It’s officially spooky season, and one of Texas’ most haunted buildings just so happens to be in the heart of the state’s capital city. San Antonians may know the ghostly history of the Menger, but there’s another hotel in Central Texas with a paranormal past.
The Driskill Hotel on Sixth Street in downtown Austin is famed for its grand architecture, its roster of presidential and Hollywood guests, and, most notably, its tales of lingering spirits. As the city’s oldest continuously operating hotel, its rich history continues to draw travelers from around the world – some for the landmark itself, others for its unexplained ghostly activity.
Here are some of the most popular ghost stories of the Driskill Hotel:
The main staircase inside the Driskill Hotel lobby in Austin, Texas. (Cristela Jones/Cristela Jones/MySA)
Colonel Jesse Driskill
Colonel Jesse Driskill, a cattleman who supplied beef to the Confederate Army and Texas Rangers during the Civil War, opened the Driskill Hotel in December 1886, according to Austin Ghosts. Despite his fortune, Driskill was forced to sell the hotel in 1888 after a harsh winter and drought devastated his cattle herds.
Main lobby of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas. (Cristela Jones/Cristela Jones/MySA)
Two years later, he died in 1890, but his spirit, usually accompanied by the smell of cigar smoke and flickering lights, is said to still watch over the hotel’s lobby and bar because he never got to enjoy its success during his lifetime. Austin Monthly reports that guests and staff have noted his ghost as a cigar-smoking male dressed in 19th-century cowboy clothing.
He’s also been known to touch traveling women, particularly musicians, on the arm or back as a romantic gesture.
Upstairs of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas. (Cristela Jones/Cristela Jones/MySA)
Samantha Houston
Legend has it that a young girl rumored to be named Samantha Houston tripped and fell to her death on the Driskill’s grand staircase in the late 19th or early 20th century. Although historians have never been able to find evidence to support this tale, guests have reported hearing giggling and a ball bouncing on its steps late at night.
According to Austin Ghosts, hotel staff have found toys and small objects mysteriously moved or placed in unusual locations, leading many to believe the little girl continues to make her presence known to anyone who visits.
The LBJ suite upstairs of the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas. (Cristela Jones/Cristela Jones/MySA)
The Unnamed Bride
The Driskill apparently also has its own haunted suite, where a bride is said to have stayed and never left. In the 1990s, a heartbroken bride is said to have died by suicide in Room 525 after her fiancé called off their wedding. Guests have claimed to have seen a woman in a wedding dress roaming the halls with shopping bags in tow since she allegedly went on a massive spree with her lover’s credit card before her death, per Austin Monthly.
This article originally published at This legendary Texas hotel has a chilling history of hauntings.