Mackay Mansion: Haunted History of Virginia City, Nevada

On October 22, 2026, at 9 PM Pacific, paranormal investigator Tim Wood and LiveSciFi return to the historic Mackay Mansion in Virginia City, Nevada, for a live paranormal investigation.

Inside a building that once served the Comstock silver empire, visitors and staff have described the sound of footsteps on an empty staircase, mysterious figures seen in historic rooms and photographs, and appearances associated with the mansion’s nineteenth-century past. The ghost stories are a living part of the building’s history — and several of the people who tell them have shared their experiences directly with LiveSciFi.

One winter evening, longtime mansion guide Dawn says she heard footsteps following her up the original stairs. When she reached the carpeted landing and stopped, the footsteps continued behind her. She turned and said, “Stop, I just wanna go home.” According to Dawn, the footsteps stopped immediately. She shared her account in a recent interview with LiveSciFi.

Watch Tim Wood’s Mackay Mansion live ghost hunt — Thursday, October 22, at 9 PM Pacific.

Mackay Mansion and the Making of the Comstock

Mackay Mansion began as part of Virginia City’s spectacular mining boom. After the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, the Gould & Curry Mining Company established a substantial office and residence on D Street. Historical references place the building’s construction around 1860; the museum also uses 1859 as its founding date. Its earliest associations include mining entrepreneur George Hearst.

The three-story building was both a working center of mining business and a residence. Its vault, period architecture and preserved rooms remain tangible reminders of the wealth that flowed through the Comstock. Nevada recognizes the site as Historical Marker No. 132; the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey also preserves architectural documentation.

John William Mackay and the Silver Kings

Irish-born John William Mackay rose through the mining industry to become one of the Comstock’s legendary Silver Kings, alongside James Fair, James Flood and William O’Brien. Their fortunes grew enormously during the Big Bonanza of the 1870s. The building became closely associated with Mackay and his operations, and he occupied it after the Great Fire of 1875 damaged his previous residence.

Mackay was prominent enough to appear in the region’s everyday newspaper coverage, not only in accounts of colossal mining discoveries. A brief item headed “Brought Back” in the Daily Territorial Enterprise of May 16, 1878, described the return of William G. Riorden, who was accused of forging Mackay’s signature for $1,783. The report recorded Riorden’s insistence that he was innocent; it does not establish a conviction.

The Great Fire of 1875

On October 26, 1875, fire devastated Virginia City, sweeping through business districts, homes, churches and public buildings. The surviving Gould & Curry building is especially remarkable because so much of the surrounding city was rebuilt after the disaster. The Nevada State Historic Preservation Office recounts the scale of the destruction.

Mackay Mansion thus preserves not only the story of individual fortunes but something of the physical city that existed before the fire.

Ulysses S. Grant Visits the Comstock in 1879

Mackay’s circle of associates reached far beyond Virginia City. On October 28, 1879, former President Ulysses S. Grant visited the Comstock and appeared in a photograph with John Mackay, James Fair and other officials carrying mining lanterns. The photograph is preserved by UNLV Special Collections. It is an extraordinary visual record of the wealth and national attention concentrated in this mountain town.

Inside Mackay Mansion: Period Rooms and Original Objects

The mansion’s staircase, historic rooms, antique furnishings, mirrors and mining-company vault give today’s visitors an unusually immediate connection to the Comstock era. In a recent interview with LiveSciFi, Dawn described these spaces, her own experiences and the encounters reported by other visitors.

Period objects — including a Graphophone shown in the accompanying photograph — make the mansion more than a backdrop for its ghost stories. They help explain why each room retains such a strong sense of a particular time and place.

The Haunted Mackay Mansion: Eyewitness Stories and Photographs

The mansion is known for several recurring accounts: two girls said to appear upstairs, a woman in Victorian clothing, footsteps on the staircase, and dark figures reportedly captured in photographs or short recordings. Some witnesses have worked in the house for years; others were visitors who noticed something unusual only after reviewing their images.

Emma and Lily: The Little Girls of Mackay Mansion

Visitors and guides have long described experiences involving two young girls known in mansion tradition as Emma and Lily. Accounts include laughter, fleeting movement, sensations of a child tugging at clothing, and activity associated with the upper bedrooms. The stories were discussed in KOLO’s 2022 report featuring mansion caretaker Halen Dessaussois, and they were part of Dawn’s recent interview with LiveSciFi.

