The Inksip Hotel's resident ghost Charlie, continues to seek justice for his favorite building.

A Hotel and its ghost

Echoes of our past reverberate all around us. Some of these echoes are louder and more persistent than others, like the ghost, Charlie, at the old Inskip Hotel.

Remnants of history are scattered throughout the cities, towns, and forests of Butte County. One of these towns, Inskip, once clamored with frenzied gold rush activity. It was a bustling stagecoach stop for miners—full of stores, saloons, stables, and hotels. Today, only one of those pieces of history remains, the old building that began its life in 1857 as the Kelly & Co. Hotel. But it didn’t journey through time alone, it brought with it an old friend—Charlie.

John Stokes bought the hotel from Pat Kelley in 1866 only to have it burn down two years later. Stokes rebuilt the hotel and christened it with a new name, the Inskip. The fire that destroyed the original hotel was so intense that the only thing salvageable was a trunk containing the books and accounts from the original owner. That fire was rumored to be set deliberately, and the ever-present resident ghost, nicknamed Charlie, is said to be the spirit of John Stokes who is still looking for the arsonist. Charlie is known for locking and unlocking doors, along with stomping loudly up and down the stairwell. A woman staying at the hotel reported that she believed he held a bathroom door shut, trapping her inside. She thought she was locked in, but the only lock on the door was on the inside.

Most interactions with Charlie are with his invisible presence, simply hearing or feeling his influence; a poltergeist of sorts, but a few visitors say they’ve actually seen him. One guest saw not one, but two men dressed in clothing reminiscent of the 1800s standing next to her bed in the shadows of night. The next morning, a little girl who helped at the hotel, spoke of a similar experience she had the night before, but only saw one ghostly figure in her room. Both shared that they had locked their doors before settling down for the evening, and their descriptions of the man and his clothing were identical.

Where is Charlie now? Is he still roaming Inskip and the surrounding areas searching for the arsonist? Or, is his spirit free of its earthly fetter and the Inskip Hotel alone now as it continues through time?

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