Meet Flo, the Weeping Ghost of California’s Haunted Historic National Hotel

If you’re the kind of person who would rather skip the luxury resorts and spend the night curled up inside an old haunted hotel, then the Historic National Hotel in Jamestown, California might be just the place for you. Not only is the hotel rich in history, it’s got at least three ghosts, but you should know that one of them, named Flo, has a habit of keeping the guests up with her uncontrollable weeping.

Jamestown, California’s Historic National Hotel has been a bar and hotel since 1859, and over the past 157 years it’s seen its fair share of salacious behavior. Gambling, prohibition, prostitution, gunslinging, and a handful of fires are just a few of the things that the walls of the Historic National Hotel have been witness to over the last century-and-a-half.

Originally built as an all-purpose destination for the prospectors flooding into Jamestown, looking for their piece of the gold rush, the hotel was one of the first permanent structures in the area that gave workers a place to gamble, drink, and get busy… and they did plenty of all three.

As you might expect, a place that’s seen so much bad behavior is bound to have a few ghosts wandering the halls, and over the years countless visitors have reported having paranormal experiences, many of which involve the hotel’s most famous resident: Flo.

According to legend, back in the 1800s, Flora was set to marry a handsome man named Henry, who had been seeking out riches in the mines while staying at the hotel. In fact, Henry loved the National Hotel so much that he decided it would be where they shared their Christmas wedding vows. Things didn’t exactly go as planned.

Only a few short weeks from the date of the wedding, Henry was gunned down on the doorstep to the hotel, where he died. Flo, who was absolutely broken hearted, died on New Years Eve from heart failure. It seems that Flo never left the hotel, as she’s regularly spotted aimlessly walking the halls, looking despondent and heartbroken.

Quite often Flo’s appearance is preceded by an unexplainable cold draft that creeps slowly through the room. Paranormal investigators have even been able to document drastic dips in temperatures just before Flo makes herself known to the group.

More often than not, Flo is seen in the early morning hours walking from room to room before making her way to one of the hotel hallway chairs, where she sits and cries uncontrollably over her lost love. While most ghost sightings tend to be a frightening experience, those who’ve seen Flo tend to describe their encounters as more sad than anything else.

Flo, however, isn’t the only ghost roaming the darkened hallways of the Historic National Hotel, and the others are quite a bit more sinister…

The “Man in Black” is another of the hotel’s famous phantoms. This spirit reportedly lurks in the shadows and follows unwary guests up to their rooms before disappearing into thin air. Some visitors have even reported having their arms grabbed violently by the Man in Black, only to feel his grip dissipate when they scream.

The Historic National Hotel is also home to the spirit of an unnamed female, who was allegedly was murdered in the hotel because she owed one of the roughest guests some cash. She was found with her throat slit in Room 48, where occasionally an unlucky guest will see her manifest, the open wound in her neck gushing crimson blood.

Another one of the hotel’s permanent residents is a phantom named Elizabeth. Often seen as a young girl roaming the hallways of the hotel on her tricycle, or skipping rope in the lobby, Elizabeth is mainly experienced in Room 78, where she died from a childhood illness. She’s one of the more active sprits in the hotel, and particularly loves to make herself known to mothers and other children.

So many people have had experiences with the ghosts of the Historic National Hotel that every suite in the building has a special notepad for guests to record their own paranormal experiences. Each of the notebooks are filled with first-hand accounts of flickering lights, mysterious smells, drastic temperature drops, and even encounters with fully-fledged ghostly apparitions.

The Historic National Hotel is a triple threat: it’s the perfect destination for those of us who love history, the paranormal, and urban legend, which makes it the perfect destination for fans of offbeat weekend adventures. Why hang out with tourists in a resort when you can make friends with ghosts? Say hi to Flo for us!

For more information about booking a stay at the haunted Historic National Hotel, check out their official website.

Would you spend the night at the Historic National Hotel? Follow us on Twitter @WeirdHQ, drop us a line on Facebook, or start a conversation in the comments below!

MORE GREAT STORIES FROM WEEK IN WEIRD: