The Willow

The Willow's reputation comes from fire: in the decade to 1985 the hotel was struck by five fires nobody could explain, one in 1975 nearly burned it to the ground, and another on 20 July 1985 destroyed its eighty-year-old annex, and that August the owners told United Press International they blamed ghosts; a malevolent poltergeist is blamed for setting it ablaze five times, and some say the ghost is a miner who died in a collapsed mine beneath the hotel. John Periera, a Portuguese immigrant, established the Willow in 1862, naming it for the willow trees that grew here before the Gold Rush. It became one of the leading hotels in Tuolumne County, lodging the dignitaries and businessmen who built Jamestown and housing the town's first telegraph, medical offices, stage stop and railway station; its guests included President William McKinley, Bat Masterson and Mrs. Robert E. Lee. Much of the original building was lost in 1982, though the original redwood bar came through intact. The Willow Steakhouse that later occupied the building closed in 2020; it has since reopened as the Willow Saloon.