Ghostly Happenings in Georgia

Ghostly Apparitions and Phantom Fire Alarm

One of Atlanta’s most haunted hotels is the Ellis Hotel, which was the site of the deadliest hotel fire in American history. Visitors have seen eerie-looking ghosts in the windows, heard screams, and smelled smoke.

In 1913, Fleming and Grace Smith Winecroft founded the company under the name Winecoff Hotel. Then in 1949, 119 people were murdered in the tragic hotel fires, among them the 76-year-old proprietors. Inadequate fire safety procedures, like lack of sprinklers and fire exits, were the probability that caused the high death toll. Since that time visitors have heard the fire alarm go off in the wee hours of the morning at the exact time the 1946 fire began.

Haunting of a Covered Bridge

After a previous bridge washed away, killing a man, the Eucharlee Covered Bridge was constructed in the 1880s. It is thought to be haunted by the man experiencing his brutal death when the previous bridge collapsed. There is also a story about a young girl who was traveling over the river in a wagon with her father. She jumped up as they were crossing the bridge and got her hair tangled in the rafters of the bridges. When she came down again, her neck broke, and she was dead. Now it is thought that the sound of creaking noises on the bridge is coming from the ghostly apparition of the girl swinging from the rafters by her hair.

Apparition of Confederate Soldier, Ghostly Organist, and Elevator Prankster

Since the fabulous Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta opened its door in 1929, phantom spirits have had plenty of time to make the movie theater their home. It was originally a shrine temple before becoming a place to view movies. In one of the windows of the theater, a ghostly Confederate soldier who lost his life in the Civil War can be seen looking out.

An organist at the theater, performing for 24 years, had his ashes scattered into the organ, and now he can be seen as a ghostly apparition. There is another ghostly spirit who appears when accompanied by a scent of roses. He likes to trick people taking the elevator by pressing buttons for the wrong floors.

Every year around Halloween, Atlanta hosts 90-minute ghost walking tours that include the Fox Theater.

Ghostly Apparition that Never Went Away

The Moon River Brewing Company is a well-known brewery situated in what was formerly one of the most haunted hotels in Savannah. The structure was known as the City Hotel and served as a hospital during the Yellow Fever outbreak during the Civil War. In 1832, Dr. Philip Minus shot and killed James Stark, a well-known drinker and regular nuisance. Since that time, for nearly 200 years, locals say that Stark still haunts the Moon River. Popular paranormal TV programs like “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Adventures” have included this Savannah building.

Ghostly Apparitions of Confederate Soldiers

The oldest and biggest cemetery in Atlanta, Oakland Cemetery is a well-known haunted spot. Established in 1850, the cemetery serves as the final resting place of over 70,000 individuals, including at least 3,000 Confederate soldiers, who lost their lives in brutal combat. Visitors have seen troops walking about the cemetery while shouting out their names in a roll call and ghostly soldiers hanging from trees. Oakland Cemetery also includes victims who suffered horrific deaths from yellow fever.

Ghostly Apparitions Looking from Windows and Hanging in the Tree

Perhaps Georgia’s most well-known haunted hospital is the Old Candler Hospital in the Savannah Historic District. It was constructed in 1804 and is the second oldest hospital still in operation in the US and the first hospital in Savannah. During the yellow fever epidemic, numerous individuals lost their lives at this hospital. In the underground morgue tunnel, dead patient bodies were heaped up and awaited transportation to Forsyth Park.

Outside of the hospital stands Savannah’s hanging tree; the 300-year-old Candler Oak has a very sinister past. (pictured above) It is rumored to have been a site for executions, particularly during the Civil War, which contributes to its haunting reputation. Many locals have witnessed spectral beings looking out from the hospital windows and ghostly apparitions hanging from the tree at night.

Ghostly Apparitions of a Family and a Sinister Presence in the Basement

Built in 1904, Rhodes Memorial Hall is a gloomy-looking house today located in Atlanta on Peachtree Street. I was once the home of Atlanta furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes and his family. Today Amos is not happy to see visitors in his house and has been heard shouting, “Get out!" Mrs. Rhodes likes to show her face replacing the faces of people looking in the mirrors. Throughout the house the laughter of their children can be heard. However, the most frightening thing is that a man’s evil, dark presence lingers in the shadows in the basement.