The best ghost stories are often filled with mystery, romance and drama. In Georgia, ghosts have reportedly been seen and felt in hotels, schools, cemeteries and on old battlefields. Visiting these locations can make for an exciting Halloween activity, or you can drop in any time you're looking for a good scare.
The Windsor Hotel--a large, Victorian-style building built in 1892--is perhaps one of Georgia's most popular haunted attractions. Hotel employees and visitors have reported numerous ghost sightings and other strange occurrences. An old story tells the tale of a maid's daughter murdered there in the early 1900s. The maid's daughter has reportedly been seen running through the halls, laughing. Guests and employees have reported seeing items, such as appliances, pots and pans tossed around violently.
Located in Atlanta, the Shakespeare Tavern is home to several reports of ghostly appearances and strange presences. One story tells of an actor who, in a 1993 production of the the play "Henry IV, Part One," saw a young boy dressed in 1800s garb appear in the dressing room. In a nearly empty theater, voices have supposedly been heard whispering together. Others say they have sometimes seen a figure walking across the theater's catwalk. Items are occasionally tossed about in the women's dressing room.
Crybaby Bridge is situated near Columbus. The bridge got its name from the story that long ago, several children were killed on the bridge. It has been said that at night, a woman can be seen walking on the side of the road by the woods, and the children are heard crying. People who enter the area feel uneasy, and notice strange cold spots, patches of air that are distinctly colder than the air around them. Others have noted loud footsteps walking towards them from the direction of the woods.
The town hall of Braselton was originally built in 1910 as a home from the Braselton family. After this, the building was used as a boarding house and a location for holding weddings until it was renovated in the 1990s. Employees who work there believe the ghost of a man named "Little John" haunts the town hall. Little John was reportedly one of the Braselton family's sons, who enjoyed taking in stray dogs as pets. Employees have heard strange knocking and footsteps, and objects have reportedly been moved even when no one was around to move them.
Situated in the northwest corner of Georgia by the border of Tennessee and Alabama, the Chickamauga Battlefield was the site of a bloody Civil War battle in which 37,000 people lost their lives. The battle site is remote, albeit easily accessible, and even in modern times, several murder victims' bodies have been left there. Visitors have reported seeing a woman in a wedding dress walking through the battlefield, as well as a headless horseman and other soldiers. Gunshots have been heard, though no hunting is allowed on or near the area.
