Good Golly, Miss Molly, where'd you get those ghosts? As Fort Worth's oldest bed and breakfast, this former brothel is one of the city's most haunted hotels.
Featured on the Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab, Miss Molly's Hotel is a paranormal hotspot. Visitors experience everything from spirit sightings to inexplicable smells. Some even witness full-bodied apparitions.
Items disappear to reappear later. Toilets flush from unseen hands. Light switch off then start up again. Batteries drain within minutes. Even organized change is found within recently cleaned rooms.
Miss Molly's Hotel is so popular for paranormal activity that Texas Christian University's paranormal activity class field-trips to the establishment.
What's haunting Miss Molly's Hotel?
At Miss Molly's Hotel, there are sometimes more ghosts than people. The residing poltergeists include a cowboy, a small child, and a woman. The Cattlemen and Cowboy-themed rooms report the most paranormal activity, though lingering souls have been sighted in the current owner's private room, as well.
One phantom is a young girl, presumed to be a former tenant. Others include creepy cowboys, mysterious madams, and working girls.
Perhaps Miss Molly's most popular poltergeist is Jake the Cowboy. He's even witnessed as a full-bodied apparition.
When Paula Gowins took up the post as Manager of Miss Molly's, she had no clue that it was haunted. After months, Gowins reported that things started happening.
Yet Gowin's most shocking experience was with Jake himself.
I saw him in full body. He walked into a room and shut the door behind him, and I went up and knocked on the door and opened the door and no one was in there.
Gowins told NBC of Dallas-Fort Worth. Gowins added, That is when I knew something was up because I'm sitting there thinking, 'I know I'm not crazy!'
One spectral inhabitant is assumed to be a former madam by the name of Josie King. Some suspect that she oversaw the house during its bawdier, bordello days. Gowins confirmed to CBS that King had been sighted many times, usually at 3:00 AM at the foot of the bed.
Allegedly, King likes to watch people sleep.
On TripAdvisor, reviewers rave about Miss Molly's paranormal activity. There are dozens of accounts of spiritual energies and spectral sightings, though some are more prominent than others.
Dancepatti from Tulsa, Oklahoma wrote that one bed had a spirit sit on it in the middle of the night,
while the other bed was shaken by a spirit in the middle of the night.
The reviewer wasn't alarmed. Instead, they considered it an exciting night.
Were these the phantoms of working girls?
The Tipping Ghost
is another frequent sighting at the hotel, known for leaving spare change. One cleaning lady allegedly quit after the Tipping Ghost became too much for her to bear. Perhaps that’s why patrons are advised to tip the cleaning service themselves.
In 2008, the Texas Paranormal Research Team (TEXPART) conducted a thorough investigation of the hotel. Equipped with voice recorders, thermometers, EMF detectors, cameras, and electromagnets, TEXPART encountered countless entities.
Their full report can be found on their website, but their findings include the poltergeists of prostitutes and unidentified men.
One spirit alleged she had died of lung disease while some were unaware they were dead. Investigators were touched by unseen hands and encountered cold spots. One claimed they had walked through an unseen entity. It’s a fascinating report that you won’t want to miss.
There's a reason Miss Molly's is regarded as one of the most haunted properties in Texas. Before Miss Molly's Hotel was Fort Worth's first bed and breakfast, it was a boarding house, bordello, and high-end hotel.
Built in 1910 as The Palace Rooms, the building became The Oasis during Prohibition. The Oasis enjoyed its time as a speakeasy before the building was once again repurposed in the 1940s. This time it served as a brothel, receiving the new moniker The Gayatte Hotel.
Prostitution proved controversial, and The Gayette Hotel was shut down. That's whenever Miss Molly's Hotel began, though the bottom floor was reserved for The Star Cafe.
Where there's history, there's tragedy. Miss Molly’s Hotel is no exception.
Many women allegedly died during the building's stint as a brothel. This may explain the otherwise inexplicable spirit sightings, cold spots, and paranormal activity.
Miss Molly's Hotel comprises eight rooms featuring authentically western decor. They pride themselves on their absence of television and telephones, allowing patrons to soak up an authentically historical experience. Visitors will even find wooden stoves, old-fashioned bathtubs, and pull-chain toilets.
It’s a popular spot for paranormal enthusiasts, so be sure to book ahead.
Visitors can find this historic hotel on Exchange Avenue. Miss Molly's describes itself as within shoutin' distance
of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, making it an ideal location for travelers. Let us know if you encounter Jake!
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