Savannah, Georgia, is a worthy destination for any traveler looking to immerse themselves in Southern hospitality, storied history, and mouth-watering food. A trip to the Historic Landmark District alone, encompassing 23 park squares with a treasure trove of museums, monuments, and charmingly restored 18th- and 19th-century homes, would place you amongst countless fabulous boutiques, restaurants, and shops to explore.
But beneath its canopy of moss-draped oaks and elegant antebellum facades lies a history steeped in war, tragedy, and mystery. When combined with Savannah’s unique cultural inheritance — which includes a deep connection to spiritualism, hoodoo, and other mystical practices from a melting pot of African, Caribbean, and European influences — the city’s connection to the supernatural runs deep.
Savannah practically hums with ghostly lore, such that any guided tour of its centuries-old cemeteries, Revolutionary War battlefields, or restored mansions would likely include at least one spectral rumor. As you walk the streets, for example, you will see that many front porches have ceilings, window frames, and doorways painted a distinctive blue. This color is commonly called “haint blue,” in reference to the lowcountry Gullah Geechee legend that says evil spirits do not like water so painting spaces to look like water will keep them away.
For those who would enjoy learning about and leaning into the spiritual side of Savannah, you could even opt to stay in one of Savannah’s many haunted accommodations. Here are just a few for you to choose from:
17Hundred90 Inn & Restaurant
This historic hotel located on President Street is a time-honored Savannah favorite, offering fine dining and 14 rooms, each with “a growing collection of antiques and ghosts waiting to tuck you in at night,” according to its website.
Supposedly, 17Hundred90 is haunted by at least three well-known ghosts. The spirit of a small boy, Thaddeus, is sometimes seen or felt as a “warm, unexplainable presence” on the ground floor of the restaurant and tavern. He is fond of leaving shiny pennies on tables, bars, and the reception desk. Another less-friendly presence has been felt in the kitchens, where it has been known to throw pots, pans, and spice jars at unsuspecting kitchen workers.
But most famously, 17Hundred90 is home to one of the city’s most tortured souls. According to folklore, Anna/Anne (the name varies depending on sources) was a bride of an arranged marriage who fell in love with a sailor in the early 1800s. She is said to have thrown herself to her death from a third floor window onto the brick courtyard below, just as the sails of his ship left her sight and headed down the Savannah River to the sea. Some suggest she was pushed from the window by her angry husband-to-be, who had paid for her passage to Savannah. Either way, guests of room 204 in particular have had repeated encounters with Anna’s spirit, seeing her standing over them, and some feeling as if someone is touching their cheek. Other guests — including, famously, Miley Cyrus – have reported items being moved about in their rooms. So many instances of odd occurrences have been reported that supposedly, guests staying in room 204 are required to sign a waiver promising not to request their money back.
The Marshall House
The Marshall House, named the #3 “Best Haunted Hotel” by USA Today in 2024, is located conveniently on Broughton Street, the main retail corridor in the downtown historic district. It is beautifully furnished, and, oh yes, definitely haunted.
As the hotel’s own website will attest, the Marshall House’s history as a hospital during the Civil War and through two yellow fever epidemics makes it “very conducive to haunted tales.” Rumors and reports include guests seeing ghosts in the hallways and foyers, hearing children running down the long, narrow halls late at night, and faucets turning on by themselves in the antique clawfoot tubs that were discovered and refinished for use during renovations in the 1990s.
These renovations, performed after the hotel had been closed and mostly abandoned since 1957, are the subject of one of the most perpetuated — but not substantiated — grisly rumors in town. As the story goes, at some point after work had started renovations were halted and the area was marked off as a crime scene. Supposedly, workers were replacing damaged floorboards when they found piles of human remains. Some people claim these were the amputated limbs removed from Civil War wounded who were unable to be buried due to the unusually cold winter in 1864. Hence, many of the ghosts often seen in the hotel are thought to be the spirits of soldiers looking for their lost limbs.
Aside from the potential for a sleepless night, you’ll be staying in a beautifully restored hotel, with a small museum on the third floor featuring a collection of original prints, newspapers, letters, documents, and artifacts that were found during the renovations. Additionally as you enter the lobby, you’ll see an oil painting of the hotel’s original owner, Mary Marshall, behind the reception desk. (This antique portrait was proudly acquired from the estate of Jim Williams, the central figure in John Berendt’s book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you are planning a trip to Savannah, Berendt’s eerie non-fiction is required reading. No exceptions.)
Finally, according to many customer reviews the Marshall House’s complementary breakfast is worth raving over, for any guests who are still there come morning.
The Hamilton-Turner Inn
The Hamilton-Turner Inn is currently a luxury hotel, but in the late 1800s it was the residence of Samuel Pugh Hamilton, a prominent local businessman known as “The Lord of Lafayette Square.” His private mansion — the first in the city equipped with electricity — was for a time one of the main hubs of Savannah’s social scene. (Berendt’s book makes a note of the raucous parties later thrown in the mansion by Joe Odom, who managed the property. We told you, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is required reading.)
The refined luxury suites of the Hamilton-Turner Inn are rumored to exhibit classic signs of a haunting; disembodied footsteps heard in empty rooms, cold spots without any apparent cause, and many guests have reported feeling an overwhelming sense that someone or “something” was in the room with them, according to several ghost tour websites. Numerous accounts also refer to a male apparition smoking a cigar, both throughout the house and on the roof. Some theorize it could be Samuel Pugh Hamilton’s guard who was murdered, and others say it could be Hamilton himself.
The tale that will keep you up at night, if you choose to stay here, is about the ghostly children who are often heard laughing into the early hours of the morning. As rumor has it, during the lavish parties children would be sent upstairs to play. The kids, being curious about the goings-on below, would roll billiard balls down the hallway, which would then “accidentally” roll down the grand staircase, giving them a chance to eavesdrop on the party as they retrieved the balls. Supposedly, one night a young girl was playing the game but lost her footing at the edge of the top step and fell to her death.
In addition to frequent reports of the sounds of rolling billiard balls and children’s laughter, some guests of room 402 once complained that children began knocking on their door in the middle of the night, shouting “Daddy, let us in!” only to be informed that there weren’t any children staying in the inn that night.
Regardless of whether you’re there for the lavish accommodations or the potentially chilling paranormal activity, the Hamilton-Turner Inn comes highly recommended as a place to stay in historic, haunted Savannah.
Top image source: Lisa-Blue from Getty Images Signature, via Canva.com
