The haunted Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada, has become one of the state’s most recognizable paranormal road-trip stops: a working motel filled with clown displays sits directly beside a cemetery dating to the silver-mining boom. Guests report unexplained noises, uneasy feelings, shadows and allegedly haunted rooms. But its history begins with a mining family, and the strongest LiveSciFi field evidence comes from an investigation of the neighboring Old Tonopah Cemetery featured in The Demon Files.
This guide examines the Clown Motel’s origins, the Belmont Mine fire, the early cemetery and the truth behind stories of flooded graves. It also links to our team’s on-location EVP investigation so readers can hear the reported evidence for themselves—without confusing eyewitness accounts with proof of the supernatural.
Location and address: Clown Motel, 521 N Main Street, Tonopah, NV 89049 (Nye County). Type: Operating themed roadside motel beside Old Tonopah Cemetery. Reported phenomena: Apparitions, unsettling sounds, room legends and possible EVP responses from the adjacent cemetery. Evidence status: Historic events and mine-tailings damage to cemetery graves are documented; LiveSciFi’s recorded experiences are available in The Demon Files Episode 11, but a supernatural explanation remains unproven.
Address: 521 N Main Street, Tonopah, NV 89049. GPS coordinates: Latitude 38.072289, Longitude -117.237654 (decimal degrees). View location on Google Maps. Approximate property location pin; hotel entrance and parking access may differ.
Clown Motel at a Glance
| Location | Tonopah, Nye County, Nevada |
|---|---|
| Dates | Motel established 1985; adjoining cemetery founded 1901 |
| Site type | Operating themed motel adjoining a historic cemetery |
| Reported paranormal activity | Room stories, unusual sounds, cemetery spirits and allegedly haunted dolls |
| Verification status | Family and mining history documented; cemetery tailings documented; LiveSciFi’s possible EVP responses at the adjacent cemetery remain open to interpretation |
History of the Clown Motel and Old Tonopah Cemetery
Tonopah was a mining town before it was a horror destination
Long before the Clown Motel became a roadside landmark, Tonopah was one of Nevada’s great early-twentieth-century silver camps. The area expanded after rich mineral deposits were identified around 1900, attracting miners, businesses and families. According to the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, the growing district helped revive Nevada’s mining economy and changed the surrounding region.
Life in the boomtown was far from safe. Underground work carried risks of collapse, fire, toxic fumes and mechanical accidents. Health conditions also brought severe illness and early death. Those losses are visible in the nearby Old Tonopah Cemetery, which began in 1901. It contains graves of miners, local residents and people whose stories speak to the settlement’s rapid development. The cemetery closed to new regular burials around 1911 as the community expanded beyond its original boundaries.
The Belmont Mine fire and the people buried nearby
On February 23, 1911, fire at the Belmont Mine killed seventeen miners. That date and death toll appear in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas historical account of Nye County and in a mining-history collection at the Colorado School of Mines. Rescuers risked their own lives in attempts to bring others to the surface.
One victim was Clarence David, a miner and father whose story remains connected to the motel more than seven decades later. A Tonopah Main Street cemetery biography describes testimony from the coroner’s inquest: a colleague warned David against going below ground during the emergency, but he proceeded with materials needed underground and did not survive. The cemetery account identifies him as forty years old and names his surviving family. The fire was a real tragedy, not a piece of ghost-tour fiction.
Why the motel was built in 1985
The Clown Motel began with a family tribute. Clarence David’s children, Leona and Leroy, opened a motel next to the cemetery in 1985. Accounts from the town and the property describe a collection of clown objects associated with their father, displayed in the motel as a memorial. Its early incarnation was known as the David Motel, and later owners expanded the clown theme into the deliberately unusual attraction visitors recognize today.
A Town of Tonopah feature explains how the original family story gradually grew into a destination with international notoriety. The property’s visual identity has changed, as have its rooms and collections, but the core origin story is about a family remembering a man lost in a mining disaster. Photographs of the present-day clown collection should not be confused with evidence that every object on display belonged to Clarence David.
Did a flood bury the old cemetery under mine tailings?
