Haunted hotel guide · Wartrace, Tennessee

The Haunted Walking Horse Hotel, Wartrace: Floyd Carothers, Emily and Strolling Jim

A 1917 railroad hotel in a tiny Middle Tennessee town, the birthplace of the Walking Horse Celebration, with a champion horse buried out back. It is no longer taking guests.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

1917Year built
Third floorMost active area

Current statusMeet the ghosts

Not currently open to guests

The Walking Horse Hotel has not been taking overnight guests for several years. Owner Joe Peters put it up for sale after a fire in May 2016, a visitor reported it in foreclosure and empty in June 2017, and it was closed for renovation under a new owner when the Travel Channel filmed there in 2018. Its website no longer loads and we could find no current booking listing, so treat it as closed unless that changes. For a haunted stay in Middle Tennessee, try the Thomas House Hotel in Red Boiling Springs or Union Station in Nashville.

The Walking Horse Hotel stands on Spring Street in Wartrace, a small railroad town in Bedford County between Nashville and Chattanooga. It opened in 1917 as the Hotel Overall, and in the late 1930s the horse trainers based here helped create the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The first world grand champion, Strolling Jim, is buried behind the hotel. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is not currently open to guests: it went up for sale after a 2016 fire and has been closed since.

Its ghost stories are some of the most colorful in the state. Guests and investigators name the trainer Floyd Carothers, a girl called Emily said to have fallen from a balcony in 1942, and Strolling Jim himself, seen prancing by his old stables. It has featured on the Travel Channel’s My Ghost Story and Haunted Live and for years the hotel ran a fall haunted attraction on its third floor.

Walking Horse Hotel at a glance

  • Address 101 Spring Street, Wartrace, TN 37183
  • Built 1917, as the Hotel Overall; renamed in the late 1930s
  • Most haunted spots The third floor and the old stables behind the hotel
  • Best-known ghosts Floyd Carothers, a girl named Emily and the horse Strolling Jim
  • Booking the haunted room Not possible at present: the hotel is not taking guests
  • Good to know Closed since around 2016; its website no longer works. Strolling Jim’s grave is on private land behind the building

The ghosts of the Walking Horse Hotel

Floyd Carothers

Floyd and Olive Carothers bought the hotel in 1933, and Floyd trained Strolling Jim in the stables behind it. He died in 1944, and the hotel has long been said to be haunted by him. Olive ran the hotel until 1958; one odd detail in the story is that activity is said to have quieted after she died in 1991.

Strolling Jim

Strolling Jim won the first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in 1939 and became its first world grand champion. He is buried behind the hotel, and in 1995 guests reported seeing him “prancing” near his old stables. It is one of the few hotel ghost stories in America about a horse.

Emily

According to the story shared when the hotel featured on Haunted Live in 2018, a young girl named Emily fell from a balcony and died in 1942, in circumstances described as mysterious. Guests say they have sensed her presence. We could not find a contemporary record of her death, so treat her as part of the hotel’s lore.

The third floor

The 2018 Haunt Jaunts preview of the Haunted Live episode describes a “malevolent darkness” on the third floor, where the hotel’s Halloween attraction used to run. It also described the early hotel as a place of illegal dealings and drunken violence among railroad laborers, and said renovation work had stirred up activity. That write-up was promotion for a TV show, so read it as such.

Stories we could not confirm

An older version of this page said Confederate soldiers were left to die in the hotel and that a gunman killed four guests here in 1970, with Room 11 as the most haunted room. The building dates from 1917, half a century after the Civil War, and we found no published source for the 1970 shooting or for Room 11, so we have left those out.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • The third floor: The area investigators single out as the most active.
  • The balconies: Linked to the story of Emily’s fall in 1942.
  • The old stables and Strolling Jim's grave: Behind the hotel, where the champion horse has reportedly been seen.
  • Strolling Jim Restaurant (former): The 75-seat restaurant named for the horse, which operated in the hotel under Joe Peters.

History of Walking Horse Hotel

Wartrace grew up around the railroad, and in 1917 the Hotel Overall was built beside the tracks to serve travelers. In 1933 Floyd and Olive Carothers bought it. In the late 1930s it housed the group of trainers who created the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, first held in 1939, and the hotel was renamed for the breed the area is known for.

Floyd Carothers trained Strolling Jim, winner of that first Celebration and its first world grand champion. Floyd died in 1944 and Olive ran the hotel until 1958. After that it changed hands several times.

The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 19, 1984, as part of the Wartrace Historic District. It was renovated and reopened as the Hotel Overall in 1995, closed again a few years later, and reopened under the Walking Horse name after Joe Peters bought it in July 2007. A fire in May 2016 started on the second floor, and the upper floors suffered smoke and water damage.

The years since have been rocky. Peters opened the Strolling Jim Restaurant and Chais Music Hall in December 2007, closed the hotel in late 2008 when bank loans dried up, and reopened it in August 2009, mainly for weddings, private events and music, with the third floor turned into a Halloween attraction. Wikipedia describes the hotel in that era with seven rooms to rent and a 75-seat restaurant. After the 2016 fire Peters put the hotel up for sale, WKRN reported, and a visitor to Strolling Jim’s grave in June 2017 found it in foreclosure and empty. In 2018 it was closed for renovation under a new owner when it hosted a live paranormal investigation for the Travel Channel. We have found no sign that it has reopened to overnight guests since, and its website no longer resolves.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Do not plan an overnight stay: the hotel is not taking guests and its website is gone.
  • You can see the building from Spring Street. Strolling Jim’s grave is behind it on private land, so ask permission before walking back there.
  • Visit the Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum, which has displayed a framed portrait of Strolling Jim since 2015, to learn more about the horse and the hotel.
  • Combine a visit with the Haunted Rooms ghost hunt at the old jail and funeral home in Lynchburg, a short drive south.
  • For a haunted bed nearby, Nashville’s Union Station Hotel is about an hour away, and the Thomas House in Red Boiling Springs runs overnight ghost hunts.

Want to investigate, not just sleep?

Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Walking Horse Hotel haunted?

It has a strong local reputation. Stories name trainer Floyd Carothers, a girl called Emily and the champion horse Strolling Jim, and it has featured on the Travel Channel’s My Ghost Story and Haunted Live. The hotel is not currently open to guests.

Is the Walking Horse Hotel open?

No, as far as we can tell. It was put up for sale after a 2016 fire, was reported in foreclosure in 2017, was closed for renovation in 2018, and its website no longer works. We found no current booking listing.

Who is buried behind the Walking Horse Hotel?

Strolling Jim, the first world grand champion Tennessee Walking Horse, who won the first National Celebration in 1939.

When was the Walking Horse Hotel built?

In 1917, as a railroad hotel called the Hotel Overall. It took its current name in the late 1930s.

Was the Walking Horse Hotel on TV?

Yes. It featured in the “Dead Horse Walking” episode of My Ghost Story in 2012 and on Haunted Live in 2018.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

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About the authors

The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.