TxDOT’s interactive map highlights three spooky North Texas destinations, including two haunted hotels and Bonnie Parker’s grave.
Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News
October is synonymous with all things spooky and haunted, and even the Texas Department of Transportation is getting in on the festivities.
Earlier this month, TxDOT launched a new Phantom Layer on its planning map, highlighting scary sights across the state, such as ghost tours, haunted hotels, urban legends and eerie cemeteries.
The Statewide Planning Map, an interactive digital tool used to share and analyze transportation data across Texas, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. To commemorate, TxDOT has added a special layer to the map each month to showcase different historical and interesting tidbits about the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Article continues below this ad
Each entry listed under October’s Phantom Layer includes information about the possibly paranormal location, a small historical summary of the happenings and the site’s exact address.
Three North Texas sites made the list. Here’s what we know.
The Adolphus Hotel
1321 Commerce St.
TxDOT’s interactive map highlights three spooky North Texas destinations, including two haunted hotels and Bonnie Parker’s grave.
Jeffrey McWhorter/Dallas Morning News
The Adolphus Hotel opened its downtown Dallas doors in 1912. Two weeks later, the first death occurred there. Since then, the hotel has been the scene of many unfortunate deaths, the most recent in 2012, and is rumored to be one of the most haunted hotels in Dallas.
Article continues below this ad
“We have a storied past, but we don’t talk about it,” said Sam Tucker, regional director of sales and marketing for the hotel. “It’s something guests often share with us, but they’re just rumors we can’t confirm.”
Guests have reported feeling like they’re being watched or followed as they move through the hotel, loud footsteps outside their rooms, the sound of music playing when no one is around and doors slamming on their own.
Two common ghostly encounters include a woman who was a regular at the hotel’s bistro. Her apparition reportedly has been seen walking around and sitting at her usual table in the restaurant.
Another ghost, often seen on the 19th floor, is rumored to be a jilted bride, who later died near the same altar she was abandoned. Guests have reported hearing a woman crying, along with loud footsteps, in the hallway.
Crown Hill Memorial Park
9178 Webb Chapel Rd.
TxDOT’s interactive map highlights three spooky North Texas destinations, including two haunted hotels and Bonnie Parker’s grave.
RON HEFLIN/AP
The active cemetery in Dallas is home to the burial site of Bonnie Parker, half of the infamous outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde, who were killed in 1934.
Article continues below this ad
The FBI attributes 13 murders, including nine law enforcement officers, to the couple and the Barrow Gang, Clyde’s brother and sister-in-law. The gang’s two-year crime spree consisted of robberies, murders and kidnapping driven by poverty and economic depression.
Parker is buried next to her mother, and visitors often leave coins as tokens of remembrance on her grave.
Miss Molly’s Hotel
109 W Exchange Ave.
TxDOT’s interactive map highlights three spooky North Texas destinations, including two haunted hotels and Bonnie Parker’s grave.
Steve Hamm/Dallas Morning News
The oldest bed and breakfast in Fort Worth is in the middle of the Stockyards, featuring only eight bedrooms and spooky stories accompanying each of them. Miss Molly’s Hotel, which has been renamed a number of times, opened in 1910.
Article continues below this ad
Having previously served as a boarding house and brothel, the hotel saw the tail end of the Wild West and made it through the Prohibition-era speakeasy culture.
Guests and staff have reported seeing apparitions appearing throughout the hotel, even at the foot of their beds. The ghosts of a young girl, cowboy, madam and working girl have been reported.
The Texas Paranormal Advanced Research Team conducted an investigation into the hotel that they said revealed paranormal activity is present throughout rooms 1, 2, 3 and 6. Miss Molly’s Hotel did not respond to requests for comment about the alleged activity.