Ghosts Haunting Antiques Store Leave Visible Traces

by Don Baumgart

Most Gold Rush ghost stories don't have much more than personal experiences to make them real. Luanne Witt, owner of the Antique Palace in Grass Valley, has a history of ghostly experiences at the shop she's operated for 15 years. 

"We've had things move at night," Luanne said. "The motion sensor alarm goes off at night, for no reason. We've had people in here who have seen things or felt things. I haven't actually seen any images other than shadows. Other people have seen actual shapes. One gal saw someone with mutton chops, and I asked if she was kidding. She said, 'No, he was up by the front of the store!'" Mutton chops were the slang name for the longish bushy sideburns worn by men in Gold Rush times.

There's an area toward the front of the store that seems to harbor more activity than other places in the store.

"I've come in and everything on top of one counter has been on the floor. It's been sort of exciting," she adds. The mysterious events don't bother the veteran antiques seller, she claims. "Although, when it gets dark I get out of here in a hurry!" Asked if she thought the strange events were somehow related to the antiques, Luanne said, "I've never thought about the antiques. We just thought about the building, because it's so old. We've always had occurrences even though the antiques come and go." 

She has talked with former tenants of the now vacant upstairs apartment and they said "...things happened. They don't seem to want to say much about it."

But, there's more to this particular ghost story than Luanne's personal encounters. The Nevada Paranormal Institute showed up to provide some solid evidence. Using infrared photography and electronic voice phenomena detection equipment...they found ghosts! 

"They said this place is hot!" Luanne said. "This is a very old building, and we have a ramp going up to the second floor where they used to keep horses. That ramp made their equipment just light up! It just went crazy."

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Copyright Don Baumgart, 2009