The 1907 Mizpah Hotel - From Miners to Millionaires (Tonopah, Nevada)

Step back in time in this remote desert hotel, which represents the peak of luxury in the dusty Wild West. The Mizpah Hotel, built in 1907, has quite a quite a colorful past, but are all the stories true? Let's explore this beautiful Nevada hotel and uncover what we can about its rich history.

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[joycefranklin]

My husband was stationed in Tonopah in WW2. On a camping trip to Yosemite many years ago we stayed in a motel right across the street from the Mizpah! We ate breakfast there the next morning before leaving. It was a beautiful place. Coming back home to Ohio we stayed at the same motel again and had a delicious huge dinner at the Mizpah. What a lovely surprise to run across this video, brought back such good memories! He would have enjoyed this very much. Thank you.

[davedodart]

My wife and I stumbled across the Mizpah during a Spring road trip about 12 years ago. We had spent a couple of days driving through the Redwood National Park on the Pacific Coast and on our way back home to Utah we thought it would be fun to drive through Yosemite, as neither of us had been there before. Unfortunately, it was also Memorial day weekend and we were unprepared for how crowded Yosemite was going to be. By the time we made it to the center of the park, traffic came to a complete standstill and we moved only a few yards in over a hour. By the time the park rangers got traffic moving again, it was getting late in the evening. We exited the park and found ourselves on HWY 6, and didn't see any other vehicles for quite some time. We stopped at the only gas station we had seen, who was just closing up for the night, but allowed us to fill up anyway. They warned us the only thing we were going to see on that road was rattlesnakes and wild horses... they weren't wrong. Eventually it was dark, and we were being pursued by a nasty looking thunder storm so we decided to try and find lodging for the night. As we got closer to Tonopah, you could see the hotel sign against the incredibly pitch black sky. We knew nothing about the hotel at the time, we were just hoping there was vacancy as we were both hungry and road weary. Fortune smiled on us and there was a room available on the 5th floor. We checked in then retrieved our luggage from the car. Not wanting to carry our luggage up multiple flights of stairs we found the elevator you mentioned in your video. However when the doors opened, there was a small group that was on a "Ghost Tour" with a hotel staff member. Although the elevator was quite full, they insisted there was room for us, so we squeezed in with them. They were on the way up to see the "Lady in red" room and the tour guide was telling her story when the elevator came to an abrupt stop. At first, everyone thought it was just theatrics for the ghost tour. But we quickly found out that was not the case, as the tour guide began frantically trying to call someone at the front desk. Cellphone reception inside the elevator was mostly non-existent so we could only rely on the in-car phone, and one of the ladies in the elevator started to have a panic attack, as she was apparently quite claustrophobic. With my wife and I pressed up close to the elevator doors we started trying to pry them open. We were able to open them slightly and could see we were stuck between floors. Eventually the tour guide was able to get in touch with someone at the front desk who sent help. They were able to finish prying the doors open from the outside, and using our luggage as a makeshift staircase, everyone clambered out of the elevator. The tour guide was quite shaken by the whole event, and they provided everyone with complimentary meal tickets for the restaurant. We eventually made it to our room, which was quite amazing itself and had a restful stay. The next morning we took our own tour around the hotel, and eventually lugged our luggage down the 5 stories of stairs, as the elevator was still "out-of-order" the next day. It was quite the adventure and I'll never forget our stay at the Mizpah.

[SQUAREHEADSAM]

I love these type of videos. Late 1800s, early 1900s History is such fascinating.

[Bryanja]

My wife and I spent the night at the Mizpah in August 2022. I was awakened at 3:46am by footsteps in our room. I sat up and immediately heard a “shhhh” in my ear! I laid back down, covered up and pretended that did not just happen! 😂

[guyk]

I do enjoy these in-depth history of these historical places you go into on these places.

[Mikewgoogle]

Lived and worked at the Mizpa Hotel and The Station House in 1984. Stayed in the Jim Butler suite a guy would be driving all the time between Reno and Vegas, I thought he sold used cars, nope he owned Circus Circus and all the cars were his.
Thanks for making this video.

