ELM STREET, USA
– Ghouls and goblins
will be prowling the
earth this Halloween,
but at the National
Trust Historic Hotels of
America’s haunted
hotels, unwelcome
visitors from the
beyond the grave, lurk
all year long. You may
not see the fiendish
Freddie Kruger at one
of these hotels, but
sometimes real life
can be scarier than the
movies.
From dead colonels to
female apparitions,
and even golf course
spirits, these ancient
myths and legends
supply the perfect
skeleton for a haunted
vacation. Travelers
brave enough to stay at
these unearthly hotels
might encounter
mysterious
happenings like moved
furniture, and other
ghostly pranks to make
your stay as daunting
as possible.
It’s not unusual to hear
bloodcurdling screams
from the guests or the
ghosts, and then there
are some more polite
poltergeists that just
want a little common
courtesy. Like the
reported spirit of
Colonel Tutwiler, a
local businessman at
the Tutwiler Hotel in
Birmingham, Alabama.
There were rumors that
the Colonel’s ghost
had been roaming the
halls of the hotel for
years. About seven
years ago, a bartender
was locking up the
restaurant by himself
late one night. He
turned off all the lights
and stoves, and then
clocked out. As he took
one last look at the
closed restaurant, he
noticed that everything
– the lights and
appliances – had been
turned back on. He
repeated the process
four times that night,
but every time the lights
mysteriously switched
on.
When he got in trouble
the next day, the
bartender tried to
explain what had
happened to the
General Manager, but
to no avail. The
scenario repeated
itself for five nights, and
every morning the
bartender was
scolded. On the sixth
day, the General
Manager called the
bartender and told him
to come in at once. It
seems that someone
or something had
cooked a multi-course
meal with candles, had
drawn the curtains and
taken a very old bottle
of wine out of a locked
cabinet. The two did
an investigation, but
could only conclude
that it was the
Colonel’s spirit. From
then on the bartender
resolved to say, “good
night Colonel, please
leave the lights and
stoves off and don’t
make a mess,’ every
night – problem solved.
While many of the
mysteries remain
unsolved it’s always
fun to speculate the
existence of the
supernatural. Here are
some eerie tales of
paranormal mayhem
from the National Trust
of Historic Hotels. It
may not be the Bates
Motel, but then again,
compared to these
stories that might not
be such a bad thing.
Something Is
Tugging At My Ear
At The Grove Park Inn
Resort and Spa in
Asheville, N.C., little is
known about a young
woman dressed in
pink who fell to her
death in the Palm
Court atrium around
1920. However, the
mysterious Pink Lady
has become widely
known at the hotel. In
September of 2001,
guest Mike Mooney
read about the Pink
Lady before traveling to
the Grove Park Inn. At
about 11:00 on the
night of his arrival,
Mooney went through
the atrium to get a
soda from the vending
machine. No one else
was in the atrium.
Mooney describes the
experience. "The room
felt heavy when I
walked in but I didn't
think anything of it.
However, when I
returned with the soda
and passed the old
bench chair, the hair on
the left side of my body
just stood on end and
bristled. I also felt
something tugging at
my left ear as I passed
the chair. I paused for a
second but as soon as
I went passed it, the
hair went down and I
ran like hell back to the
room!"
A Ghost Hunt -
Paranormal Sleuths
Detect Suspicious
Sights and Sounds
A team of professional
ghost hunters has
detected some curious
goings-on at The
Carolina Inn in Chapel
Hill, N.C., where, for
years, a ghost has
been suspected of
playing tricks on
guests. On July 14,
paranormal
phenomena
researchers set up
super-sensitive
microphones, digital
cameras, infrared
video cameras and
electromagnetic
sensors in three guest
rooms.
Over a four-hour
period, the equipment
captured the sounds of
footsteps in an empty
and secured room; an
orb-like object moving
through the air in one
of the rooms; the faint
sound of notes from a
piano (there were no
pianos nearby nor one
being played in the inn
a the time); and a few
softly spoken words
including what sounds
like "hey" and "might
have won."
