A hospital where babies are heard crying, a madam with a suitcase, a hanged man who still walks the courthouse and a copper king who never moved out. These are the most haunted places in Butte, with what is history, what is legend and how to visit each one.
Butte grew rich on the Richest Hill on Earth and paid for it underground: an estimated 2,300 to 2,500 miners died in its mines, and its red-light district, its Cabbage Patch shanties and its hanging yard gave it more than its share of tragedy. Its ghost stories cling to the brick and stone of Uptown, a National Historic Landmark District, and local guides run Spooks and Spirits walking and trolley tours. We have checked every place below against current sources and say where a story has no record behind it. Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at the Old St. James Hospital and the Miner’s Hotel.
Visit on a tourGhost toursOvernight investigationsHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address Main Street, Deer Lodge, MT 59722
Where to look The Hole (solitary), Maximum Security, the 1912 cell house and the northwest Death Tower
Reported ghosts Apparitions in empty cells, slamming doors and an aggressive presence in solitary
Visiting Museum complex run by the Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation; Haunted Rooms ghost hunts on set dates
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms ghost hunts
The territorial prison took its first inmates in 1871 and stayed in use for 110 years, until the state moved the last prisoners to a new site west of town in 1979. Convicts built its sandstone wall in 1893 and cell houses followed in 1896 and 1912. On April 16, 1959, inmates led by Jerry Myles and Lee Smart took 23 hostages and killed Deputy Warden Ted Rothe; the National Guard broke the 36-hour siege with a bazooka, and the two leaders died in a murder-suicide in the northwest tower.
It is one of Montana’s best-known haunts: visitors and investigators describe apparitions in empty cells, footsteps, doors that close by themselves and a hostile presence in the solitary cells called the Hole. Paul ‘Turkey Pete’ Eitner, who served nearly 50 years and died in 1967, is the prison’s most famous character. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here; see the event page for dates.
Haunted Rooms tip: Allow half a day: the same ticket covers the Montana Auto Museum next door. Look for the bazooka damage on the 1912 cell house.
Address Off South Idaho Street near West Mercury Street, Butte, MT 59701
Where to look The former maternity ward, the long corridors and the old chapel
Reported ghosts Crying babies, footsteps in empty corridors and objects that move
Visiting Closed during restoration; open for Haunted Rooms ghost hunts
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms ghost hunts
Five Sisters of Charity from Leavenworth, Kansas, came to Butte in 1881 to found St. James Hospital, and they opened a nursing school in 1906; the 1917 nurses’ dormitory still stands beside it on West Mercury Street. Hospital care moved to a new building in the 1960s, and the old hospital later held apartments and small offices. It sat empty for years until a restoration team led by building manager Cameron Moylan began turning it into housing in 2024.
Local radio has called it one of Butte’s most haunted buildings: visitors and investigators describe the sound of crying babies near the old maternity ward, unexplained noises and objects that move. Haunted Rooms runs after-dark ghost hunts inside, the only way to see the corridors, the chapel and the former maternity ward at night.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book one of our ghost hunts; the building is otherwise closed while restoration goes on, so do not try to look around on your own.
Visit on a tourGhost toursParanormal investigations allowedOvernight investigations
Address 45 East Mercury Street, Butte, MT 59701
Where to look The madam's quarters, the second floor and the stairs
Reported ghosts Madam Elinore Knott carrying a suitcase, and women who pat hair and pinch
Visiting Seasonal tours; private overnight ghost hunts can be arranged
Tours Guided tours of about 75 minutes, every other weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day
Ghost hunting Private overnight events with the owners
French-Canadian brothers Joseph and Arthur Nadeau opened the Dumas in 1890, naming it for Joseph’s wife Delia, born Dumas. It stood at the mouth of Venus Alley in Butte’s red-light district and kept working until 1982, long after prostitution was outlawed, making it one of the longest-running brothels in the country. It is a contributing building in the Butte-Anaconda National Historic Landmark District.
Madam Elinore Knott was found dead in the madam’s quarters in 1955, and her figure is said to walk toward the stairs carrying a suitcase. Owners Charlee and David Prince, who bought the 43-room building at a 2018 tax sale, say a woman’s voice has answered their greeting, and visitors describe hair being patted. It has appeared in more than a dozen paranormal films.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book a tour between Memorial Day and Labor Day; the owners only run them every other weekend, so check dates first.
