The Historic and Haunted Hotel Conneaut
Posted: 02.10.2021 | Updated: 01.18.2025
Hotel Conneaut is an expansive, gorgeous hotel located in the middle of Conneaut Lake Park, a summer resort and amusement park located just a half-hour outside of Pittsburgh. Known as ‘The Crown Jewel of Lake Conneaut,’ the park itself was founded in 1892 as an exposition fairground meant to show livestock, machinery, and industrial products coming out of Western Pennsylvania. To learn about haunted Gettysburg, book a ghost tour with Civil War Ghosts.
Is Hotel Conneaut Haunted?
Hotel Conneaut, still a family-friendly summer destination, is also a favorite of paranormal enthusiasts and ghost hunters since the hotel is a well-known haunted hotspot, with most activity occurring on the third floor.
Have you ever stayed in a haunted hotel in Pennsylvania? Conneaut has had its fair share of tragedy, historical happenings, and bad luck over the years. Being the site of fires and deaths, the hotel houses some forlorn spirits whose lives were tragically ended right here.
Conneaut Lake Park
During its early years, the exposition park that houses Hotel Conneaut included a dance hall, a convention hall, and a bathhouse. Ownership of the park transferred in 1901, and several hotels were built on the property to accommodate all the guests who began to spill into the area during summer vacations.
The area soon became a popular summer tourist hangout due to its comfortable lakefront presence, exciting thrill rides, and cool breezes. Many of the park’s original buildings were lost to a fire in 1908, but new concrete block replacements were built, including the famous (and haunted) Dreamland Ballroom.
The park itself was renamed Conneaut Lake Park in 1920 to reflect its change to a more recreational space. Carnival rides were added over the years, including The Blue Streak roller coaster, which is now on the national registry of historic roller coasters.
Tragedy at Hotel Conneaut
In 1943, during the park’s heyday, a large portion of this Conneaut Lake hotel was destroyed in a blazing fire. There is a story of a woman named Elizabeth who was on her honeymoon with her newlywed husband when a bolt of lightning is said to have hit the hotel’s wooden roof, starting the inferno.
Legend has it that her husband managed to escape the massive flames, thinking that Elizabeth had already evacuated. But he was dead wrong. Elizabeth ended up trapped as she searched for him, calling his name in vain.
She perished in the fire and is one of Hotel Conneaut’s many resident spirits. She and her husband stayed in room 321 when the fire started, and paranormal researchers have reported hearing her yell out and crying for her long-gone husband.
These days, she is seen wandering the third floor in her wedding gown, trailing a phantom scent of jasmine perfume behind her. The room itself is known for its orbs, whispers, dirty linens, and windows that open and close by themselves. Elizabeth doesn’t stay on the third floor exclusively, however.
She has also been seen at the adjoining amusement park and Dreamland Ballroom. Elizabeth is Hotel Conneaut’s most famous entity, so much so that the hotel named its bar and restaurant ‘Elizabeth’s Dining Room and Spirit Lounge.’ Guests to the hotel report her presence most often throughout the hotel and the surrounding land.
Other Spectral Inhabitants
Elizabeth isn’t the only lost spirit inhabiting Hotel Conneaut; she’s said to share the space with multiple others. A young child died here when he was attempting to ride her small metal tricycle down the staircase, not under any adults’ supervision.
She lost control and fell down the large staircase, which killed her. She has been reported talking to guests and calling out for her mother in the hallways. There are also reports that one of the hotel’s old chefs stabbed and then dismembered a local butcher in the hotel kitchen.
Apparitions of a couple can be seen floating about the first-floor Grand Ballroom, enjoying each other’s presence. No reports of who this couple is have been made, but it’s easy to assume they just loved the Hotel Conneaut so much during their lives together that they come back for a visit every now and then.
Even a soldier has been spotted sitting in a tree in the hotel parking lot, watching guests as they arrive and depart. A ghost of a former employee has also been reported numerous times. He has only introduced himself as John and joins new visitors in the lobby, perhaps to help check them in and get them acquainted with the hotel and all of its features.
Haunted Gettysburg
Have you ever stayed at a haunted hotel in Pennsylvania like this Conneaut Lake Hotel? Will you after reading this blog? We’d recommend heading there in the heat of the summer, as the hotel is almost always a bit chilly due to its plethora of spirit residents!
If learning about Gettysburg’s hauntings sounds like your idea of a good time, be sure to book a ghost tour with Civil War Ghosts today and step into the city’s haunting past. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real Pennsylvania hauntings.
Sources:
- https://hotelconneaut.net/about-hotel-conneaut/
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/hotel-conneaut-haunted-pgh
- http://hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/hotel-conneaut.html
- https://www.pahauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/hotel-conneaut.html
- https://theclio.com/entry/95947
Book A Civil War Ghosts Tour And See For Yourself
Join Civil War Ghosts tonight to hear the gripping stories of the ghosts and hauntings of Gettysburg. See where the civilians and soldiers fell, and where their eerie presence persists to this day. They want to be heard – will you listen?
Visit the many haunted downtown inns and buildings where the wounded took their last breaths in agony. Touch the traces of their sacrifice that remain and reach out from beyond in this small, haunted town that shaped the future of the United States.