A frequently repeated haunting explanation says an early-1900s flood disturbed graves and washed mining waste over the cemetery—or even much of the town—and left spirits restless. We have not found reliable historical documentation confirming that full version of the flood story. It should be treated as local legend, not established fact.
There is a documented historical event beneath the legend. The Town of Tonopah’s cemetery history says tailings from the Tonopah Extension Mine kept washing over graves and damaging headstones. The problem was among the reasons the town stopped using the original cemetery and moved to a new burial ground. Travel Nevada likewise records mine tailings burying grave markers at one point.
That gives the disturbance story a real historical basis: mine tailings did cover graves. What remains unproven is the more dramatic claim of a single catastrophic townwide flood—or that disturbed graves caused supernatural activity at the neighboring Clown Motel.
Ghost Stories and Reported Hauntings
Is the cemetery responsible for the activity?
The Clown Motel’s most obvious association is its neighbor: the Old Tonopah Cemetery, visible from the property. Local folklore has encouraged the idea that spirits from the graves sometimes enter the motel. Guests have reported sensations of being watched, fleeting shapes, odd noises and a general atmosphere that they interpret as paranormal.
The burial ground unquestionably contains real histories of deaths, disease and mining accidents. That does not establish that a spirit moves from one property to another. The cemetery also changes how visitors interpret the location. Someone arriving after hearing ghost stories may experience ordinary settling noises or shadows differently than a guest with no such expectations.
The motel’s themed rooms and Room 108
Paranormal stories associated with the motel often focus on particular rooms. One repeated account concerns Room 108 and an older guest who reportedly stayed for a prolonged period before dying after an ambulance was summoned. The room’s horror-themed decoration has made it a favorite subject for photographs, investigations and online retellings.
The guest’s identity, exact length of residence and the circumstances of death should be treated as unverified elements of the legend unless corroborating records are available. Even if a death outside the building were independently established, it would not demonstrate that the person’s ghost inhabits the room today. For investigators, the correct questions are more practical: what happened, who witnessed it, what else could produce the observation, and is there a complete recording?
The clown collection and alleged haunted objects
The property’s many clown figures, dolls and pieces of art contribute to its reputation. Some visitors describe intense discomfort around particular faces or claim an item seemed to move. Human perception is especially sensitive to faces: fixed expressions, dim lighting and changing angles can create the impression that a figure is watching or following someone. That is a possible explanation worth considering before concluding that an object is animated by an unseen force.
Claims that a specific doll is haunted require more than an unsettling appearance or an object’s provenance. A useful investigation would identify the object, its history, the exact behavior reported and whether it can be reproduced under controlled conditions. Guests are entitled to describe their experiences, but a label reading “haunted” is not equivalent to evidence.
Investigating a working motel
The Clown Motel is not an abandoned building. It accommodates visitors, staff and ordinary maintenance activity. Plumbing, footsteps through adjoining rooms, vehicles, ventilation, electrical equipment and other guests can all complicate an overnight investigation. Investigators should obtain permission, respect guest privacy and avoid disturbing the cemetery. Original camera files, synchronized audio and contemporaneous notes matter more than a dramatic reaction filmed after an event.
LiveSciFi Investigates Old Tonopah Cemetery — The Demon Files Episode 11
The most direct LiveSciFi connection to the Clown Motel’s haunted reputation comes from Old Tonopah Cemetery next door, where our team filmed The Demon Files, Episode 11. This was an investigation of the cemetery, not scientific confirmation that activity originated inside the motel.
During the investigation, our team recorded multiple audio segments that we identified as possible EVP responses and experienced cold spots and voices that appeared to have no visible speaker. These are the experiences we reported on location. Audio interpretation can be subjective, and environmental conditions at an outdoor cemetery can affect both temperature and sound. Viewers can listen to the material and decide what it represents.
Watch the full investigation: We Let Demons Communicate With Us — Paranormal Investigation Gone Wrong (The Demon Files, Episode 11).
The episode runs approximately 67 minutes. Its supplied chapter list includes 00:12:39 — spirit communication/ghost box and 00:53:45 — EVP segment. The full video is the primary record for the team’s reactions and the sounds captured during filming; it should be evaluated in context rather than presented as proof of an identified spirit or demon.