Who might this ghost
be? It is suspected to
be Dr. William
Jacocks,
who lived at the inn
from 1948 until his
death in 1965. Jacocks
liked riddles and jokes,
and, over the years, his
ghost seems to have
enjoyed teasing guests
buy locking them out of
the second-floor room
where he lived.
The analysis of the
data is still being
conducted. The latest
findings can be viewed
at
www.hauntednc.com.
Widely known for
boisterous Bourbon
Street and the
merriment of Mardi
Gras, New Orleans is
also home to a special
mix of spirituality and
superstition. Le
Pavillon, a New
Orleans landmark that
dates to 1907, hired a
paranormal research
team to study the
otherworldly visitors at
the hotel. The group of
psychics,
parapsychologists and
paranormal
investigators identified
the overwhelming aura
of a frightened and
confused teenaged
girl. They believe that
she lived during the
1840s and is possibly
named Eva, Ava or Ada.
It appears that she was
preparing to embark on
a ship when she was
struck by a carriage
and died from the
resulting internal
injuries. Their report
also indicates the
presence of a young
aristocratic couple from
the 1920s and a
dark-suited man from
the same era
Holy
Spirits
In 1651, the Monastery
of Our Lady Carmen of
San Jose was
inaugurated. Better
known as the
Carmelite Convent, the
building had been the
former home of a
noblewoman, Doña
Ana de Lansos y
Menendez de Valdez,
who lost her husband
in a battle with the
Dutch.
After his death, Doña
Ana chose to devote
herself to God and
donated her home, its
adjoining land and all
her possessions to
have a convent erected
on the site where she
lived with her beloved.
Doña Ana was the first
to enter the cloister and
became Mother
Superior.
Today the site is home
to Hotel El Convento in
the heart of Old San
Juan, Puerto Rico. The
hotel is visited by the
spirits of Doña Ana and
her cloister, as they
walk the halls in silent
prayer, just the swish
of their robes making
any sound at all and
kicking up just the
slightest of breezes in
the night.
Dining Room
Delights
The Victorian 1886
Crescent Hotel and
Spa in Eureka Springs,
Ark., hosts a wide
variety of spirits. In the
hotel's Crystal Dining
Room, many
employees have
encountered playful
spirits in Victorian
dress. One holiday
season while the
dining room was
closed, the grand
Christmas tree and
packages underneath
moved from one end of
the room to the other.
The next morning
employees found the
tree and packages
moved with chairs
circling and facing the
newly placed holiday
symbol. Another time,
employees returned in
the morning to find the
dining room in perfect
order except for menus
scattered throughout
the room. Yet another
time, a waitress looked
into the huge mirror
between the doors
from the dining room to
the kitchen and saw a
man and woman in
Victorian garb facing
each other as in a
wedding. The groom
turned and made eye
contact with the
waitress and then the
couple faded away.
The waitress quit her
position shortly after
this incident. Another
common encounter is
a man in Victorian
clothing sitting at a
table near the windows
saying "I saw the most
beautiful woman here
last night and I am
waiting for her to
return." Many have
recounted seeing
apparitions in Victorian
ball attire dancing
around the room
during the wee hours
of the morning while
the room was closed
and dark. The Crescent
Hotel has so many
ghostly tales to tell that
tours are held at the
hotel throughout the
year.
The Mendocino Hotel &
Garden Suites in
Mendocino, Calif.,
opened in 1878 as the
Temperance House
and was a sanctuary in
a lively logging town of
saloons and pool
halls. The hotel's
history did not always
remain so pristine. For
a number of years, the
hotel was a bordello.
The aura of this era
can still be felt in the
hotel. A Victorian
woman haunts tables
6 and 8 in the
restaurant, where she
appears in the mirror.
She is known to visit
guestrooms and to be
playful with the
housekeepers.
Fore!
