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Haunted Flagstaff

If you're passing through the Flagstaff area and want to do something a little out of the ordinary, you might consider a walking tour of reputedly haunted buildings in the downtown area.

There are seven locations typically featured on a tour of "haunted Flagstaff", all within several blocks of historic downtown. Some of these locations have more than one resident apparition. While most of the ghosts are reportedly "friendly" and even sometimes playful or helpful, there is at least one which is not so nice.

Our tour begins at the downtown Flagstaff Visitor Center on Route 66. Before the current station was constructed, the old tracks ran right through what is now the lobby. Apparently there was an unfortunate accident on that spot in which a brakeman was crushed to death between the couplings of two boxcars.

Numerous visitors have reported cold spots and eerie feelings or sensations of being watched while climbing to the building's second floor. Locked doors have been found unlocked by the night cleaning crew, while others claim to have heard and seen people inside after the building was closed and locked for the night.

One block north of Route 66, on Aspen Avenue, lie several other haunted locations. Our next stop is at the historic Weatherford hotel, on the corner of Aspen and Leroux, where more than one ghostly figure interacts with the living.

Among the most frequently seen spirits are a woman who has been spotted floating or darting across the Zane Grey Ballroom. In addition, Room 54 (now a storage closet) was the site of a 1930s murder of a honey-mooning couple who seem to have lingered. They have been glimpsed by various guests, including one who claims to have woken to find them sitting on the bed!

Other incidents at the Weatherford include employees hearing their names called out while on the fourth floor and feeling someone standing behind them. Whispered voices have been heard at the bar, and a pool table lamp often sways inexplicably. There is also a spot in the basement that staff claim gives them an eerie feeling.

Just west of the Weatherford sits the Orpheum Theater, whose famous ghost is a shadowy figure always seen on the balcony. Others have seen dark forms moving through the aisles after the building was closed. Visitors and employees alike have reported strange phenomena such as self-flushing toilets, faucets coming on with no one nearby, and feelings of being watched.

Two blocks east, at the corner of Aspen and San Francisco

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