The Adolphus Hotel

Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch spent nearly $2 million building this Baroque hotel in 1912. The gilded ballrooms and ornate chandeliers have hosted presidents and celebrities for over a century — the kind of place that holds onto its past.

The Adolphus Hotel, opened in October 1912 by Adolphus Busch (founder of Anheuser-Busch), stands as one of Dallas's most historic landmarks--and by many accounts, its most haunted hotel. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this grand establishment has accumulated over a century of ghostly tales.

The most famous haunting centers on the 19th floor, where the ghost known as the White Lady roams. According to legend, a 1930s-era bride waited for hours in the ornate ballroom for a groom who never arrived. Distraught, she hanged herself just above the spot where she was supposed to say "I do."

Since that fateful night, guests on the 19th floor report hearing a woman crying, footsteps running up and down the hallway, and the sound of a rope creaking under the strain of a body. Many have seen the woman fully materialize, "accompanied by a music box playing a 1930's tune." Though Dallas Morning News researchers found no archived accounts of a dead would-be bride, the sightings continue.

The hotel's history includes multiple elevator deaths. The first occurred just weeks after the grand opening, when a waiter stepped into an empty elevator shaft while chatting with a colleague. Other fatal falls claimed an elevator operator, a hotel porter, and a hotel cook over the decades.

Front desk managers regularly receive complaints from guests about loud footsteps outside their rooms or the sound of a piano or big band playing music from times past. When security investigates, the hallways are empty and no music is playing.

The Adolphus has embraced its haunted reputation in recent years. The lobby bar serves cocktails with a homemade history book that includes several poems about the hotel's supposed ghosts. For those brave enough to stay on the upper floors, the spirits of Dallas's gilded age may come knocking.