Haunted Atlanta, GA: The 10 Most Haunted Places to Visit
A hotel built on the deadliest hotel fire in American history, a cemetery where a roll call is still answered, a granite castle on Peachtree and a Marietta hotel that became a Civil War hospital. These are Atlanta’s most haunted places, with what is true and how to visit.
Sherman burned most of Atlanta in 1864, so its haunted places are fewer and younger than Savannah’s, but they come with real history. We have checked each place below against current sources, so you know which are open, which run ghost or legends tours, which you can only see from outside and which have closed. The Ellis Hotel is the one you can sleep in. Haunted Rooms does not run ghost hunts in Georgia; our nearest are in Tennessee.
Where to look The Confederate section by the obelisk, and the Lion of Atlanta
Reported ghosts Soldiers answering a roll call, a bugle after dark
Visiting Grounds open dawn to dusk; visitor center 10 AM to 5 PM
Tours Guided tours by the Historic Oakland Foundation, with special evening tours in the fall
Ghost hunting No
Founded in 1850 on six acres, Oakland is Atlanta’s oldest public park and now covers 48 acres beside downtown. About 70,000 people are buried here, among them Margaret Mitchell, golfer Bobby Jones, Maynard Jackson and 27 former mayors. The Confederate section holds about 6,900 soldiers, roughly 3,000 of them unknown.
The cemetery’s ghost story is a roll call. Visitors say they have heard a man calling the names of a fallen regiment in the Confederate section and voices answering for the dead, sometimes with a bugle. Another tale says some have seen a soldier hanging from a tree. The Historic Oakland Foundation runs guided tours, including evening tours in the fall.
Haunted Rooms tip: Start at the visitor center for a map, and book one of the foundation’s fall evening tours for after-dark access.
Where to look The elevator, the third floor and the basement
Reported ghosts A Civil War surgeon, a hospital scene, a woman thought to be Mrs. Fletcher
Visiting Open as the Marietta History Center
Tours Ghosts of Marietta walking and trolley tours stop here
Ghost hunting No public investigations
Built in 1845 beside the railroad, this is one of Marietta’s oldest buildings. As the Fletcher House hotel it hosted James Andrews and his Union raiders the night before the Great Locomotive Chase in April 1862, and it later served as a wartime hospital. Since 2010 the whole building has been the Marietta History Center.
Its ghost stories are some of Georgia’s best known. A guest is said to have stepped into a full wartime hospital scene, with surgeons at work, that vanished when he returned. A uniformed surgeon reportedly rides the elevator, and children describe a woman in a pink-trimmed dress whom some identify from the portrait of Mrs. Fletcher.
Haunted Rooms tip: Visit the museum by day, then join a Ghosts of Marietta walk that stops outside after dark.
Address 660 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
Where to look Beneath the stage, the ghost light and the old hospital room
Reported ghosts Chains clanging under the stage, doors that open on their own
Visiting See a show, or join a guided building tour
Tours Fox Theatre Haunted Tour on select fall days, plus regular history tours
Ghost hunting No
Planned as the Yaarab Shrine Temple, the Fox opened as a movie palace on Christmas Day 1929 with its starry Moorish ceiling and the Mighty Mo organ. In 1974 it was nearly torn down for a phone company parking deck until a public campaign saved it. Joe Patten, its technical director, lived in an apartment inside the building for decades.
Workers alone beneath the stage say they have heard chains clanging and heavy metal doors swinging open. A single ghost light burns on the stage all night, partly for safety and partly, theater folk say, to keep the spirits happy. The Fox runs its own haunted tours each fall, with stories of an orb on the stairs and a dog’s bark.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the Fox’s own fall haunted tour; it is the only way to see the backstage spaces by day.
