Each year on the Saturday before Halloween, Carson City celebrates its past with a tour of historic homes, which some believe are haunted by previous residents. Samuel Clemons, as portrayed by Mike Roberts of Virginia City's Shooting Stars Stage Company, entertains Ghost Walkers waiting to tour a home. Photo by Susan Elbe Ghost Walk, actually a part of the Nevada Day celebration in the capital city, is a self-guided walking tour of houses in Carson's Victorian historic district. The district is a block west of South Carson Street behind the Nevada State Museum , which is where the tour begins. The house tours give local volunteers and residents a chance to tell their own, firsthand experiences with apparitions.
People sincerely believe they feel the spirits.
Nietz explains that Carson City, Virginia City and Reno were spiritualist communities during the Comstock era. Volunteer docents Joey Parker and Pam Freeman, wearing Victorian costumes, say that the current owner of the Smail house often finds items moved to odd places. At the Rio-Tinto house, homeowner John Gillie reveals that his teenage daughter saw the face of a young girl in her bedroom mirror. Gillie quickly removed the mirror at his daughter's demand. Cub Scouts and other guests waiting to tour the Rio Tinto home on Carson City's Ghost Walk.