ELLIS HOTEL
(Winecoff Hotel)
176 Peachtree Street NW
Status: Mass Fatality Site; 4 Star Boutique Hotel
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:JJonahJackalope" title="User:JJonahJackalope">JJonahJackalope</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
This building opened in 1913 as the Winecoff Hotel.
On December 7 1946, the Winecoff Hotel had a fire that is still the deadliest hotel fire in US history. 119 people died in fire including 40 teenagers in for a youth conference and Christmas shoppers.
A third of people who died did so because they jumped out of the windows of the building desperate to escape the fire.
The fire started in a third floor corridor spreading rapidly and moving up a staircase. This trapped everyone on the 12 floors above.
Arnold Hardy won a Pulitzer prize for his photo of a woman in mid-air as she jumped for the building’s 11th floor. The woman was seriously injured but did live.
This fire led to huge changes in the fire regulations including sprinkler systems and fire alarm systems.
The hotel opened again in April of 1951 with a state of the art fire suppression system and changed it’s name to the Peachtree Hotel on Peachtree.
In 1967 the building was sold to the Georgia Baptist Convention supposedly to convert into a home for the elderly. However, space in the building was repeatedly sold to developers.
By the late 1980’s the building ended up being left abandoned. The gutted lobby was used as a souvenir shop during the 1996 Olympics.
In 2005 a $25 million dollar renovation was done converting it into a modern boutique hotel. The name was changed to the Ellis Hotel when it opened on October 1, 2007.
Paranormal Activity
Smoke alarms will suddenly go off on their own at 2:48am; the time the fire started.
People have also woken up in the middle of the night smelling smoke in their rooms.
The elevators sometimes have a mind of their own and will stop on floors not pressed or moving empty from floor to floor.
Other Reported Paranormal Activity: faces of people appearing in the hotel windows with many of them screaming in pain and terror; disembodied voices; objects moving on their own or just disappearing; unexplained sounds of people running in the hallways; phantom screams; phantom footsteps; light anomalies; calls to the front desk from unoccupied rooms and feelings of being watched and not being alone.
OAKLAND CEMETERY
248 Oakland Avenue SE
Status: Historical Cemetery; Open 9am - 530pm Daily
History
This historic cemetery opened in 1850. It was originally only 6 acres and called both the Atlanta Graveyard and the City Burial Place. In 1872 the name was changed to Oakland Cemetery and the size had been increased to 48 acres – mainly due to the large number of fatalities from the Civil War.
In the late 19th Century, the Cemetery was tended by families of the deceased and it became so well known for its gardens and beauty that it became a favorite place for Sunday afternoon carriage rides. Unfortunately, this began to change in the 20th Century and by the 1970’s the Cemetery had become filled with weeds and dilapidated grave markers.
In 1976 the Cemetery became listed on the National Register of Historic Places which prompted a clean up and restoration of the grounds. Today, once again, people walk through the grounds – sans horse and carriage – and admire the beauty and gardens.
27 Atlanta Mayors, 6 Georgia Governors and 4 Confederate Generals are buried here. As well, this is the final resting place of Margret Mitchell - author of Gone With The Wind.
Paranormal Activity
Although this cemetery is widely thought of as one of the most haunted places in Georgia the paranormal activity is generally limited only one section of the original cemetery. That being the Confederate section.
There are numerous Confederate officers and soldiers buried here with their own gravestone but many were buried unnamed; and they were buried together with unnamed Union soldiers. Many think the Civil War is still being fought here due to the mix of soldiers.
The ghost of a Union soldier has been seen hanging with his face down from a tree. Numerous Confederate soldiers have been seen moving through the graveyard. Phantom sounds of battle have been reported. Perhaps most frightening of all a ghostly roll call has been heard with soldiers calling out, “here” and a few witnesses have reported hearing their own names called out.
Other activity: unexplainable mists, light anomalies, phantom footsteps, feelings of being watched and stark temperature drops.
The Cemetery runs a Halloween Tour every year.
RHODES HALL
1516 Peachtree Road NW
Status: Former Residence; Heritage Building; Open to the Public
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:JJonahJackalope" title="User:JJonahJackalope">JJonahJackalope</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
This house was built in 1904 by furniture magnate Amos Giles Rhodes at a cost of $50,000 ($1.7 million in 2022). It was built wired for electricity and had a security system making it almost futuristic for the time.
It’s most impressive feature is a set of stained glass windows in the main staircase that showed the owner’s political views. The windows include the rise and fall of the Confederate States and 3 Confederate officers with dubious backgrounds. They certainly reflect a different time in history.
After Rhodes and his wife died their children donated the house to the State of Georgia under the terms that it always be used for historical purposes. The Georgia Department of Archives and History moved into the house and began taking care of it from day one.
The constant preservation efforts saved this house and have kept it in pristine condition as the city of Atlanta grew around it.
In 1983 the house was transferred to it’s current owners the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1992 the house was renovated into a museum. Unfortunately, this also led to the end of their annual Halloween Haunted House event.
Paranormal Activity
The Rhodes’, apparently, did love their house; so much so that they are said to have never left it even after death.
By all accounts Amos and his wife Amanda were very private and not interested in visitors in their house during their lives. By all accounts this attitude has not changed since death.
There are numerous stories of encounters with Amos and Amanda; although, none of them are friendly.
Mr Rhodes is said to be an overbearing presence whose apparition is known for approaching people quietly but increasing noise. Usually, his phantom footsteps – often the tapping of his cane can be heard as well - grow louder and quicker as he comes closer and he has screamed “get out!” at more than one witness.
Mrs Rhodes has been known to cause intense unease – to the point of fear – in sensitive witnesses. Electrical disturbances such as flickering lights are also blamed on her. Her ghostly face has been seen superimposed over her portrait in the house; with her looking even less friendly that her portrait already is.
Other Reported Activity: apparitions of children (usually outside of the building); shadow figures; objects moving on their own; light anomalies and feelings of not being alone.