Jefferson Hotel

The Jefferson Hotel—sometimes referred to as the New Jefferson Hotel or Historic Jefferson Hotel—was originally built in 1851 as a cotton warehouse. At the turn of the 20th century, it assumed its current function and became a hotel. During the roaring 20s, according to locals, it was known as the Crystal Palace.

Many ghostly sightings have been reported throughout the years here at the hotel, and each room has its own personality. When investigating the hotel for a TV shoot, Lone Star Spirits found cold spots where there were no drafts, and while a medium was communicating with a spirit of a prior bordello employee in room 14, EMF fluctuations were recorded on key words. As the communications continued, the EMF readings continued their fluctuations—all of this was caught on film. Among the other experiences that are reported there include the sounds of children playing when no children are staying there, a floating apparition of a female, slamming of doors by unseen forces, and the sounds of a scuffle in a room that is above the restaurants. This same medium picked up on residual haunting phenomena from when the place burned when it was a cotton warehouse. This is energy that does not have intelligence but is rather a kind of tape loop that plays itself over and over again. Some of the phenomena sensed were the sounds of cracking timber, screams, a feeling of anxiety, and other effects relating to the fire.

One of the encounters told to our team during the filming involved a former desk clerk named Michael, who was ending his shift. It was the middle of a slow week, and there were no “living” guests staying at the hotel overnight. Michael made his rounds upstairs, turning off lights and locking rooms before leaving for the night. He was closing the last door in the long, dark hallway when the doors opened and then slammed shut all at once.

Lights turned on and off as Michael dashed downstairs and phoned his friend Phyllis, a desk clerk at the Excelsior Hotel across the street. Phyllis reports that Michael was in a complete panic when he called, screaming that he was alone in the hotel but that “all heck” was breaking loose upstairs! He said he could hear doors slamming and the sound of footsteps and someone dragging furniture. Ongoing weekly investigations are currently being performed.

Written by — Peter James Haviland, Adv.C.H. President, Lead Investigator, Lone Star Spirits

JEFFERSON HOTEL
124 W. AUSTIN STREET
JEFFERSON, TEXAS 75657
TEL: 1 (903) 665-2631

Taken from the: Encyclopedia of Haunted Places -Ghostly Locales from around the World – Compiled & Edited by Jeff Belanger – Copyright 2005 by Jeff Belanger

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