The Murray Hotel
Built circa 1904 as the Elite Hotel, the Murray has housed tourists and celebrities alike over the years. Though it fell into decline with the decline of railroad travel in the 1960s, it has since been revived and remains a popular local rendezvous place and watering hole. As the story goes, it would appear that not all of the guests who have checked in over the years have checked out. Like its partner across the street, legend has it that The Murray has been haunted for quite some time.
When the hotel was increased from two storeys to four, the expansion was financed by future Democratic U.S. Senator James E. Murray. Canadian born on May 3, 1876, Murray moved to Butte, MT to live with a wealthy uncle in 1897. After graduating with a law degree from New York University in 1900, he was admitted to the bar in 1901 and began a law practise in Butte. In 1906 was elected to a single term as Silver Bow County attorney, thereafter returning to his practice. Reentering politics in the early 1930s, he was elected senator on the platform of complete support for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Northern Pacific Depot
Anchored by the showcase Northern Pacific Depot, the finest ever built by the railroad, the Livingston Commercial District spreads out from it to the south, west and east. Built to draw tourists to the railway and to Livingston, the Northern Pacific (NP) spared no expense when building this station.
Italianate in style, the station was built to impress all who passed through. Three stories in height, the station was designed to resemble a Palladian villa, with curved colonnades and copious amounts of terra cotta. The designers of the station were Reed and Stem of St. Paul, Minnesota who, while the Livingston station was under construction, were designing Grand Central Station in New York City.
Probably some time before the Northern Pacific vacated the building stories began to emanate from the building of its being haunted.
Haunted Places refers to stories of hauntings by "
many apparitions, including a ghostly accountant and an old railway dispatcher. Late at night, staff have reportedly heard a ghost train pulling into the station, and seen shadowy figures running towards the platform only to vanish suddenly.