Address 1516 Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
Where to look The second floor, the mirrors and the basement
Reported ghosts Amanda Rhodes, laughing children, a Shadow Man in the basement
Visiting Saturday house tours; other days by arrangement
Tours Saturday tours 10 AM to 2 PM, plus a yearly after-dark legends tour
Ghost hunting No public investigations
Furniture magnate Amos Rhodes built this granite “castle on Peachtree” in 1904 after admiring Rhineland castles in Europe; Willis Denny was the architect. Since 1983 it has been the home of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, with house tours on Saturdays and a busy calendar of weddings.
Rhodes Hall has appeared on Ghost Hunters, and the Trust runs a yearly after-dark legends tour. The stories say Mrs. Rhodes, who died in the house, still plays with the lights, and that children laugh in empty rooms. Staff and guests describe heavy footsteps on the second floor and figures in mirrors, and the basement is home to a dark Shadow Man.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the Georgia Trust’s October after-dark tour; the regular Saturday tours run from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Address 176 Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303
Where to look The upper corridors, the third floor where the 1946 fire began, and the windows facing Peachtree Street
Reported ghosts Victims of the 1946 Winecoff fire: screams in the night, the smell of smoke, fire alarms in the small hours, faces at the windows
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay
Ghost hunting No ghost hunts; stay the night instead
The Ellis opened in 1913 as the Winecoff Hotel, a 15-story tower on Peachtree Street that was advertised as fireproof. Before dawn on December 7, 1946, a fire that began on the third floor raced up its single open stairway and killed 119 people, still the deadliest hotel fire in American history. The building later sat empty for decades before a $23 million restoration reopened it as the Ellis in 2007.
The Atlanta History Center collects the stories told about the building: fire alarms going off in the small hours, guests and workers hearing screams and smelling smoke, and passersby who say they have seen frightened faces at the upper windows. Today it is a stylish 127-room boutique hotel in Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, a short walk from the Fox Theatre.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a high floor facing Peachtree Street, then walk out front to read the Georgia historical marker about the 1946 fire before you check in.
Hours and season Fri and Sat 11 AM to 4 PM, Sun 1 PM to 4 PM; closed Mon to Thu
Tickets Free admission; guided group tours by appointment
Ghost hunting No
Mill founder Barrington King chose the highest point in Roswell for this Greek Revival house, finished in 1842, and lived here with his wife Catherine until his death in 1866. Several generations of the family lived and died in the house before the City of Roswell bought it in 2005; it is now a free house museum, open Friday to Sunday.
Staff have described voices, footsteps and the smell of smoke with no source. A visitor’s photograph taken in the garden is said to show a woman in period dress though no one was there that day. Roswell’s historic district, a short walk away, is a regular stop for local ghost walks.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pair a daytime tour with a Roswell ghost walk through the historic district.
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
Address 695 North Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30308 (old mill)
Where to look The old Heaven stairs and the back stairs of the mill
Reported ghosts A tall man who switches off the amps, a screaming woman, mill workers
Visiting The mill is private offices; see it from the Eastside Trail. The club now plays at Underground Atlanta
Ghost hunting No
For 27 years the Masquerade filled the old DuPre Excelsior Mill on North Avenue, a wood-shaving mill dating to the 1890s, with its Heaven, Hell and Purgatory stages. The club moved to Underground Atlanta in 2016, and the mill has since been rebuilt as offices on the Eastside Trail, after a wall collapsed during the 2019 work.
Staff at the old club told of cold spots, loud footsteps and overturned equipment, a tall man who turned off the amplifiers and screams from the back stairs. The Atlanta History Center notes the belief that workers who died of sickness or fire at the mill haunted it. You can see the mill from the BeltLine.
Haunted Rooms tip: Walk the Eastside Trail past the old mill, then catch a show at the Masquerade’s current home in Underground Atlanta.
Where to look The main floor bedroom where Bobby Jones was born
Reported ghosts Margaret Mitchell
Visiting Open during the week; free
Tours Atlanta Preservation Center walking tours start here
Ghost hunting No
Railroad engineer Lemuel Pratt Grant finished this Italianate house in 1856. It served as a hospital in the Civil War, Grant designed the city’s defenses from it, and golfer Bobby Jones was born in a main floor bedroom in 1902. By 1975 fire and neglect had destroyed its upper floors, and the Atlanta Preservation Center bought and restored it in 2001.
