Holly Hotel

Built in 1891 along the Flint and Holly rail lines, it's been called the single most haunted building in Michigan. Now a restaurant and comedy club that landed on Travel Channel's Most Terrifying Places in America.

The Holly Hotel was built in 1891 by John Hirst in the village of Holly, Michigan, and has survived two devastating fires to become one of the most consistently documented haunted buildings in the state. The hotel has been investigated by parapsychology professor Norman Gauthier, who declared the building "loaded with spirits" in 1989, and it has hosted yearly visits from the Ghost Hunters of Southern Michigan and numerous independent investigation groups who've conducted all-night sessions with cameras and ghost-detecting equipment.

John Hirst himself is thought to be among the spirits who remain in his building. Hirst manifested during renovations following the second fire, and witnesses have reported smelling cigar smoke in various rooms and hallways when no living person is smoking. The scent is described as old-fashioned, consistent with the cigars of the late nineteenth century, and it appears and disappears without any apparent source.

The second most prominent ghost at the Holly Hotel is Nora Kane, a woman associated with the building's early years whose presence is identified by the smell of antique perfume that drifts through the rooms. Nora is also thought to be responsible for the piano that plays on its own, producing melodies that staff and guests have heard during quiet moments when no one is near the instrument. The combination of John Hirst's cigar smoke and Nora Kane's perfume creates an olfactory haunting that is nearly unique among Michigan's haunted locations.

But the Holly Hotel harbors more spirits than just its two famous residents. The ghost of a little girl has been seen in the upper floors, a phantom dog has been reported padding through the hallways, and the ghost of a Native American has been witnessed in the building. Voices are heard throughout the hotel from empty rooms, and ghosts of both Hirst and Kane have been observed by guests, staff, and investigators over a period spanning more than three decades.

The Holly Hotel no longer operates as a hotel. It functions as a restaurant serving an award-winning blend of traditional and contemporary seasonal cuisine, a comedy club that has hosted Tim Allen and Bill Maher among other notable performers, and a venue for Victorian-style high tea served daily. The building suffered damage in a multi-building fire reported by Fox 2 Detroit, but the spirits appear to have weathered the flames, just as they weathered the two earlier fires that tested the Holly Hotel's resolve. The building at 110 Battle Alley in downtown Holly continues to serve both the living and the dead.