#Navajo County Courthouse Ghosts

[myhauntedsalem]

Navajo County Courthouse Ghosts

Holbrook, Arizona is located east of Flagstaff and was founded in 1881. It is the county seat for Navajo County which was known for its railroad, lumber, farm and ranch businesses as well as trade with the Indians. In 1898 a new courthouse was built and was used until 1976. Today a lot of people will tell you stories about Holbrook’s wild past as well as about the Navajo County Courthouse ghosts.

Holbrook was what you would typically consider a Wild West town. The town had an interesting mix of people including cowboys, Indians, miners, those seeking adventures and their fortune’s in the west and of course those of the criminal variety. It also came with the typical brothels, saloons, and gambling houses.

When the Navajo County Courthouse was built in 1898 the basement housed the Sheriff’s office and jail cells. The cells were built in St. Louis and shipped by rail to Holbrook. So well built, they were used continuously until the jail closed 78 years later.

Along with the new courthouse came a new Sheriff, Frank Wattron and within a year came its first hanging. George Smiley was being held in the jail for murdering a railroad section foreman named McSweeney. At the time of the hanging, Arizona law required the sheriffs to send invitations out to other sheriffs and officials in the territory to serve as witnesses.

Wattron known as a bit of a show off, had his invitations professionally printed on gold-bordered paper. A reporter got a hold of the invitation however and soon it was not only in newspapers nationwide but also the Berlin Tageblatt, Paris Fiarge and the London Times. Eventually being read by then President McKinley, Wattron was issued a reprimand and Smiley a 30 day reprieve to let the bad press calm down.

It was during this 30 day reprieve that many people took the opportunity to visit and gawk at George Smiley and even take photographs next to his cell. This slowly aggravated Smiley and he furiously screamed one day at his visitors that “I’ll come back and haunt you!” Smiley was finally hanged on January 8, 1900. He may have kept his promise though as one story of the Navajo County Courthouse ghosts is connected to George.

Many have reported seeing the ghost of George Smiley walking around the basement cells and pacing up and down the stairs. Also strange noises, doors opening and closing and objects being moved are all attributed to George. One of the most popular activity is the claims of hearing obscene threats by staff and tourist alike coming from his jail cell when they walk by.

Along with George Smiley, another Navajo County Courthouse ghosts is said to be a woman seen staring outside the windows of the courthouse. The spirit is said to be of a woman who died inside the old jail and been given the name Mary. Mary is said to have been a prostitute and would gaze outside the windows in the jail for hours.

One story involving Mary comes from a former tourism director. He claims to have been driving past the courthouse one evening and saw lights on inside. He parked his car to go inside and cut them off. While inside. His wife claimed to see a woman looking out one window. She went inside and told her husband and after a thorough search, found no one there. Many visitors have claimed to have pictures of this woman looking out the window.