23 October Haunted Places Series: The Driskill Hotel October 23, 2024 By Melisa Rana General hotel, just for fun 0 HAUNTED PLACES SERIES: THE DRISKILL HOTEL October 23, 2024 | just for fun, hotel Location: Austin, Texas Architectural Style:Romanesque Revival Built: 1886 As inspectors, we see all sorts of wonderful and strange historic buildings all year long. No day is the same, and there’s never a shortage of surprises. Each year as we head towards Halloween, we like to take some time to learn about some of the most iconic locations across North America, particularly those with a spooky story to tell. This year, we decided to take a look at what was once called the finest hotel south of St. Louis, located in a place the locals proudly claim to be one of the most haunted cities in America. Let’s chat about Austin’s The Driskill Hotel! The Wild, Wild West Back during the mid-1800’s, Jesse Lincoln Driskill was a wealthy cattleman first born in Tennessee who made his fortune in part by selling beef to the Confederates during the American Civil War. This is where he earned the honorific title, “Colonel.” Looking to diversify his wealth, Col. Driskill moved to Austin, Texas by way of Missouri after falling in love with the area and purchasing a lot of land there for $7,500. Intending to create a luxury hotel that could rival those in New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, Driskill went on to heavily invest in the construction of a building that he’d go on to name after himself. $400,000 later (an estimated $92 million in modern dollars) and Col. Driskill had fallen on severe financial hardships leading to the hotel’s closure only 6 months after its opening. Officially, Jesse Driskill’s financial demise was primarily attributed to a harsh frost that decimated his ranching business. However, there are those who say the Colonel’s real woes were due to a terrible gambling addiction, one that culminated in him eventually losing the deed to his prized hotel in a high stakes poker game. Whatever the truth might be, Jesse Driskill passed away before he could see his hotel become the renowned fixture it is today. The Hotel Over the Years The Driskill Hotel has passed through many different hands over the years and at various times portions of the building have served as a bank, a barber shop, and a spa. Of its many notable guests, perhaps none had as strong a connection to the hotel as President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Claudia “Lady Bird” Taylor. In 1934, LBJ and Lady Bird went to the Driskill’s dining room for their very first date; the two would return many times over the years. Johnson would use the site as his chosen location to wait for the results of multiple elections, including his re-election in 1964. The Driskill Hotel has become an iconic cultural landmark for the city of Austin and for the entire state of Texas. With such a rich history, it should come as no surprise that the hotel is also said to have its fair share of encounters with the paranormal. Ghosts of the Driskill Employees, guests, and even singer/songwriters (see Annie Lennox’s account over at the Austin Chronicle!) have had experiences with ghosts at the historic Driskill Hotel. While encounters can vary, a handful of consistent characters and stories have risen to the forefront starting with the founder himself. Also known as “the cowboy,” many visitors swear they’ve seen a well-dressed gentleman with a cowboy hat and a cigar in the hallways and even at the foot of their beds at night. Believed to be the late Colonel Jesse Driskill, those that have tried to turn on the light to get a better look found that the figure had vanished with only lingering cigar smoke in the air as fleeting evidence to the spirit’s presence. Another pair of ghosts that are popular among Driskill guests include the first and second brides. The first bride refers to the spirit of a young woman who walks the halls of the hotel at night in a Victorian wedding gown. As the story goes, this spirit belongs to a woman who was left at the altar, her groom not even leaving a note for explanation. Instead of heading to her honeymoon, the first bride checked into room 525 and hung herself in the bathroom. The second bride is another tragic tale of yet another would-be bride who discovered that her groom was also having cold feet. Only this bride is said to be a socialite from Houston who checked into the Driskill after a days-long shopping spree using her fiance’s credit card. After finding her room (some say the same room–525), the woman is said to have thrown her shopping bags onto the floor, climbed into the bathtub, and shot herself in the stomach with a shiny new revolver. Today, guests just might catch a glimpse of a woman walking the halls of the Driskill weighed down with dozens of shopping bags. This article only scratches the surface of the Driskill’s history and haunts! Visit the hotel yourself and book a tou to see for yourself. This article only scratches the surface of the Driskill’s history and haunts! Learn more about the hotel yourself right here to see for yourself! Comments are closed.