Famous Haunted Places: Mount Washington Hotel, New Hampshire
by Christine B.
I spent much of my twenties and early thirties visiting my ex-husband’s relatives who lived in Freyburg, Maine, which is located on the border of New Hampshire near North Conway. These cities are very close to the Mount Washington Hotel, so I had heard a great deal about it, but I didn’t hear at the time that it was haunted.
There is actually a train in North Conway, New Hampshire that will take you up to the hotel, or if you are really adventurous, you could drive up to the top of Twin Mountain yourself. The hotel is worth the ride, either way.
The five-story hotel was built in 1902 and was designed by architect, Charles Alling Gifford for Jack Stickney. At the time the construction costs reached almost 2 million dollars. It was considered a retreat for the rich and famous of the era—celebrities of all types, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth and many others visited the hotel regularly.
A year after the hotel opened for business, Jack Stickney died of heart failure, leaving his young wife, Carolyn Foster Stickney, to run the hotel on her own. Carolyn’s grief was not long-lived as she eventually married Prince Clarigny de Lacinge, a French nobleman. They lived abroad for many years. Carolyn’s second husband also owned hotels in France and in Switzerland, so he was familiar with the running of elegant establishments. Marital bliss was not in the cards for Carolyn, however, as the Prince meet his untimely end during WWI.
After her second husband’s death Carolyn moved back into Mt. Washington Hotel and lived there until she died in the early 1930s. The Princess never left her beloved hotel, however. Princess Carolyn has been seen on many occasions looking down on guests from the balcony. Unexplained music has also been heard, but the source of it has never been found. In the “Princess Room,” #314, guests have reported seeing Carolyn’s ghost sitting on the edge of the bed brushing her hair. Perfume is smelled when no one else is around and unexplained lights can be seen throughout the hotel in places that are supposed to be vacant. The Tower Suites have experienced problems with televisions switching channels and the faucets in the bathrooms turning on by themselves.
The Princess is not the only phantom permanent house guest. In the Mt. Madison Ballroom a baby can be heard crying, even when there are no babies in the hotel. Another unknown woman spirit has been seen walking down the halls. She might be the unhappy spirit who has been slashing photographs.
Aside from Room 314, which seems to be the most active room, other unexplained activity occurs in rooms 206, 217, 237 and 425.
There were several people who had passed while they were staying at the hotel. However, they don’t seem to have stuck around. But the Princess seems to be there to stay. When the SyFy Channel’s Ghost Hunters show investigated the hotel in 2008 they captured one of the best EVPs ever recorded. When the investigators asked, “Princess, are you here?” When they rewound the recorder they heard her answer, “Of course I’m here. Where are you?”
Whether you’re a ghost hunter or not, you would enjoy the trip and visit to the Mount Washington Hotel. But if you are a fellow paranormal investigator, if you can get to New Hampshire, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the hotel… and make sure you reserve room #314.
