Formerly: Riesen House · Vesey House
Gold Hill, Nevada · Founded 1861 · Building: 1861
An 1861 Comstock-era hotel building in Gold Hill, now operating with lodging, a restaurant, and a saloon.
The present Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon traces its core building to the 1861 Riesen House, later known as the Vesey House. It is promoted as Nevada’s oldest hotel, but available history documents periods when the property served as a private residence rather than a hotel.
Records cited in the hotel’s historical account place the Riesen House under construction in July.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
After severe winter weather, an 1862 newspaper account described damage to corners of the Riesen House while its main part remained standing.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, quoting Alta California and Territorial Enterprise
Horace M. Vesey acquired the hotel late in the year and added a wooden structure south of the original stone building.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
The hotel’s historical account says the property was being used as a private residence by this year, interrupting any claim of continuous hotel operation.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
Fred and Dorothy Inmoor acquired the property; the hotel’s history says the structure had been known as the Gold Hill Hotel, with variations including bar or saloon, since at least this point.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
A renovation after Bill and Carol Fain acquired the property added the present wood structure containing the restaurant, kitchen, front desk, and eight rooms.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
Tony and Jill Clough acquired the property from Patrick McNamee and Matthew Wilson and began operating the hotel and restaurant.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"; Clairitage Press, "The Story of the Gold Hill Hotel"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Nevada Tourism and the venue characterize it as the state's oldest hotel, and the core building is tied to the 1861 Riesen House. The stronger claim that it has operated continuously as a hotel is not supported because the venue history says it was used as a private residence by 1907.
Nevada Tourism says guests can reserve original 1861 rooms in the original part of the hotel. The venue history independently places the Riesen House under construction in July 1861, though the exact survival history of each present guest room was not independently documented.
The venue and Nevada Tourism promote a longstanding paranormal reputation, including stories of Rosie and miners. No documentary evidence located establishes the identities, deaths, room assignments, or paranormal activity as historical fact.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
Room 4, known as Rosie's Room, is repeatedly associated with a female presence called Rosie. Guests and staff are said to smell roses or perfume, see apparitions, find lights switching on or off, and report belongings moving or doors opening and closing without an apparent cause.
No historical record reviewed for the main entry confirms Rosie's identity, occupation, dates of residence, or a death connected to Room 4.
Room 5, called William's Room, is repeatedly associated with a male presence named William. Reports describe a tobacco or cigar smell, objects moving, doors creaking or slamming, and occasional apparitions seen by overnight guests.
No historical record reviewed for the main entry confirms that William was a Yellow Jacket Mine victim or establishes his identity or connection to Room 5.
Multiple accounts connect the hotel's reported activity to miners who died in the 1869 Yellow Jacket Mine fire. Visitors and paranormal investigators describe alleged miner apparitions, shadow figures, disembodied voices, cries, and unexplained activity in the hotel and its nearby miner's cabin.
Reports describe child spirits seen in guest areas and heard laughing, playing, or running through apparently empty rooms. The activity is also said to occur in the Great Room and elsewhere on the property.
The Gold Hill Hotel has operated continuously as a hotel since 1861.
The core building dates to the 1861 Riesen House, but the hotel’s own history says it was being used as a private residence by 1907. Its age should not be presented as proof of uninterrupted hotel operation.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
The hotel began as the Vesper House and was built by Homer A. Vesper.
The historical account identifies the original establishment as the Riesen House and says Horace M. Vesey acquired it in late 1862. The checked sources do not support the name "Vesper House" or an attribution to Homer A. Vesper.
Source: Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, "History"
The surviving stone core reflects Gold Hill’s Comstock mining-era boom. Later owners restored and expanded the property for modern lodging and dining, including a 1987 renovation that added the present wood structure with restaurant, kitchen, front desk, and additional rooms.
Its core building began as the Riesen House. The hotel’s historical account says records show it was under construction in July 1861, and a January 1862 newspaper account described storm damage to the building.
The Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon traces its core building to the Riesen House, recorded as under construction in July 1861. Horace M. Vesey acquired it later that year, and the property later became known as the Gold Hill Hotel. Its history is not one of unbroken hotel operation — the property was being used as a private residence by 1907 — before later owners restored it for lodging and dining, including a 1987 renovation and a 2021 change of ownership to Tony and Jill Clough.
No continuous-operation claim should be made from the available evidence. The hotel’s own history says the property was being used as a private residence by 1907, so its operating history includes at least one documented interruption.
It's promoted as Nevada's oldest hotel by both the venue and Nevada Tourism, and its core building dates to 1861. But the property was used as a private residence by 1907, so a claim of continuous hotel operation since 1861 isn't supported by the record — the age claim is plausible, not a proven unbroken operating history.
The hotel’s history says Tony and Jill Clough bought the property on April 3, 2021 and run the hotel and restaurant. A 2022 Clairitage profile also reports their acquisition.
Tourism and venue material describe local stories about apparitions, including Rosie and miners connected in folklore to the nearby Yellow Jacket Mine tragedy. Those stories are a paranormal reputation, not verified historical events.
1540 South Main Street, Gold Hill, NV 89440
(775) 847-0111
The venue is in Gold Hill, about one mile south of Virginia City. Its active site lists lodging reservations, restaurant and saloon hours, and current contact information; check directly before visiting because hours may change.