Located on Lake
George, The
Sagamore in Bolton
Landing, N.Y., offers
golfers the challenge of
a Donald Ross, par 70
golf course. Today
guests may see the
spirit of a little boy from
the early 1950s on the
golf course or near the
Club Grill. The boy was
known to chase errant
golf balls to sell back to
the pro shop but was
hit by a car while
chasing balls and died.
"Here Comes the
Bride"
Built as a country home
in 1902 and operating
as an inn since 1927,
the Lighthouse Inn in
New London, Conn.,
has seen many brides.
A long-told story
speaks of a young
bride getting married at
the inn who fell walking
down the grand
staircase. She slipped,
fell down and broke her
neck. Since this event,
there have been
sightings of a young
woman dressed in a
period wedding gown
sitting in a guest room
reading a book,
walking on the third
floor and roaming
through some of the
rooms.
More than one
bridegroom has
inquired about the
mysterious bellman at
the Jekyll Island Club
Hotel in Jekyll Island,
Ga. It seems this
"bellman" is dressed in
a cap and suit
reminiscent of a 1920s
movie. He delivers
freshly pressed suits to
bridegrooms and has
been seen mostly on
the second floor,
knocking gently on the
guestroom door
announcing his
delivery.
Tales of
Unrequited
Love
If you check into room
3327 at the Hotel del
Coronado in
Coronado, Calif., you
might share a room
with Kate Morgan. In
1892, the young Mrs.
Morgan checked into
the hotel to meet her
estranged husband. To
her dismay, he never
showed. Several days
later, Kate's body was
found on the hotel
steps leading to the
ocean. Since her tragic
death, witnesses have
been puzzled by odd
noises, spirited
breezes, strange faces
and the ghostly figure
of a young lady
dressed in a black lace
dress. Could it be that
she is still waiting for
her husband in room
3327?
One night after an
argument with her
husband, Sallie White,
a chambermaid at The
Menger Hotel in San
Antonio, stayed at the
hotel presumably with
another man. The next
day her husband
threatened to kill her.
On March 28, 1876,
Sallie was attacked by
her husband and died
two days later. The
hotel paid for the
funeral cost of $32, as
recorded in the hotel
ledger. Legend has it
that Sallie White still
roams the halls of the
Victorian wing of the
hotel. A few years ago,
a guest wanted extra
towels. He opened the
door of his room and
called out to a maid
who ignored him. The
guest called the front
desk to inquire why the
maid was so rude. He
described the maid
and her uniform -- one
that was worn in the
late 1800s, about the
time of Sallie's
employment at the
hotel.
"Time is infinite. I wait
for you by our fountain .
. . to share our
timeless love, our
destiny is time."
Thomas Rowe
received this note upon
the death of his
beloved Lucinda. The
two met in the 1890s
when Rowe was
studying in Europe.
Lucinda's parents
forbade the
relationship and the
forlorn Rowe returned
to America. For years
his letters to her were
returned unopened.
In 1925, Rowe built the
Don CeSar Beach
Resort and Spa in St.
Pete Beach, Fla. The
lobby of the hotel
included a replica of
the courtyard and
fountain where Rowe
and Lucinda used to
meet. Although the
fountain no longer
exists, employees at
the Don CeSar tell
tales of seeing a
couple who suddenly
appear walking
hand-in-hand in the
hotel and then
disappearing.
Historic Hotels of
America is a program
of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation.
Historic Hotels has
identified 185 hotels
that have faithfully
maintained their
historic integrity,
architecture and
ambience. To be
selected for this
prestigious program, a
hotel must be at least
50 years old, listed in
or eligible for the
National Register of
Historic Places or
recognized as having
historic significance. A
directory of member
hotels can be
purchased for $4.00 by
sending a check to
Historic Hotels of
America, P.O. Box 320,
Washington, D.C.
20055-0320. Rooms at
any of the member
hotels can be reserved
by calling
800-678-8946 or at
www.historichotels.org.
Reservations made
through Historic Hotels
of America support the
National Trust, a
non-profit organization
of 200,000 members
that provides
leadership, education
and advocacy to save
America's diverse
historic places and
revitalize our
communities.
