Entry No. 32 — the Coeur d'Alene file — filed under: haunted
Sprag Pole Inn & Museum / Molly B'Damn's Grave
Murray is the oldest surviving town in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, a near-ghost-town gold camp born in the 1883 gold rush. The eccentric Sprag Pole Museum, attached to a still-operating inn and bar, crams in mining-era relics across a dozen exhibits (free admission). Nearby lies the grave of Maggie Hall, the legendary frontier prostitute 'Molly B'Damn,' remembered for rallying the town to care for the sick during an 1880s smallpox scare; she died of tuberculosis in 1888 at just 34. Her grave in Murray Cemetery still draws visitors, and the town honors her with the annual Molly B'Damn Gold Rush Days.
The story
Murray is what remains of the 1883 Coeur d'Alene gold rush: a semi-ghost town tucked along Prichard Creek with a population hovering around 25. In 1933, local resident Walt Almquist bought an 1884 stagecoach stop building called the Sprag Pole Inn. When a friend handed him an ornate whiskey bottle to sit behind the bar, Almquist and his brother Harry took it as a call to action. Over the next several decades, they hoarded, salvaged, and cataloged every scrap of Silver Valley history they could carry through the door, eventually expanding into a 10,000-square-foot labyrinth across a dozen display rooms.
You can wander through the back halls without a tour guide or velvet ropes getting in the way. The collection is dense and obsessively specific: a 121-foot continuous wooden chain carved out of a single timber by Walt himself, a 1904 carnival organ, vintage fire-lookout photography, antique logging gear, a recreated 1900 kitchen, a blacksmith shop, and a meticulous mock-up of Molly B'Damn's bedroom.
That room belongs to Maggie Hall, an Irish immigrant who arrived during the 1884 gold boom and operated as the town's most famous madam under the alias Molly B'Damn. When a smallpox outbreak hit the mining camp in 1886, she didn't flee; she rallied the town and turned her home into a hospital ward to nurse the sick. She died of tuberculosis two years later in January 1888 at age 34. On the day of her funeral, every mine and saloon in Murray shut down so the whole camp could follow her coffin up the road. Her gravestone sits in the nearby Murray Cemetery on Kings Pass Road, carved with the words 'Sacred to the memory of Maggie Hall, Molly-B-Dam,' where travelers still leave coins, rocks, and flowers.
What it's like
Getting here requires navigating roughly 50 to 60 miles of backroads from Coeur d'Alene—either winding over Dobson Pass from Wallace or following the Coeur d'Alene River Road north from Interstate 90. When you arrive in Murray, park outside the wooden storefront and walk straight into the bar, because there is no ticket counter; you step right through the tavern into the exhibit rooms. The vibe is half organized community museum and half epic antique hoard, and you are welcome to carry a beer from the bar while you explore. Grab a patty melt or burger at the tavern counter, then take the two-minute drive up Kings Pass Road to the historic cemetery on the hill to find Maggie Hall's grave. Keep in mind that hours in a 25-person town flex with the seasons, so confirm they are open before making the drive.
The move: Drive the backroads to Murray, poke through the Sprag Pole's oddball collection over a burger at the bar, then pay respects at Molly B'Damn's grave in the old cemetery.
📍 Before you go Remote: roughly 50-60 miles from CdA via Silver Valley backroads near Prichard; the inn/bar and museum keep small-town hours, so confirm before going. Grave is in the historic Murray cemetery.
- 📍 Murray
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 6353 Prichard Creek Rd, Murray, ID 83840
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Oasis Bordello Museum — Pair Murray's history of legendary madam Molly B'Damn with a tour of this Wallace brothel that was abandoned overnight in 1988 with its rooms preserved intact.
- Burke Ghost Town — Head eight miles over the pass to explore Burke's decaying mining ruins squeezed into a narrow 300-foot-wide canyon.
- Sierra Silver Mine Tour — Contrast Murray's surface-level gold rush artifacts with a hard-hat underground tour inside an actual Silver Valley mine in Wallace.
- The Historic Jameson (Cocktail Bar & Inn) — Follow up your tavern burger at the Sprag Pole with a drink at this 1889 Wallace hotel, reputedly haunted by a ghost named Maggie.
Good to know
Is admission to the Sprag Pole Museum free?
Yes, admission is free. You enter the museum rooms directly through the operating Sprag Pole Inn bar and restaurant.
Where is Molly B'Damn's grave located?
Maggie Hall's grave is in the historic Murray Cemetery (G.A.R. Cemetery) on Kings Pass Road, just up the hill overlooking the town of Murray.
What are the highlights of the Sprag Pole Museum collection?
The 12-exhibit complex features a 121-foot wooden chain carved from a single timber by founder Walt Almquist, a 1904 carnival organ, vintage fire lookout displays, mining gear, and a reconstruction of Molly B'Damn's bedroom.
How far is Murray from Coeur d'Alene?
Murray sits roughly 50 to 60 miles east of Coeur d'Alene via Interstate 90, connecting through either the Coeur d'Alene River Road near Prichard or Dobson Pass Road out of Wallace.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: visitidaho.org · Official site · Wikipedia · spokesman.com · Reddit
last checked: 2026-06-24