About Us
Historic Bed & Breakfast lodging in California's Gold Country near Yosemite. Antiques,
claw foot and whirlpool bathtubs. Restaurant and Old-time Bar.
The Jamestown Hotel was first built in 1858 as a wood-frame boarding house. At various times during its existence, it operated as a bordello and a bus depot. At one time, it was the Motherlode Hospital and we have had a few hotel guests in recent years who were born there. The Hotel burned down twice along with much of Jamestown. During the 1970s, San Francisco brick was used to remodel the hotel exterior. Purchased from the Crocker family in the 1980s, the hotel underwent a major restoration and is now an 8-room bed and breakfast hotel with a
restaurant and old-time bar.
The Ghost Story One of the most photographed buildings in Historic Jamestown was built as a wood frame hotel in 1919 by David Martinez. In 1938, the Jamestown Hotel was refurbished in stucco as the Mother Lode Hospital owned by Dr. D.L. Farrell. It was at this time that the Jamestown Hotel obtained its famous ghost in Room 7. It was an early spring morning when the Sierra Railway special pulled into the Jamestown Station (now Railroad 1897) and a young strikingly beautiful woman with bright red hair disembarked and walked the few blocks to the Mother Lode Hospital. No one seemed to know who she was. She announced at the hospital that she was Mary Rose Sullivan and wanted to speak with a physician. Dr. Farrell attended the young lady himself. All Dr. Farrell told the head nurse was to check the young lady into Room 7. Mary Rose didn't speak much to anybody and she would spend most of the day looking out the window as if she was in some distant place. It soon became aware to the nurses that Mary Rose was pregnant. No amount of small talk produced any further information. It was late at night when Mary Rose went into labor. Dr. Farrell was called and during childbirth, something went wrong and Dr. Farrell was unable to save either the mother or child. Mary Rose and the unnamed baby were put to rest in the Catholic cemetery overlooking Jamestown. Several weeks later, a nurse on night duty, Emily Hutchinson, heard a soft moan come from Room 7. She thought this odd as the room was supposed to be empty. She went to investigate and as she opened the door a soft glow could be seen near the bed. At first, she thought it was moonlight. Later, she saw there was no moon this evening. Then another light faded into the room, but this one seemed to be wrapped in chains. Nurse Hutchinson was quite shook up at this sight and she closed the door quickly and retreated to the nurse's station. The next morning, she asked to speak with Dr. Farrell, who agreed. After the nurse explained what she had seen, Dr. Farrell nodded his head and sighed. He began relating the story which Mary Rose had told him weeks earlier. Mary Rose was the granddaughter of Frank Sullivan who had struck it rich in the Jamestown area during the 1850s. He returned to his native Ireland and he always told her of his love for this mining community and he always wanted to return. A little more than a year before her arrival in Jamestown, Mary Rose had met a young British soldier and they fell in love. They wished to marry but their families were adamant about their not seeing each other. The young lieutenant's father was a high-ranking officer and arranged for his transfer to India. Mary Rose's lover was captured, chained and tortured during the Hindu and Muslim troubles in India. Mary Rose took the word with great pain, especially as she had discovered that she was with child. In shame, Mary Rose left home and bought passage to America with money her grandfather had left her. She then travelled to Jamestown because she felt closer to her grandfather here and she knew he would have understood. The lieutenant's parents blamed Mary Rose for their son's death. If they had not sent him to India, then he would have lived. Mary Rose's parents were upset that their daughter had left her home and they could never locate her. Neither parents knew of the child as Mary Rose had made Dr. Farrell promise not to notify them. Because of the peace that Mary found in Room 7 of the Mother Lode Hospital, Mary and her lieutenant continue to be the oldest tenants of the Jamestown Hotel. In the 1950s, the Mother Lode Hospital was reconverted to a rooming house, Cocker & Associates renovated the building in the 1970s with brick and it again became a hotel and restaurant. The Innkeepers Contact Us |
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