The Fitzpatrick Hotel

The Fitzpatrick Hotel in Washington, Georgia was built around 1900 on top of a late-1700s cemetery where gravestones were moved but bodies were left behind. Room 307, where a woman was pushed from a window in the 1930s, is the most active, and the Travel Channel's Ghost Brothers filmed an investigation in the ballroom.

The gravestones were moved in the 1850s. The bodies were not. When the Fitzpatrick brothers built their hotel overlooking Washington's town square around 1900, they built it on top of a late-1700s cemetery where the remains were still in the ground.

Room 307 is the room that draws the most attention. In the 1930s, an heiress discovered her husband with another woman in the hotel and pushed the mistress out the window of that room. Guests who stay in 307 describe waves of sudden panic near the window, and the temperature drops without explanation. A writer named Jamie Davis investigated the hotel in May 2011 and chose Room 307 without knowing any of its history beforehand.

Room 200 has a different reputation. Co-owner Jim believes this room is haunted by the Fitzpatrick family. Guests who sleep there report waking up with sore throats, which connects to a story about two young sisters who died in the same room. One died from scarlet fever. The other fell down the main staircase. Guests hear children playing outside the door and running up and down the stairs.

The hotel caught the attention of the Travel Channel show Ghost Brothers, who filmed an episode there. During their investigation, the team set up a Spirit Circle in the ballroom, arranging alphabet pieces on paper in what they described as a life-size human Ouija Board. Flashlights appeared to respond to questions on their own. Batteries drained during an EVP session that captured what they called "a mysterious breath." Someone on the team was physically touched while sleeping.

Robert Geiger, the owner of Talk of the Town restaurant in Washington, reported an experience during a visit to the hotel. A basket was thrown out of his hands and smashed into a wall. No one was near him.

Local historian Robert Willingham put it plainly: "There have been various stories of jilted lovers and people taking a dive out the windows." He added that "the hotel has seen good days and it has seen very bad days."

A housekeeper named Sarah is one of the named spirits. According to the hotel's lore, she fell in love with a guest, became pregnant, was abandoned, and took her own life in one of the rooms. Her figure has been seen in the ballroom and the second-floor hallway. A wealthy businessman named Mr. Bowles, who was murdered in the hotel, is said to roam the halls as well. President William Howard Taft stayed here during happier times.

Staff describe the situation with a shrug. "Each room here has its stories," one said. Some guests experience nothing. Others do not sleep well. The hotel underwent a restoration in the early 2000s to return it to its 1900 appearance, which may have stirred things up. Renovations tend to do that in buildings with bodies beneath the foundation.