The Old Washoe Club AKA The Millionaires Club
{Washoe were an ancient local tribe. Northern Paiute Native Americans were living in the area near Humbolt Lake}
The Washoe Club dates to the early 1860s. It was a two-bit bar, where a beer, a glass of whiskey, or a cigar cost twenty-five cents. Most saloons were one-bit establishments, where patrons paid 12 and a half cents for drinks. As one of the finer saloons, the Washoe Club is wider than most, and its appointments, including the bar and tin ceiling, were among the most elegant on the Comstock. Despite modern intrusions, the Washoe Club remains one of the best preserved nineteenth-century businesses in Virginia City.
This historic club was formed in the mid-1870’s by the elite gentlemen of the Comstock. It was an exclusive social club which allowed them recognition of their status. It was also a way of avoiding the rowdy citizens. It was formed in the hey-day of the mining activity here, termed the “Silver Seventies” and rivaled exclusive men’s clubs in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. The prominent members and guests included General Sheridan, General and former President U.S. Grant, inventor Thomas Edison, General Sherman, actors Edwin Boothe and Lawrence Barrett, author Mark Twain, mining tycoons James G. Fair, John Mackay, and many more.
Location. 39° 18.557′ N, 119° 39.004′ W. Marker is on South C Street (Nevada Route 341) near Washington Street, on the right when traveling south. At or near this postal address: 112 South C Street, Virginia City NV 89440, United States of America.
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“Locals and tourists rub shoulders and swap stories at The Old Washoe Club. Originally called The Millionaires Club, it was built so that nouveau riche gentlemen might enjoy the pleasures of wealth, in comfort and style. At one time, the building was even used to store corpses when the ground was frozen too solid for digging graves.
Three ghosts haunt The Old Washoe Club; A lovely, blonde apparition, known as the lady in blue, the specter of a scared little girl, and a grizzled prospector who occasionally cadges drinks from unsuspecting patrons. Ladies be warned, the door to the women’s room locks and unlocks itself.” – Janice Oberding, Suite 101 Article
These stories and more are part of the Old Washoe Club. What people don’t know is that there are two totally different sites of the Old Washoe Club. There are two different “parts” to the Old Washoe Club. There is the bar and snack bar downstairs. There you will find the winding staircase. This staircase was the original front door to The Millionaires Club. This would be where respectable men turned millionaires would be greeted. Behind the scenes was where the real action took place.
After entering The Millionaires Club from the respectable door at the top of the extraordinary winding staircase, you enter a totally different world. A world of gambling, cigars, liquor and prostitutes.
The Millionaires Club was a vast building that had one secret entrance and two secret exits. The winding staircase was the respectable entrance but there was another entrance in the back of the building. Deep within the recesses of the building was another two story staircase that led to The Millionaires Club. This staircase was used to bring the prostitutes in from the building next door. There were two secret exits. One that led down a long, straight stairway in the front of the building and then out to the street. There was also another staircase that led to the back of the building and out to the street high above.
The picture below shows the expensive but well kept wallpaper in this vast building. Some of the rooms still has this unusual wallpaper on it while others have nothing.
Notice also the possible orb at the top of the picture on the left. The one on the door is probably not an orb but is most likely dust.
The picture to the right shows a large room which may have been used as a meeting room of some type. Noting the size of the room, you can easily imagine large gambling tables, oversized chairs, sofas and lots of people having a good time.
The whole front part of the building has large windows which give you a sweeping panoramic view of Virginia City.
The pictures below are in sequence as they were taken from my camera. My camera is an Olympus Camedia which stands rectangularly with the rectangular part running north and south. My hands are on either side of the camera with nothing underneath the camera as with 35 mm where it is easy to place your fingers. My hands have to hold the camera on the left side and the right side. The reason I place these pictures here is because there was a lot of uneasy feelings coming out of this particular area noted by a few people. I am not interested in the “orbs” that are there but the fact that there is a white “mound” of light that comes up from the bottom of the picture. In some pictures it is an obvious mound and then extends up and then down in some pictures. There is no possible way it is my fingers due to the process of elimination. If you look at the pictures as they have been taken, you will notice the “mound” appears to be leaning from the right side and then appears from the left side. All the pictures were taken from the same standing position.
This area is the old staircase that used to lead up to the street behind the building on the second floor. It is now closed off and there is no way through there. To the left is a room and to the right is a room. As you can see there is nothing that can be reflected back. We caught orbs in motion in this area and I was curious as to what it is that is in the bottom of these pictures.
Whatever this phenomenon is, I have no idea but I think it is possibly something….and not my fingers. There have been tales of hauntings in this building for years. Perhaps something was trying to get my attention.
In the picture below, the orb is important only because people were coming in and out of this room having unusual feelings. Orbs in motion on videotape were captured in this room. No one actually walked into the room because the feelings for some were overwhelming. What took place in this room is a mystery and there is no one who would be able to tell us. We can only think that things of a bad nature occurred here, perhaps a murder, perhaps a rape or both.
The Ghost Trackers and Movie Mix Productions Would Like To Thank The Owner Of The Old Washoe Club and The Millionaires Club For The Opportunity To Enter The Property.
As The Owner Is Trying To Restore This Awesome Building, The Next Time You Are In Virginia City, Drop Him An Extra Buck Or Two So That It Will Help To Continue The Restoration Of This Extraordinary Building.