Open to the publicOvernight investigationsHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address 53 West Park Street, Butte, MT 59701
Where to look The old bank vault, the stairs and the upstairs rooms
Reported ghosts A prankster who hides belongings and a shadow figure on the stairs
Visiting A working hotel; Haunted Rooms ghost hunts and sleepovers on set dates
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms ghost hunts
John Shackleton designed and built this brick block in 1913 for the Miners Savings Bank and Trust Company, after fire destroyed the bank’s old home on September 1, 1912. The bank kept the ground floor until the 1960s and a post office followed. Upstairs, Lawrence and Katherine Graves ran furnished rooms; in 1930 their 35 lodgers included a Prohibition agent and a bootlegger under the same roof.
It reopened as a boutique hotel in 2016, with rooms such as the Vault Room and a speakeasy, 51 Below, in an old fur vault in the basement. A KAAR reporter who toured it in 2025 wrote about creaking floors and fully charged camera batteries that died the moment she walked in. Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts and sleepovers here; see the event page for dates.
Haunted Rooms tip: Stay the night and finish with a drink in 51 Below. There is no elevator, so pack light.
Where to look The third-floor ballroom, the billiard (game) room, the basement and the first-floor hallway
Reported ghosts A pale, fog-like figure in the basement and hallway, a cold presence in the game room and footsteps in the ballroom
Visiting A working hotel: book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; stay the night instead
Copper King William A. Clark built this 34-room red brick mansion in Uptown Butte between 1884 and 1888, with frescoed ceilings, stained glass, hand-carved fireplaces and a third-floor ballroom. The same family has owned it since 1953, lives in it, and rents four antique-filled rooms as a bed and breakfast, including the Clark family’s own suite.
The ghost stories are low-key and the family reportedly does not believe the house is haunted. Visitors still describe a pale, fog-like figure in the basement and first-floor hallway, a cold presence in the game room, doors that move on their own and footsteps in the ballroom. A 2022 House Beautiful round-up called it the most haunted house in Montana.
Haunted Rooms tip: Every overnight guest gets a free tour, so you can see the ballroom and game room before the house goes quiet. Haunted Rooms ghost hunts at the Old St. James Hospital are a few minutes away.
Where to look The elevator, the jail and the old jail yard
Reported ghosts Miles Fuller, hanged in the jail yard in 1906
Visiting Working county courthouse open on weekdays
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; it is a working government building
Link and Haire designed this Beaux Arts courthouse, built from 1910 and dedicated in 1912 at a cost of $482,600, on the site of the earlier county courthouse and jail. Between 1889 and 1926 ten men were hanged in the jail yard. The seventh was Miles Fuller, a placer miner convicted of shooting and slashing his neighbor Henry Gallahan in 1904; he was hanged at 5:30 AM on May 18, 1906, said to be the quickest hanging in Montana.
Historian Ellen Baumler recorded the courthouse stories: an elevator that runs after hours with no one in it, footsteps, falling books, a shadow that walks through walls, and deputies in the jail’s sleeping quarters who saw Fuller himself, long beard and tattered hat. Butte’s preservation officer noted the ghost seems to follow the floor plan of the older building.
Haunted Rooms tip: It is a working courthouse: visit on a weekday, look at the lobby and grand stair, and respect security.
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
Old St. James Hospital ghost hunt: an after-dark investigation of the old Sisters of Charity hospital in Butte. See the event page for dates.
Where to look The third floor and the fourth-floor ballroom
Reported ghosts Footsteps and movement on the upper floors at all hours
Visiting House museum and arts center
Hours and season June to August, Wednesday to Sunday 12 to 4 PM; April and May weekends; otherwise by appointment
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Copper king William A. Clark’s eldest son Charles built this 26-room mansion for his bride Katherine in 1898 and 1899, reportedly modeled on a French chateau they saw on their honeymoon, with patterned brick, limestone trim, slate roofs and round turrets. Senator James Murray’s family lived here from 1928 to 1945; it later housed the Butte College of Music and the Shriners’ Fez Club, and is now a heritage museum and arts center.
A Butte radio station has called it a hotbed of unruly spirits, with activity heard and sometimes seen on the third floor at all hours, and regional tourism lists it among Butte’s haunted houses. The museum itself does not promote ghost stories, so treat them as local lore.
Haunted Rooms tip: Go on a summer afternoon for the four-floor tour, with painted wallpaper, seven fireplaces and the top-floor ballroom.
