Right next to the Clown Motel–right there, in fact, just a few steps off the parking lot there to the west–is the Tonopah Cemetery. The dates on the sign say 1901 to 1911, when a nearby mine, wanting to extend its own holdings and not be encroached on by the cemetery, donated land for the ‘new’ cemetery, thus ending burials in the ‘old’ cemetery.
It was also in 1911 that the Belmont fire took the lives of 17 miners, including that of William “Big Bill” Murphy, who had gone back down into the mine several times to get people out, but who, on his last trip down, slipped off the elevator and fell to his death. Fourteen of those miners are buried in the old Tonopah cemetery.
When they died, those killed in the fire were 1100 feet below the surface of the earth.
But there are other Tonopah notables buried in the cemetery, as well, such as peaceful Sheriff Tom Logan, killed by a gambler, whose last act was to stop the piano player from shooting his assailant in response.
And George “Devil” Davis, first African-American in Tonopah, well-liked by everyone except his wife–whom he reportedly abused. She shot him repeatedly in the back at the saloon, and then served only one year in jail for the shooting.
Some 300 graves, altogether.
As for the supernatural, well, there have been shadow figures spotted in the cemetery, but most of the activity seems to be focused on the Clown Motel next door.
Maybe the dead are just looking for a more comfortable place to sleep.
Sources:
and
https://www.nevadaghosttownsandmininghistory.com/portfolio-2/belmont-mine-fire-victims
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