The Haunted Bullock Hotel, Deadwood: Sheriff Seth Bullock Still Keeps Order

The Historic Bullock Hotel stands at the corner of Main and Wall Streets in Deadwood, a three-story Italianate hotel of rough-cut stone with a casino on the ground floor and 28 rooms upstairs. It was built by Seth Bullock, the lawman made famous again by the TV series Deadwood, and his business partner Sol Star, after the fire of 1894 destroyed their hardware store on the same corner. It is one of the most famous haunted hotels in South Dakota.

The hotel embraces its ghost. Staff describe Bullock as a strict host who still looks after the place: a tall figure seen in Bully’s restaurant and the basement, a male voice calling guests by name, and trouble for any employee caught loafing. The hotel runs its own ghost tours, and it has appeared on Unsolved Mysteries and Ghost Adventures.

The ghosts of the Bullock Hotel

Seth Bullock, the sheriff who never clocked out

Bullock arrived in Deadwood in 1876 and became its first sheriff a few months after Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. He was later a U.S. Marshal and a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt. Staff say his ghost still runs the hotel: he is seen as a tall figure in the restaurant and basement, and he seems to dislike idleness. Employees say activity picks up when they stand around, whistle or hum, and some have felt a presence during breaks and gone straight back to work.

The legend says Bullock died in Room 211. He did not. He died in Deadwood on September 23, 1919, two months after helping dedicate the Roosevelt tower on Mount Roosevelt, and records place his death away from the hotel.

Voices, taps and whistling

Guests on the second and third floors describe a man’s voice calling their names when nobody is there, a tap on the shoulder, whistling and footsteps in empty hallways, and shadowy figures in rooms.

Electronics get blamed on him too: alarm clocks that sound while unplugged, televisions that switch on, and an antique clock that had not worked for years suddenly chiming.

Bully's restaurant and Seth's Cellar

In the restaurant, staff report plates and glasses that shake or fly, lights and appliances that switch on and off, and items moved by unseen hands. A cowboy silhouette is often reported in Seth’s Cellar in the basement.

A US Ghost Adventures guide told KOTA in 2024 that employees blowing up balloons for a party in the basement heard a little girl giggling, and watched the balloons being pulled down one at a time.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• Room 211: The room the legend says Bullock died in. He did not, but it is still the most requested.
• Second and third floor hallways: Footsteps, whistling, voices calling names and shadow figures.
• Bully's restaurant: Moving dishes and switching lights; the tall figure staff believe is Bullock.
• Seth's Cellar: The basement, where a cowboy silhouette and a giggling child are reported.

History of Historic Bullock Hotel

Seth Bullock and Sol Star moved their hardware business from Helena, Montana to Deadwood in 1876, in the middle of the Black Hills gold rush, and set up at the corner of Main and Wall. Bullock was appointed Lawrence County sheriff in 1877.

A fire in 1894 destroyed the store. The partners built a three-story Italianate hotel on the site at a cost of about $40,000, and it opened in 1896 with 63 rooms, a large dining room, a lobby and Deadwood’s first steam heat. A gentlemen’s bar was added in 1900.

Bullock went on to ranching, served as a captain in the Spanish-American War and was named U.S. Marshal of South Dakota by his friend Theodore Roosevelt. He died in 1919. In 1976 the Ayres family bought the building, sold the original furnishings at auction and turned it back into a hardware store.

After gaming was legalized in Deadwood, Bullock Properties bought the building in 1991 and restored it as a hotel by 1993, reducing the 63 small rooms to 28 larger ones with private baths and adding Bully’s restaurant in the old kitchen and pantry.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Take the hotel’s own ghost tour before you check in (Friday to Sunday at 5 p.m., about 90 minutes, $20, no reservation needed).
• Ask for a second or third floor room, or Room 211, when you book.
• Do not whistle in the hallways if you want a quiet night; staff say that is when Bullock reacts.
• Walk a few doors down to the Fairmont for its evening ghost tour, and to Saloon No. 10 near where Wild Bill was shot.
• Haunted Rooms has run public ghost hunts in Deadwood, including at the 1892 Historic Adams House; see South Dakota ghost hunts for new dates.

More haunted hotels nearby

• Historic Fairmont Hotel, Deadwood: a former brothel next door with nightly ghost tours
• Historic Franklin Hotel, Deadwood: the 1903 grand hotel down Main Street
• Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City: Room 812, about 50 minutes away
• Haunted hotels in South Dakota

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: Bullock Hotel
• Deadwood.com: Bullock Hotel ghost tours
• Legends of America: Haunted Bullock Hotel
• KOTA: A haunted history of Deadwood (2024)
• HMdb: Seth Bullock, Deadwood Pioneer marker

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