ALTON, Ill. — The Mineral Springs Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Alton, Illinois. It has a long history, and there are rumors that it is haunted. The building was featured in a 2019 episode of the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures series.
“The Mineral Springs Hotel was built in 1913 and opened in 1914. It’s been the scene of a couple of deaths. Lou Harwood, Peral Sans, and Clarence Blair died in this building, and they still haunt the building,” said Dave Nunnally.
Nunnally and his wife, Donna, own two businesses in the building. Nunnally is also the ghost tour guide for the Mineral Springs Hotel. He said that they have a lot of ghosts around the building.
“The buildings are one of the most haunted buildings in all time,” he said.
Ghost Adventures investigators Zak Bagans and Aaron Goodwin, along with the rest of the team, visited the old hotel.
“We filmed an episode here,” said Nunnally. “We did it in 2017 with the Ghost Adventures episode on Mineral Springs Hotel. I very much enjoyed Zak and the team and filming that episode. It took four days to do it.
Several people staying at the hotel spent their final nights there. Some people say that they still haunt the building to this day.
Lou Harwood allegedly shot himself in the bar a few years after the hotel opened. Peral San died in one of the hotel’s upstairs rooms. Clarence Blair was a Granite City man who was staying at the hotel and taking swimming lessons in the pool. One day, he jumped into the shallow end of the pool and died.
Another suspected haunting is “Cassie,” the little girl that haunts the pool area. Rumor has it she drowned in the hotel pool, but there aren’t any reports. However, Cassie has allegedly been seen on hotel cameras.
“Charlie” is rumored to haunt the hotel bar. He drank so much that he couldn’t pay his tab. He agreed to paint a mural of Alton to pay. But instead, he shot himself. But a mural does exist in the former bar area. There is no evidence of who painted the mural or if Charlie was a real person.
The Jasmine Lady is another supposed ghost. She either fell or was pushed down the staircase to her death. Patrons have reported that they smell jasmine from time to time.
“I have experiences here every day,” Nunnelly said. “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when it will happen. “It is likely something will happen today; I just don’t know when it will be yet.”
Nunnally said he had experienced unexplainable voices. He heard unexplainable noises, full-bodied apparitions, mists, and all sorts of paranormal activity.
The Mineral Springs Hotel offers haunted tours. If you would like to tour the hotel, contact 618-465-3200 or email info@mineralspringsalton.com.
