Victor Hotel

An elegant Victorian hotel founded in 1899 during the Cripple Creek gold rush. Throughout its history, the building served as a grocery store, bank, jewelry shop, and hospital before returning to hotel use. Features a historic wrought-iron birdcage elevator.

The Victor Hotel is a four-story Victorian brick building constructed in 1899 by the Woods brothers, Frank and Harry, who had founded the town of Victor in 1893 to service the gold mining operations surrounding it. While breaking ground for the hotel, the brothers struck a rich body of ore and opened the Gold Coin Mine directly beneath the building, extracting six million dollars in gold from tunnels running under the Victor business district. In 1899, a devastating fire reduced the entire town to ashes in just five hours. Victor was quickly rebuilt in stone and brick -- the current hotel dates from 1899 to 1900 -- but a smallpox epidemic arrived shortly after, killing dozens of residents. The hotel has operated continuously through booms, busts, and epidemics, and remains one of the best examples of gold-rush-era architecture in the Cripple Creek mining district.

The hotel's most famous ghost is Eddie, a miner who lived in Room 301. According to the story, Eddie left his room one night and pressed the button to call the elevator. The ornate iron gates opened, but the elevator car had not arrived. Eddie stepped into the empty shaft and fell to his death. His body was carried back to Room 301 and left there until the undertaker came to claim it. Since then, the elevator has developed a mind of its own -- despite regular inspections and maintenance, it activates itself at all hours, traveling up and down the shaft when no one is near the controls, and it always stops on the third floor. The ghostly elevator activity most commonly occurs around 3:00 a.m.

Room 301, where Eddie's body was laid out, is the most actively haunted room in the hotel. Guests have reported seeing misty forms near the bed, hearing footsteps in the hallway outside when no one is there, and feeling sudden rushes of cold air. The third floor hallway is particularly active, and several guests have reported the sensation of someone walking closely behind them. The basement, where the old Gold Coin Mine tunnels once connected to the building's foundation, is another hot spot for paranormal activity. Kitchen staff have reported unexplained sounds and the feeling of being watched during early morning and late night shifts.

The hotel was featured on the television series American Hauntings and has hosted numerous paranormal investigation teams who have conducted overnight ghost hunts on the premises. Ghost Hunts USA offers structured investigation experiences at the Victor Hotel, making it one of the most accessible haunted locations in Colorado's gold country for those seeking their own encounter with Eddie or the other restless spirits of this mining-era landmark.