Johnny Depp and the Reported Child Apparition

The mansion’s stories reached a new audience when an encounter was attributed to actor Johnny Depp during the period associated with his film Dead Man. As retold by Travel Nevada, Depp reportedly awoke to see a young girl in his room. It remains one of the mansion’s most widely repeated modern stories; this account comes through tourism and mansion traditions rather than a new firsthand interview with Depp.

The Housemaid Tradition and the Staircase

The mansion’s stories also include a woman identified in local retellings as a housemaid, sometimes linked to a reported fall on the stairs. A historic portrait shared with the project has been identified by its uploader with that account. The precise identity of the woman in the photograph, and the circumstances of the alleged death, still require a period record before they can be given as established biography.

Dawn’s Firsthand Account: Footsteps That Followed Her

One of the strongest firsthand stories in LiveSciFi’s footage comes from Dawn herself. She recalled closing the mansion in winter, wearing boots on the loud wooden stairs. At the top, when she stepped onto carpet and expected the footsteps to stop, she heard what sounded like steps continuing behind her. She began running down the hallway before deciding to turn back.

“Stop, I just wanna go home.”

— Dawn, Mackay Mansion guide, in a recent interview with LiveSciFi

“And the footsteps stopped,” she continued. It is a vivid account made all the more compelling by her familiarity with the building.

The Shadow Man: Reported Figures in Photographs and Video

Another recurring part of the mansion’s lore is the Shadow Man, a male figure described in hallways, historic rooms and photographs. Dawn and other guides have shown visitors images in which they believe a dark figure appears. In a 2022 television interview, mansion caretaker Halen Dessaussois discussed staff experiences with shadow figures.

The following items are presented as the original witness-supplied photographs and recording, with their observed features intact. Their significance lies in the images themselves and in the accounts of those who captured or shared them.

Watch: Short Shadow-Figure Recording from Mackay Mansion

The clip below was provided to LiveSciFi under the name “shadow man captured on camera mackay mansion.” It shows a dim interior and a bright, indistinct figure-like area visible in the recording. View the complete short clip rather than relying on one freeze-frame.

The Victorian Woman, Mirrors and Wedding Photograph

Some visitors report seeing a nineteenth-century woman or a figure appearing near the mansion’s ornate mirrors. Dawn discussed unusual photographs in a recent interview with LiveSciFi, including an image taken around a wedding that viewers said contained a figure in the background.

Another surviving portrait in the house is identified in the collection as Mrs. Mackay (pictured earlier in this article). These objects connect the reported apparition traditions with the appearance of the residence in the Victorian era, though the stories do not establish the identities of individual figures.

The Vault and the Story of Two Robbers

The old Gould & Curry vault remains among the mansion’s most discussed rooms. A longstanding account says that two would-be robbers were confronted and killed by a guard near the vault; visitors and guides associate reported encounters with that story. The physical vault is an important historic feature; the names, exact date and details of the alleged shooting remain open archival questions.

The robbery tradition is also retold by Travel Nevada, and Dawn discussed it in a recent interview with LiveSciFi.

Mackay Mansion on Paranormal Television

Mackay Mansion has appeared in paranormal television coverage, including The Dead Files and Ghost Adventures. Those programs helped bring its reported encounters to a national audience. LiveSciFi’s recent interview with Dawn offers detailed firsthand accounts tied to the mansion’s particular rooms and historic features.

Virginia City Ghost Stories Go Back to the Nineteenth Century

The mansion’s modern paranormal reputation grew in a region where communication with the dead was publicly discussed more than a century ago. Original Virginia City newspapers document advertised séances, public mediumship demonstrations, and continuing debate about Spiritualism. These period sources establish an unusually rich historical background for the Comstock’s ghost traditions.

1867: Ada Hoyt Foye Advertises a Séance

On November 17, 1867, the Daily Territorial Enterprise carried an advertisement for Ada Hoyt Foye, described as a “Rapping and Writing Medium,” announcing another séance in Virginia City. Other contemporary coverage in the project records Foye’s appearance before a local audience that October.

