time. Tourists are fun to startle!
Still Haunted?
Yes indeed. The entities which haunt
the building are accepted residents of the place.
Resources: Personal experience &
research.
Haunted Arizona, Ghosts of the Grand
Canyon State, by Ellen Robson. AND Arizona Ghost Stories, by Antonio R.
Garcez.
And the Web-Sites of The Connor Hotel & The
Spirit Room.
Large photos of The Connors Building
taken by Tom Carr. Smaller photos of the rooms and the inside of the Spirit
Room came from the Web-Sites.
