Haunted hotel guide · Crofton, Nebraska
The Haunted Argo Hotel, Crofton: The Baby in the Wall and Nebraska's Most Famous Haunted Hotel
A 1912 railroad hotel turned clinic and sanatorium in a small northeast Nebraska town, where workers are said to have found an infant’s bones in a wall and guests still hear a baby cry.
The Historic Argo Hotel stands on West Kansas Street in Crofton, a town of about 750 people in northeast Nebraska, roughly ten miles south of Gavins Point Dam and Lewis and Clark Lake on the Missouri River. It was built in 1912 to serve railroad travelers, spent decades as a medical clinic and sanatorium, and was restored as a hotel with Victorian-style rooms upstairs. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999.
It is often called the most haunted hotel in Nebraska, and its central story is a grim one: during renovations, workers are said to have found the bones of an infant hidden inside a wall, in a building where people had long heard a baby crying. Ghost Hunters featured it in an episode released in January 2022. That makes the Argo the best-known of the haunted hotels in Nebraska.
Argo Hotel at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 211 W Kansas St, Crofton, NE 68730
- Opened 1912 as a railroad hotel; a health clinic from 1940; later restored as a hotel
- Most haunted spots Room 1, the second-floor hallways, the lounge and bar, and the basement
- Best-known ghosts A crying baby, a sad woman searching the halls, a man in a hat and long black coat, and a spirit called Alice in the basement
- Booking the haunted room Call the hotel on (402) 388-2400 and ask whether Room 1 is available.
- Good to know Book by phone and confirm before you travel. The steakhouse has opened Friday and Saturday evenings only.
The ghosts of The Historic Argo Hotel
The baby in the wall
For years people in the building reported a baby crying somewhere they could not find. Then, during renovation work on the old hotel, workers are said to have found a burlap bag of bones, said to be an infant’s, inside a wall. The story is told by local paranormal writer Delana Lefevers and others, and the Ghost Hunters episode filmed here was titled “Lost Bones of the Argo.”
No public record says who the child was or how it came to be there. Given the building’s years as a clinic and sanatorium, people have offered many theories, but none is documented. Guests still say they hear the crying.
The sad woman
Guests often describe a woman who looks sad or is heard crying as she moves through the hotel. Many link her to the baby, and paranormal writers have suggested she is the child’s mother, still searching the building for it.
A female presence is also reported in Room 1, where guests say they have occasionally been touched. Whether she is the same woman is anyone’s guess.
The man in the hat and long black coat
On the second floor, guests and investigators have described a middle-aged man wearing a hat and a long black coat. He appears in the hallway and then is gone. Nobody has put a name to him.
Alice in the basement
Nebraska’s tourism listing for the hotel names its most persistent spirit as a woman called Alice, who is said to haunt the basement. Little more is told about her, and she does not feature in most other accounts, which makes her the Argo’s least known ghost.
The player piano and falling glasses
The lounge has its own stories. Guests and staff have reported a player piano that starts playing on its own, drinking glasses falling from the bar and breaking, doors slamming, and pictures and small objects moving around the hotel. The original version of this guide recorded the moving pictures and objects too.
The phone call from a locked room
The Thunkers had their own story to tell when they reopened. Shortly before the 2016 grand opening, Sandy Thunker told the Norfolk Daily News, the office phone showed a call coming from an upstairs room she had locked and not rented. A man who went up to check heard a strange sound, and the phone lines were found to have no fault.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 1: The room most mentioned by guests, where a female presence is said to touch people. Ask for it by phone.
- Victorian rooms upstairs: Antique-furnished rooms with private bathrooms, Wi-Fi, cable TV and air conditioning, on the floor where the man in the long black coat is seen.
- Suites: All with sitting areas; most have jetted tubs, and some have full living rooms or balconies.
- The lounge and steakhouse: Home of the self-playing piano and the falling glasses. The steakhouse has opened Friday and Saturday evenings.
History of The Historic Argo Hotel
Crofton was platted in 1892 and named after Crofton Court, an English estate. The Argo was built in 1912 in what the National Register calls an early commercial style, with a pressed tin ceiling on the first floor and transom windows over the guest room doors. It served the railroad traffic that came through town and was for a time known as the New Meridian Hotel.
In 1940 the building was converted into a health clinic, and it is also recorded as the New Meridian Sanatorium. It served as a doctor’s office and clinic for many years, which is the period most people connect with the hotel’s ghost stories.
The building was later restored as a hotel. Our original guide dated that work to the 1990s, which we could not confirm. What is documented is that the Argo was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1999, and that it was running as a bed and breakfast when it came up for sale in 2015. Crofton natives Sandy and Bob Thunker bought it that fall, cleaned up fire damage, remodeled, and held a grand opening in June 2016 with 11 rooms, including two suites, and a steakhouse and lounge. Sandy Thunker told the Norfolk Daily News she lived in an upstairs room and had made peace with the spirits.
Today it offers Victorian-style rooms and suites upstairs, a hot breakfast, a lounge and a steakhouse. Its reputation took off in January 2022, when Ghost Hunters released “Lost Bones of the Argo” (season 14, episode 3), in which the team was asked by the owners to find out whether the building was safe for guests. Writing in the Omaha World-Herald that month, Nick Hytrek said the episode would likely bolster the Argo’s ranking as Nebraska’s number one haunted hotel.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book by phone on (402) 388-2400 and confirm your reservation before you set off; the hotel is small and hours can change.
- Ask for Room 1 if you want the room guests talk about most.
- Plan dinner around the steakhouse’s Friday and Saturday nights, or eat in town.
- Spend the day at Lewis and Clark Lake and Gavins Point Dam, about ten miles north on the Missouri River.
- Watch the Ghost Hunters episode before you go, so you know where the stories happened.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Arrow Hotel, Broken Bow: a restored 1928 hotel in central Nebraska
- Olde Main Street Inn, Chadron: a frontier inn with two friendly ghosts, Anna and Jack
- Haunted hotels in Nebraska
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We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Argo Hotel in Crofton haunted?
It is often called the most haunted hotel in Nebraska. Guests report a crying baby, a sad woman, a man in a hat and long black coat, a female presence in Room 1, a self-playing piano and slamming doors. These are reported experiences, not proven events.
Were bones really found in the Argo Hotel?
The story told locally and by paranormal writers is that workers found an infant’s bones in a burlap bag inside a wall during renovations. No public record has been published identifying the child.
Was the Argo Hotel on Ghost Hunters?
Yes. Ghost Hunters featured it in “Lost Bones of the Argo,” season 14, episode 3, first released in January 2022.
What was the Argo Hotel before it was a hotel again?
It opened as a railroad hotel in 1912, became a health clinic in 1940 and is also recorded as the New Meridian Sanatorium, before it was restored as a hotel.
Which room is haunted at the Argo Hotel?
Room 1 is the room guests mention most, with a female presence said to touch people. The second-floor hallways, the lounge and the basement also feature in the stories.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Wikipedia: Argo Hotel
- Visit Nebraska: Historic Argo Hotel
- Norfolk Daily News: New Argo owners bring hotel back to glory days (2016)
- TVmaze: Ghost Hunters 14×03, Lost Bones of the Argo
- The Yard Rake: Nebraska haunted hotels (2023)
- Wikipedia: Crofton, Nebraska
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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