[dadcooksfood]

This is so cool. I spent a night there last April. And we stumbled on it as we drove from vegas to Portland. We got a late start out of Vegas, (left about 7:30pm) and when we rolled into Tonopah we were going to stay at the best western, I was so glad they were full when we got into our room. We were in the 3rd or 4th floor in a corner room. Facing the Beavada hotel. And it was amazing. I would have loved to stay and check the place out, but it was up and out the door at 5:00 am the next morning for the long trek to Portland so we could get back to work the following day.

I have sworn that we will be back. And planned to go this coming April. Until I found out about my job loss. So now it will have to wait a bit longer.

[christopherbodnar]

Great video! I worked out of Tonopah for several months back in the late 70's. I was part of a small crew that worked for a mining and mineral exploration company. Though we stayed in a different (cheaper) motel a couple of blocks away, we ate there quite often and even did a little gambling in their casino. It is so cool to see it in such great shape. Thanks again for the video.

[daleslover]

We were doing TDY from Fort Bliss Texas, back in 80 to 83.
station doing duty at the Tonopah test range, There was a JTF from all branches... We were housed in the Cowboy hotel, at the end of the street heading towards Reno. They dident have door knobs on the doors, straight sheet rock on the walls, our per diem was $ 22.00 a day for housing, $4.50 for breakfast $ 8.00 for lunch, 14.00 for dinner . We ate like kings.. wow cant believe it's been 40 years.. one of my best memories & TDY I was ever Who could ever forget Col Mennix.test director, one hell of a good officer.

[marydd]

I searched all over the internet for the origin of this hotel's name. Thanks for this interesting video!

[richterkleiber]

Another terrific video, Tom, of an amazing story that I would have never known about. Looking forward to the next one! Let us know how else we can support your work ~

[Mr-zwtt]

Watched almost all of your content regarding towns. Nobody does it better.
Loving it. Please, keep doing your thing. You're a gem.

[sarahcartier]

Thanks for tour and information on this historic building. Decor is awesome, nice to see it's being preserved and maintained.

[markbowles]

Thank you so much Tom, really great how you are able to spend so much time researching and exploring, I know it's hard for you because it's obvious that you love it and care about doing it correctly and honestly, and I imagine you'd probly prefer enjoying it alone without the bother of camera, company, schedules, and all the unseen pains and difficulties that go along with putting such great presentations together. I really enjoyed you and ms.Emma trudging into the Nevada heat (that is I appreciatte it) to the uncle sam mine where you experianced this great hotel, anyway, thank you again mr.Tom, for sharing ya'lls adventure for retired folks who are not able to take such trips, for whatever reasons, who love exploring, history, and traveling roads of new adventures in our short time on this earth. Health and Happiness mr.Tom, to you and all yours.

[alco]

Great episode Tom! There's a ghost town here in Colorado called nevadaville that you might like to explore one of these days

[laurenc.]

Absolutely loving these videos! The stories are so fascinating and you guys do an awesome job deep diving into the history and presenting it in such a respectful and professional manner. Keep them coming!

[KraftyGals]

This was a Great video…you so such a Fabulous job of sharing information about the places you travel.

TFS Tom and Emma…you both do a wonderful
job of documenting everything.

[Amory]

I mean, we love you man; you and Emma.. we really do. Thanks for bringing this history to us. And one more goes up my "places to visit" list.

[Emmy-hjhd]

I appreciate that you made a historical perspective and didn't make it all based around ghosts and how it's haunted. Now I'm not saying it is not haunted. However, I was recently watch a video and it brought up the hotel. But whenever I looked at videos to learn about it and I was met with videos that were only concentrated on how haunted it is. So thank you again 💓 💗 💛 💖 ❤ 💕

[DerpyPossum]

wish i knew of this place when i was living just outside of Reno. 
would’ve been such a cool place to swing by!