For the Clown Motel story, the crucial distinction is geographic and evidentiary: the cemetery is adjacent to the motel, but recording a possible EVP at the cemetery does not demonstrate that ghosts are entering motel rooms. The episode does, however, give readers original LiveSciFi field material alongside the broader history and folklore.
Is It True? Sorting the History from the Legends
What we can verify
Documented: The Old Tonopah Cemetery dates to 1901. Seventeen miners died in the Belmont Mine fire on February 23, 1911. Clarence David was among the dead. The motel was established in 1985 in connection with his family, and its clown-themed identity evolved over subsequent ownerships. These claims have support from cemetery research, institutional mining history and town records.
A discrepancy in the Clarence David story
There is a revealing error in some modern versions of the motel’s history. One version of the property’s official history page attributes Clarence David’s death to a Belmont fire in 1942, even as that page also describes the 1911 catastrophe. But the cemetery biography explicitly places him in the 1911 fire and summarizes inquest evidence; independent mining histories also identify the fatal fire as February 23, 1911.
Our assessment: The 1911 date is much better supported for Clarence David’s death. The 1942 statement should not be repeated uncritically. This is precisely why haunted-location research needs source comparison, even when an apparent fact appears on an official tourism or business website.
Do the motel’s ghosts have documented identities?
Unverified: The identity of the long-term Room 108 guest, any supernatural link between the adjacent cemetery and the motel, and claims that individual clown objects contain spirits. Some reported experiences may be sincere, but none of the sources cited here provides a controlled demonstration of supernatural activity.
LiveSciFi assessment: The Clown Motel’s documented history is a real mining-family memorial and an operating motel beside an early Tonopah cemetery. Our team captured audio we interpreted as possible EVP responses and reported cold spots and disembodied voices at the adjacent cemetery, documented in The Demon Files Episode 11. Those experiences are worth examining through the original recordings, but they do not establish a supernatural cause or prove paranormal activity in the motel itself.
Questions About This Haunted Location
Where is the Clown Motel?
The Clown Motel is at 521 N Main Street, Tonopah, NV 89049, directly beside Old Tonopah Cemetery. It is an operating motel; check the property’s official contact page before visiting.
When did Clarence David die in the Belmont Mine fire?
Available cemetery and mining-history sources place Clarence David in the 1911 Belmont Mine disaster, rather than the 1942 date repeated in some recent accounts.
Is there proof of a haunting?
There are reported experiences and local legends. The historical records cited here do not establish a verified supernatural cause.
Were the graves at Old Tonopah Cemetery covered by mining tailings?
Yes. Tonopah’s published cemetery history says mine tailings washed over graves, damaging markers and contributing to the cemetery’s closure. That does not by itself establish claims of a catastrophic flood across the entire town or a supernatural haunting.
Did LiveSciFi capture EVPs at the cemetery next to the Clown Motel?
The team reported several possible EVP responses in the audio recorded at Old Tonopah Cemetery, along with cold spots and voices without an identifiable speaker. The material appears in The Demon Files Episode 11. What produced the recordings remains open to interpretation.
Nearby Haunted Places and Related Investigations
Explore the LiveSciFi Haunted Locations database for more Nevada and California locations, each with history, reported activity and evidence reviews.
Explore other haunted locations in Nevada, and watch LiveSciFi’s full Old Tonopah Cemetery investigation in The Demon Files Episode 11. This cemetery field investigation complements the history of the motel, but is not footage from inside its guest rooms.
Historical References and Further Reading
- Nevada State Historic Preservation Office — Tonopah marker.
- UNLV Special Collections — Nye County mining history.
- Colorado School of Mines — Belmont Mine fire historical archive.
- Old Tonopah Cemetery / Tonopah Main Street — Clarence David biography.
- Town of Tonopah — Clown Motel history.
- The Clown Motel — property’s own historical account (note discrepancy regarding year of mine death).
- Amy’s Crypt — reported motel and Room 108 legends.
- Town of Tonopah — cemetery history and mine tailings fact-check.
- Travel Nevada — Old Tonopah Cemetery background.
- LiveSciFi — The Demon Files Episode 11, Old Tonopah Cemetery investigation.