Address Between East Mercury and Silver Streets, east of Wyoming Street, Butte, MT 59701
Where to look The four surviving pre-1890 cabins
Reported ghosts Ethal Gill, a girl said to have been murdered in 1898
Visiting Surviving cabins seen on local history and ghost tours
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Butte’s poorest neighborhood grew in filled-in Baboon Gulch on the edge of the red-light district: more than 200 shacks with no water or electricity, home to widows, worn-out miners, bootleggers and new immigrants, where several landlords might claim rent on the same cabin. At least 225 buildings were torn down in 1940 for the Silver Bow Homes public housing. Four shacks from before 1890 survive as small museums.
On Butte’s ghost tours a history teacher tells of Ethal Gill, a nine-year-old said to have been brutally murdered in 1898, who is believed to sit in visitors’ laps and play with their hair. We found no record of the murder; regional tourism counts some 20 suspicious deaths in the Patch between 1919 and 1939.
Haunted Rooms tip: See the cabins on a guided Spooks and Spirits walking or trolley tour, which stops at the Patch.
Reported ghosts Unexplained night noises and objects that move
Visiting Working performing arts center
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
The Masons built this Beaux-Arts theater in 1923 as the Temple Theatre, a 1,200-seat annex to their Masonic Temple, designed by Link and Haire with tall columns, lion’s heads and colorful terra cotta. It became the Fox movie house in the Depression and hosted names such as Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and B.B. King. Saved from demolition in the 1970s, it reopened as the Mother Lode in 1996 and is Butte’s last working theater.
Staff have told KXLF that they hear strange noises at night and see objects move in ways they cannot explain. That is the whole of the published story: no named ghost, just a century-old theater that sounds busy when it should be empty.
Haunted Rooms tip: See a show or concert and arrive early to look at the restored auditorium.
Where to look The underground tour of the Orphan Girl Mine
Reported ghosts Apparitions of miners underground
Visiting Museum; hours vary by season
Tours Underground tour about 100 feet down, reservations required
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
The Orphan Girl, one of Butte’s first hardrock mines, produced silver, lead and zinc from 1875 to 1956 from workings more than 3,200 feet deep. The museum on its yard was founded in 1963 and keeps the 100-foot steel headframe, the hoist house and Hell Roarin’ Gulch, a recreated 1890s mining camp of dozens of buildings. Butte lost an estimated 2,300 to 2,500 miners underground over its history.
Regional tourism says visitors on the underground tour may meet apparitions of miners who died there. That is the only published claim we found, with no named ghost or witness, so come for the mine itself.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the underground tour ahead (closed-toe shoes required) and walk Hell Roarin’ Gulch late in the day.
These places appear in older lists of haunted spots. We keep them here so you know the facts before you go, but you cannot (or should not) visit them.
Granite Mountain-Speculator mine headframe
More than 160 miners died in the fire of June 8, 1917. The headframe is not accessible; pay your respects at the Granite Mountain Memorial overlook instead.
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most haunted place in Butte?
The Dumas Brothel is the most famous, with its madam said to walk the hall carrying a suitcase. The Old St. James Hospital, where Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts, and the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse, haunted by a hanged man, are its rivals.
Can you go ghost hunting in Butte?
Yes. Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at the Old St. James Hospital and ghost hunts with sleepovers at the Miner’s Hotel; see each event page for dates. The Dumas Brothel’s owners also host private overnight investigations.
Is the Copper King Mansion haunted?
Visitors describe a pale, fog-like figure in the basement and first-floor hallway, a cold presence in the game room and footsteps in the ballroom, though the family that owns it reportedly does not believe it is haunted. It takes overnight guests; see our Copper King Mansion guide.
Are there ghost tours in Butte?
Yes. Local historians run Spooks and Spirits walking tours year-round and trolley tours in the fall, stopping at places such as the Cabbage Patch, and the Dumas Brothel runs its own seasonal tours.
Who haunts the Butte courthouse?
Miles Fuller, a miner hanged in the jail yard on May 18, 1906, for murdering his neighbor. Deputies reported seeing a bearded man in a tattered hat, and staff describe an elevator that runs by itself.
Sources and how we research
Every place in this guide is checked against its official website, historic register listings and news coverage, and we confirm whether it is open, closed, private or gone before we list it. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and local historians tell them; we say so where records contradict a story.
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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 place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
