Ghosts & the Supernatural – The Ione Hotel is filled with history. This hotel has been around since the early 1850s. Many gold miners and cowboys from the Gold Rush of 1849 frequented this hotel. The hotel also served as a stagecoach depot for supplies and daily necessities for its citizens. The hotel and the town of Ione is filled with history. If you are in Gold Rush country, I highly recommend staying at this hotel. A hotel filled with history and filled with ghosts! Mahmood & Editha Ghani are the owners of this hotel and they are very friendly, hospitable and have lots of stories of the paranormal activities that have been experienced by their guests.
Their website is: http://www.ionehotel.com/
According to the Ione Hotel website, it says:
“In 1910, following a fire, the hotel was reconstructed as a single block and brick structure and named the Golden Star of Ione. It served as a hotel, restaurant and saloon until 1988 when another fire destroyed the building. After a year and a half of extensive renovations, including a beautiful mahogany staircase and many beautiful mahogany accents, the hotel is once again serving guests.
We invite you to step back in time to experience the charm and serenity of the early 1900’s. You can almost feel the hustling and bustling excitement of the gold rush days! Sit on our balconies and imagine you hear the clop, clop, clop of a horse’s hooves as they travel down Main Street. And, perhaps, the shout of a miner who just struck it rich! Whatever your imaginations, you’ll find your stay at the Ione Hotel luxurious and comfortable.”
The town of Ione was once known by many names. It was called Bed Bug, Bedbug, Freeze Out, Hardscrabble, Ione City, Woosterville, Jone Valley, Jone City and Rickeyville. Finally the settlers decided to simply call the town Ione.
THE SIERRA MIWOK INDIAN CHANTERS
The Sierra Miwok people were the first indigenous people of this area. Paranormal enthusiasts have made claim that at times they can hear the chanting of the ghosts of the Sierra Miwok people in the distance.
THE PHANTOM IONE CHINESE LABORERS
Chinese laborers who worked on the railroad that reached Ione were inhabiting Ione’s China Town. Julie Walker, a paranormal enthusiast makes claim that she once saw 3 Chinese men pounding the ground with sledge hammers. As she approached the 3 Chinese men, they simply vanished.
According to Wikipedia it reads:
“At the centennial of 1876, Ione had a population of about 600 which included about 100 Chinese who lived in Ione’s Chinatown. The town included one public school, 4 churches, 4 general stores, one meat market, one laundry, one brewery, a restaurant, millinery shop, an art gallery, six saloons, a drug store and barber shop, and many other business establishments. The centennial also celebrated the completion of the railroad to the town of Ione. The centennial celebration was the beginning of what is now known as the Ione Homecoming. This annual celebration has been held during the month of May almost every year since that first Centennial celebration in 1876 and is now held on the first weekend in May every year.”
THE BLACK ROSE OF ROOM 13
One of the most famous ghosts of the Ione Hotel is the notorious Black Rose. In a previous article that I wrote, I said:
”One of the highlights for this scouting mission is Room 13, the Black Rose Room, in which a prostitute from the 1800s committed suicide in that room. After her passing, the black rose appeared on the wall. When employees tried to scrub the Black Rose image off the wall, the Black Rose would reappear. Three women ghost hunters a few years back were in this room and were holding hands, then all of a sudden they felt an electrical charge that went through their bodies and all three women ghosthunters experienced a simultaneously orgasm. For one woman ghosthunter the ordeal was too much and she was found outside crying from the experience.”
Stan Cortez who once visited the Ione Hotel makes claim that he saw a woman with Raven black hair and a black nightgown glide down the hall and went through the door of Room 13. The door was unlocked in Room 13 and when Stan opened the door, he did not see any woman. He later learned that this was the room that the Black Rose committed suicide in. Another gentleman who does not want to be identified claims that when he stayed in Room 13, that he felt a gentle touch to his head. The gentle touching became a repeated stroke of his hair. He woke up and sat up on the bed and saw a misty form in his room. The misty form dissipated.
My wife Deanna Jaxine Stinson, a psychic has felt portals throughout this hotel and has detected the presence of the Black Rose.
It appears that Room 13 is haunted by two ghosts. The ghost of the Black Rose and the ghost of Gregarious George.
GREGARIOUS GEORGE
According to Nancy Bradley, Psychic, she says:
“Welcome to Room 13. If it were you, you would have just had an unofficial visit from Gregarious George, one of the strongest spirits of the Ione Hotel. In his defense, he just wants you out of his room. He’s harboring a hangover and needs the bed. Circumstances being different, he probably would let you stay. Ah, George! Those who knew him in life insist he was friendly and outgoing. After work each day, he would scout the local bars to drink with his friends and eventually would end up with a nightcap at the hotel. Unfortunately, back in those days if one of his intoxicated friends was sloshed before him, they would ‘borrow’ his room until he showed up. George would come up the stairs, enter his room, remove the covers, and drop them to the floor to get the uninvited guest out of his bed. After all, an inebriated man in need of his bed does not have much tact. George died here at the hotel and still stays around, because, well, it is much more pleasant than going home drunk. Unless he has invited you in to play cards, he figures anyone in his room is taking advantage of his hospitality. Ole’ George is more gracious with women. More than likely, if he had seen you there alone, he would tiptoe out of the room to sleep down the hall. Women in Room 13 rarely have to worry about George. Unless you are there with some guy.” Special Note: I used to work with Nancy and her husband Robert in some of their ghost hunts. Paul.
So, it would seem that at times The Black Rose occupies Room 13 and other times Gregarious George occupies this room. If you stay in this room, which ghost will haunt you?
THE LITTLE BOY OF THE WELL:
According to legend, a little boy playing by the well in the 1800s fell into the well and drowned. Floretta Danube, another ghost enthusiast says that she conducted an EVP session at this well and captured a Class A EVP of a little boy’s voice saying help, help. During one of HPI (Halo Paranormal Investigation) scouting mission, a psychic claimed she saw a little boy playing by the well. The little boy looked at her and his face went from being a normal little boy’s face with freckles to a white pale face, sunken eyes that were pitch black. The little boy disappeared and the psychic could hear the little boy say..”Nooooooooooooooooooo” and the boy’s voice faded away slowly.
THE CIGAR CHOMPING COWBOY:
People who have visited the Ione Hotel claim that they have seen a cigar chomping cowboy at the top of the stairs and sometimes on the balcony. Some people have claimed that they could smell cigar smoke. Doug Paine says he was walking up the steps and saw the cowboy. The cowboy started walking down the stairs and Doug started to move out of the way, so that the cowboy could walk down the steps without bumping into him. To Doug’s surprise the cowboy walked right through him and Doug felt a sudden chill in the air. Doug said he had goosebumps up and down his arms. Doug never believed in the paranormal, but after that incident he was a believer.
Two other incidents that occurred at this hotel. 1. A woman had her hand held against the wall by an unseen force. For about 8 seconds she could not move her hand off the wall. 2. A man was held down in bed. It felt like someone was holding the bed sheets against his body and he was unable to get out of bed. He was held down for at least 10 seconds.
Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
Halo Paranormal Investigations (HPI International)
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/HPIinternational/