Margaret Mitchell loaned money in 1941 toward turning the house into a museum, and its ghost story is hers. A former owner told the AJC that Mitchell’s ghost visited him each spring, bringing jonquils from her grave at Oakland Cemetery, a short walk away.
Haunted Rooms tip: It is free to visit on weekdays; walk on to Oakland Cemetery to see Margaret Mitchell’s grave.
Address Historic Square, Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Where to look The staircase
Reported ghosts A preteen girl on the stairs
Visiting Historic Square opens on selected dates, March to December
Tours Self-guided, with the Historic Square tour app
Tickets Stone Mountain Park Attractions Ticket or membership, plus a park parking permit
Ghost hunting No
Built around 1790 at Union Point and called the oldest restored house in Georgia, the Thornton House was moved to a site behind the High Museum in Atlanta and then rebuilt in 1968 in Stone Mountain Park, where it stands in the park’s Historic Square of relocated buildings.
Its ghost is a girl of about twelve who is said to appear on the staircase and tug the hair of teenage girls who visit. Candles are said to go out with no breeze, and cold spots announce her. The Historic Square opens on selected dates from March to December.
Haunted Rooms tip: Check Stone Mountain Park’s calendar for Historic Square open days before you go.
Address 499 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30308
Where to look The women's dressing room and backstage
Reported ghosts A boy in blue velvet, an older man in period dress, an actress who moves props
Visiting A working theater; buy a ticket for a show
Ghost hunting No
The Atlanta Shakespeare Company opened its tavern playhouse on Peachtree Street in 1990, rebuilt it in 1999 and gave it a Globe-style front in 2006. Audiences eat and drink while the company performs Shakespeare in original practice.
Staff and visitors describe voices, shadowy figures and points of light. Some staff avoid the women’s dressing room because of a former actress said to haunt it by moving props and closing doors, and a little boy, often described in a blue velvet suit, is said to play in the building.
Haunted Rooms tip: Catch a show and ask the staff, quietly, about the dressing room.
These places appear in older lists of haunted spots. We keep them here so you know the facts before you go, but you cannot (or should not) visit them.
Meadow Nook
The 1856 house built by Colonel Robert Alston near East Lake, said to be haunted by “the Colonel,” is a private home. Please do not visit.
The Highland Inn
The 1920s inn on North Highland Avenue, whose Room 130 had a reputation, closed for a two-year renovation and reopened in late 2023 as Otto’s Apartment Hotel, with leases of three to twelve months. It no longer takes overnight guests.
Changed from our older guide: the Highland Inn is now an apartment hotel, and Meadow Nook is a private home, so both moved to the off-limits list; the Masquerade has left the old Excelsior Mill. New in this update: the Fox Theatre and the Masquerade, plus corrected dates and visiting details for every place.
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most haunted place in Atlanta?
The Ellis Hotel, the former Winecoff, where 119 people died in a fire in 1946, has the best-known story. Oakland Cemetery, Rhodes Hall and the Fox Theatre follow, and in Marietta the Kennesaw House is one of the most famous haunts in the state.
Can you go on a ghost tour in Atlanta?
Yes. The Fox Theatre runs its own haunted tours in the fall, the Georgia Trust runs an after-dark tour at Rhodes Hall, Oakland Cemetery has evening tours in October, and Marietta and Roswell have regular ghost walks.
Is the Masquerade still in the old mill?
No. The club left the DuPre Excelsior Mill on North Avenue in 2016 and now plays at Underground Atlanta. The mill has been rebuilt as offices on the Eastside Trail.
Can you still stay at the Highland Inn?
No. It closed for a two-year renovation and reopened in late 2023 as Otto’s, an apartment hotel with leases of three months or more.
Every place in this guide is checked against its official website, historic register listings and news coverage, and we confirm whether it is open, closed, private or gone before we list it. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and local historians tell them; we say so where records contradict a story.
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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 place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
