The Oliver House Chronicles
by Bill Everist


Cochise County, Arizona is known for its Wild West history frozen in time. Tombstone of course, is known as “the town too tough to die”, but if one should venture a half hour further south down State Highway 80, you’ll arrive in Bisbee, Arizona -- a historic mining town that’s gained quite a haunting reputation.

Nestled in a narrow gorge of the Mule Mountains, this picturesque mining community represented the emergence of Industrialism in the west. Fostered by the investment of eastern capitalists eager to exploit the ores of the area, Bisbee quickly became known as the “Queen of the Copper Camps”.

Today’s casual visitor may find it difficult to imagine that 10,000 people once lived on 660 acres of this canyon land, yet still feel the essence of vitality from this wild and woolly boomtown that reached its peak around the turn of the century. Prior to the advent of the mining industry, Bisbee was a rather peaceful town with crime relatively unheard of. But mines and refineries meant hard cash that lured both honest and dishonest individuals and soon created an atmosphere of mayhem and murder that can still be sensed today throughout the remaining structures of the town.

One structure in particular that offers its guests a piece of the past is the Oliver House Bed and Breakfast (Shown Left).

Built in 1909 by Edith Ann Oliver, wife of mining tycoon Henry Oliver, the Oliver House has a violent history that seems to account for the ghostly presences that still arouse both staff members and houseguests alike to this day.

Originally designed as a boarding house and planning center for the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company, it is believed that several killings took place within its walls. One murder in particular involved a mining company employee named Nat Anderson, who was shot at the top of the staircase to the second floor on February 22, 1920. According to the Bisbee Daily Review, Anderson was shot in the head and back during the early morning hours as he was entering room 13. His assailant was never captured and the incident remains an unsolved mystery.

In 1986, believing it to be the perfect old house for restoration as a bed and breakfast, Dennis Schranz bought into a piece of that history when he purchased the historic Oliver House.

Having conducted extensive negotiations with its previous owners, Schranz was nearly completed with the transactions when one of the owners jumped up and confessed that she couldn't go through with the deal "in good conscience"

"The place is haunted," she confessed. "There are five ghosts in the house, one of them violent."

Since Schranz didn't really believe in ghosts at the time, he said that wouldn't worry him and they concluded the sales transaction. Later however, as he settled down to spend his first night alone in the house, he began to hear water running through pipes that no longer existed. This alone would have been a strange enough occurrence, since he was supposed to be the only occupant. However, when the water sound stopped, footsteps were heard walking down the hallway. As he listened to them approaching his room, he was glad he had locked the door. The action proved futile however, as the steps continued into his room and up to his bed.

Terri King, a former manager of the facility, reported experiencing a presence when attempting to change the bed sheets in the Captain's Room. Upon entering the room, she sensed a hostile presence and then heard a voice yell "get out!" Since she was the only person present in the room, she challenged the formless voice and replied in an equally authoritarian voice, "What do you mean 'Get Out'? Who else is going to clean up this room? You get out!" Evidently it did. She never heard the voice again.

Another less threatening incident has involved the Grandma Room. In this room, various guests have reported what has appeared to be an older woman watching over them during the night.

Although the sighting has made some guests reportedly nervous, it was felt to be a benevolent spirit merely offering its presence as a protection.

In mid October 1992, in response to numerous requests from graduates of my parapsychology and intuition classes at Pima Community College in Tucson, I organized a group of "high interest" students to serve as "sensitives" for an investigation team in an attempt at establishing the validity of these haunting claims through the methodology of noted parapsychologist, Gertrude Schmeidler.

A professional psychic and nineteen student sensitives toured the house, marking copies of the floor plan for locations they considered haunted.

Overnight journal reports of student participants recorded episodes of lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences depicting the presence of former residents of the house within the dream state.

The collective results of the haunting investigation showed a modest level of statistical significance, significant results were obtained by the professional psychic and one novice student. While the significance of the professional psychic may be expected, the results of the novice were thought to perhaps reflect a flaw in the methodology and subsequent investigations have been accommodated since that time. In fact, due to the proximity to Tucson, the Oliver House has been considered a classic laboratory for the study of haunting phenomena, thus facilitating a frequent return for academic use.



A recent trip in the fall of 2002 for example, recorded a number of questionable orbs in the attic on both infrared video and still photography.

More recently still in May 2004, the brother-in-law of current owner Patty Hill, recorded a number of digital photos reflecting additional anomalous phenomena in several second story rooms.

Given the history of this building, it’s an excellent bet for a close encounter with the paranormal. As a recent guest from Phoenix said, “The Oliver House is a beautiful stately house, that has all the essence of the old mining days. Packed with history, memories and....Ghosts! It’s a wonderfully frightful place to stay!”.

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Note: Views and tales written and expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers or staff of Ghost Magazine.