The Baker Hotel is a beautiful old building, fourteen stories, with a bell tower on top. It was originally constructed in 1914 as the Crazy Water Hotel, and re-built in 1925 as the Baker Hotel after a fire destroyed the Crazy Water. There are numerous ghost stories and other fascinating tales of the hotel. It was abandoned in 1970, and has stood vacant and deteriorating since then.  People are working to save this historical old hotel, but the town officials have condemned it and are trying to demolish it. As of now, it is closed to the public.

Ghost Story

The most eerie story of the old Baker would have to be the tragic tale of the death of a young elevator operator by the name of Douglas Moore. The original story was told that in 1948, Douglas went to work at the Baker and quickly began to earn a lot of money - perhaps too much - for an elevator operator.

After a period of gainful employment, Douglas confessed to his mother that he had become a minor part of an illegal prostitution racket in the hotel. His mother insisted that he quit. Douglas went a step farther and reported the happenings to the local authorities not knowing that some were actually involved in the ring.

Douglas was laid off but was suddenly called back to work two weeks later. Upon returning to his job he found himself in the basement playing around in the service elevator late one night with two other bellboys. This particular elevator had a call button that would send it rapidly from the basement to the top elevator room without stopping.

It was reported by the other two boys that one of them accidentally depressed the call button when Douglas was not completely inside the elevator - suddenly trapping his body halfway out and severing him at the waist. Many believed the two boys were paid to kill Douglas.

Some have reported seeing the ghost of Douglas lurking about in the basement area. Some say that only the upper portion of his body and his head can be seen, the lower portion is of course, missing. While on one of my personal visits to the Baker, I must admit, this location, where the young boy died, was the one that just gave me a very uneasy feeling.

In a discussion with a local psychic, then later with a distant relative of Douglas, I learned the true story of the death of the hard-working young man. Douglas apparently was never a part of a prostitution ring. Actualy he was a 15-year-old boy who came from a poor family. He never drove a fancy car, which some have said, and he didn't make a lot of money.

Douglas and his friend, Logan Shoemake, were horsing around one evening as teenagers do. Logan was operating the service elevator, which had no guard on it, which allowed one to hop aboard as it was moving. Logan was raising the elevator and it was about four feet above the floor level, when young Douglas attempted to jump in. His friend Logan saw he couldn't make it and attempted to pull him back. Douglas's body was crushed at the waist. He died within half an hour of the accident. The Hotel paid for all funeral arrangements. It was a tragic event and one from which, the family never fully recovered.