The Marshall House
By Liz Reed
I thought I’d write about a few ghost adventures that my daughter and I have had on some of our road trips that we’ve taken through the years.
The first one is the Marshall House, Savannah’s oldest operating hotel. It was built in 1851 and in 1864-1865 it was used as a hospital for Union soldiers. It was also used during two Yellow Fever epidemics in the 19th century.
From 1895 to 1899 the hotel was closed, and it operated on and off until it closed in 1957.
In 1990, they started to restore the hotel and, while replacing some flooring, they came across some bones that were said to be human. The story is that when it was a Union hospital and they had to amputate limbs, they would just throw the limbs down in that space underneath the house.
In 1999, it reopened and with the reopening came the ghost stories. A Union soldier with a missing arm is said to walk the lobby area looking for his lost limb. Mary Marshall, the woman that built the hotel, is said to still be there. Ghosts are seen wandering the halls, and little children are heard throughout the hotel. In the rooms, you may have your bathroom door open or close and bathroom faucets turning on. It has so many ghost stories, but one was about how haunted room 414 was.
A few years back my daughter Jamie and I took a road trip to Savannah, Georgia. When she was looking for a place for us to stay, she came across the Marshall House. We love to go to historical places and check things out.
She knows how much I love haunted places (she does, too), and it just so happens that the Marshall House has its own stories. One room in the hotel can be pretty active she told me.
She had already called the hotel and booked a room, but she took the chance and called them back and asked if we could get that room. The woman said “ Oh. We’ve already put you in that room.” It was like it was meant to be.
Of course, I packed up some paranormal equipment to see if we could catch something on our trip. Little did I know…
We arrived at the Marshall House, which is a very old and charming hotel. Just looking around takes you back in time…so much history. We got to our room 414 and started to unpack a few things and kick back.
After a little rest, we took off and started checking things out. We asked one staff member what is said to happen in room 414. They replied they have three rules they have to go by: “Don’t talk about room 414, don’t talk about room 414, and don’t talk about room 414.”
That evening, the manager gave a talk about the history of the hotel. He said that the rumors of it being haunted were not true. He even said that the bones found were chicken bones. We thought that was funny since their website talks about it being haunted.
On our first night there, we noticed the bathroom door open. Thinking that there was a slant to the floor that we weren’t noticing was causing the door to move open, we just went back to sleep.
The second night, we decided to try and see if we could get someone to answer us on our digital recorder. When my daughter asked if they wanted to play, a child’s voice answered “yes.” Our K2 meters were going off to our questions (when a K2 goes off to questions it means a “yes” answer, or a direct response).
During the morning and evenings, we would walk through the very many cemeteries and graveyards that Savanah has. Of course, it’s not a trip to Savannah without a stop at the famous Bonaventure Cemetery. Each one had its own uniqueness. In some of the cemeteries, we would get K2 hits to questions, cold air spots in the heat of a Savannah summer, or voices caught on audio. A lot of footsteps are heard. And some areas were as peaceful as they could be.
So, on our last night, we noticed a little bit more activity in our room, like footsteps and the bathroom door opening and closing. After a while, we fell asleep. I awoke to the sound of a light pounding noise. I roll over and see my daughter laying on her stomach, sound asleep but yet it looks like someone had her by the back of her head and was picking her head up and dropping it into her pillow repeatedly. I guess you could call it pounding, but it wasn’t that forceful.
I yelled “Jamie” several times before she woke up. The movement stopped as soon as a said her name for the first time. She just looked at me and said “Why did you wake me up?” I told her what I saw. Neither of us seemed to be scared or felt threatened, so we ended up going back to sleep.
The next morning, we did a little online research and found that this has happened to others while staying at the Marshall House. We wished we could have stayed longer to find out who was pounding my daughter’s head into to pillow and why. Was her snoring bothering them?
We enjoyed our road trip so much, especially the paranormal activity!
The hotel has a lot of artifacts at the ends of halls in glass cases that the decor of the hotel will take you back in time. You will feel the friendly feeling of being welcomed by the spirits in the hotel. Book a room and enjoy your stay.
Stay tuned to hear about the Sorrel Weed House and the interesting history and experiences we had in the next issue.