1887: “Spirit Power in the Light” at Piper’s Opera House

Twenty years later, an eye-catching Territorial Enterprise advertisement announced a “Grand Conclave of Mediums,” featuring Alexander Hume and Miss Kate Eddy at Piper’s Opera House. The promotional claim of “Spirit Power in the Light” appeared on the front page on September 11, 1887.

Two days later, the newspaper printed a review of the performance. Reading the promotion beside the subsequent account shows how widely mediumship was discussed, debated and performed on the Comstock.

1891: “Local Spiritualism” in the Newspaper

The Daily Territorial Enterprise was still drawing on séance culture in 1891. A piece headed “Local Spiritualism,” printed March 19, used the idiom of a séance in a humorous local column. It is evidence of how familiar the subject had become to newspaper readers, rather than proof of an actual spirit communication.

These historic reports do not describe a haunting at Mackay Mansion itself. They do establish that the town’s interest in messages from the departed predates modern ghost tours by generations.

A Recent Interview with Mackay Mansion Guide Dawn

In a recent interview, Tim Wood and LiveSciFi spoke with Dawn about experiences she had witnessed or been told about at Mackay Mansion. The material includes discussion of the original staircase and vault, photographs taken by visitors, reported apparitions, and the mansion’s long-running stories involving children and shadow figures.

Among the strongest moments is Dawn’s firsthand staircase testimony. Her familiarity with the mansion provides context for the rooms and historic features associated with these reports.

Watch the October 22 Mackay Mansion Live Ghost Hunt

LiveSciFi returns to Mackay Mansion on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 9 PM Pacific for In Search of the Paranormal LIVE. The team will revisit the spaces associated with the mansion’s most persistent experiences — including the staircase, upper rooms, historic office areas and vault.

The broadcast gives viewers the opportunity to follow the investigation as events unfold, listen along with the team, and share time-marked observations from the live feed.

Visiting Mackay Mansion in Virginia City

Mackay Mansion operates as a historic museum offering guided tours and certain special events. Visitors can see its architecture, surviving furnishings, and many of the rooms connected with its ghost stories. Check the official Mackay Mansion tour information for current hours and reservations.

Mackay Mansion: Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Mackay Mansion?

The mansion is on D Street in Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada. It is a historic museum, not an abandoned building; check with the property before visiting or arranging after-hours access.

How old is the building?

Sources place its origins around 1859–1860, at the beginning of the Comstock mining boom. Nevada’s historical marker dates the original Gould & Curry office to the 1860s.

What apparitions do people report?

Recurring local accounts include two little girls called Emma and Lily, a woman in Victorian dress, a housemaid figure, shadow figures and reported sounds on the staircase. The mansion’s vault has its own longstanding robbery-and-ghost legend.

Where can I watch Tim Wood’s live investigation?

The scheduled Mackay Mansion broadcast is October 22, 2026, at 9 PM Pacific on In Search of the Paranormal LIVE.

A House Where History and Haunting Traditions Meet

The mansion’s importance begins with the Comstock: the miners and magnates who built Virginia City, the 1875 fire, and the original rooms that survive. Its present-day mystery is carried forward by people such as Dawn, who have told detailed firsthand stories of footsteps, figures and striking photographic experiences.

On October 22, those stories return to the rooms in which they were first reported. Join LiveSciFi for the Mackay Mansion live paranormal investigation.

Historical Sources and Recorded Testimony

• Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, Mackay Mansion Historical Marker No. 132.
• Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey: Mackay Mansion.
• Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, The Great Fire of 1875.
• Daily Territorial Enterprise, May 16, 1878, page 3 (“Brought Back”).
• Daily Territorial Enterprise, Nov. 17, 1867, page 3 (Ada Hoyt Foye advertisement).
• Daily Territorial Enterprise, Sept. 11, 1887, page 1 (Piper’s Opera House advertisement).
• Daily Territorial Enterprise, Sept. 13, 1887, page 3 (séance review).
• Daily Territorial Enterprise, Mar. 19, 1891, page 3 (“Local Spiritualism”).
• KOLO, October 27, 2022, interview with mansion caretaker Halen Dessaussois.
• Travel Nevada, Mackay Mansion Museum.
• LiveSciFi’s recent interview with Mackay Mansion guide Dawn.