Ghost Tour 2022

Article and photos submitted by Jan Petersen

October Hauntings, stories and tales….Celebrating Nevada Day…..also known as Halloween.

Stories from Elko County’s past will come alive during the last two weekends in October with the Eighth Annual Elko Downtown Business Association’s Ghost Tour. Dates for this year are progressive dinners on Thursday, October 20 and October 27. Liquid refreshments and appetizers will be served on October 21 & 22 and October 28 & 29. Stops for the tour are Living Stones Church, Stockmen’s Hotel, 7018 Brewery and Rubies. Tickets are available online at the Downtown Business Association’s website: elkodowntown.org.

This year’s Ghost Tours feature colorful and sometimes, grisly stories from Elko County’s past told in first person by local personalities. Elko District Judge Mason Simons will tell the story of Judge John Flack who presided on the Elko judicial bench from 1870 through 1881. The judge tended to take a nip of potent liquid refreshments during court cases and sometimes took a nap during less exciting cases but never the less, managed to hold office for 10 years. Paul Gardner will tell the story of Sam Mills killing a well liked Lamoille resident in downtown Halleck. He was hung for his mis deeds in 1877. Kris Pooley and James Glennon will relate the story of Tuscarora cowboy Carl Metzler robbing a San Francisco bank and shoot out in the early 1940s. AND…..Since 1873, there’s been a tales of hauntings in the Lamoille cemetery. Ghost Tourers will learn the back story of how this came to be resulting from a shootout on Rabbit Creek. Jan Petersen will be the host for the evening.

These stories are actual events and true stories (some too incredible to be made up). It’s the DBA’s pleasure to present our community and downtown heritage. It’s important to share these stores to keep them alive….and it’s a lot of fun to learn these parts of our past.

The Elko DBA is a group of varied business owners located in downtown Elko. We are passionate about our beautiful city and want to see our downtown grow and prosper! Our goal is to promote a thriving economy through community events such as the Ghost Tour, Snowflake Festival, Wine Walks on second Saturdays, beautification and advertising.