Haunted hotel guide · Pawleys Island, South Carolina
The Haunted Pelican Inn, Pawleys Island: the Westons, Two Ghost Dogs and the Gray Man
One of the original summer houses on Pawleys Island, a whitewashed beachfront inn that has outlasted Hazel and Hugo and sits in the heart of Gray Man country.
Pawleys Island has called itself arrogantly shabby for generations, and the Pelican Inn is a perfect example: a whitewashed cypress house behind the dunes, with porches, hammocks, no televisions and a dock out over the salt marsh. It was built as the summer home of a rice planter and has run as an eight-room bed and breakfast for decades, open from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
Its ghost stories are as old-fashioned as the house. Visitors have described a man in a Civil War uniform believed to be the first owner, Plowden Weston, and the scent of his wife Emily’s perfume, and South Carolina’s tourism office mentions two Boston terriers heard barking after dark. Out on the beach, this is the home of the Gray Man, the island’s famous storm-warning ghost. The inn is part of our guide to haunted hotels in South Carolina.
Pelican Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 506 Myrtle Avenue, Pawleys Island, SC 29585, in the island’s historic district
- Opened Land bought by Plowden Weston in 1844; house built in the 1840s or 1850s; a guest house since the 20th century
- Most haunted spots The porches, the stairs and the beach in front of the house at dusk
- Best-known ghosts Plowden and Emily Weston, two Boston terriers, and the Gray Man on the beach
- Booking the haunted room No room is named in the stories. Book through the inn’s own website; it does not appear on Booking.com.
- Good to know 8 air-conditioned rooms, breakfast and a big midday dinner, no TVs, beach access and a crabbing dock; the whole house is rented out from Labor Day to Memorial Day
The ghosts of The Pelican Inn
Plowden Weston in uniform
The Pelican Inn began as the summer house of Plowden Charles Jenrette Weston of Hagley Plantation, a wealthy rice planter who served as South Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 1862 to 1864. He is said to have died of tuberculosis, and visitors have since described a man in a Civil War uniform in the house who is believed to be him.
As with all of the inn’s stories, it comes from guests and owners rather than any record.
Emily Weston's perfume
Weston’s wife Emily is the gentler presence. According to the South Carolina Picture Project, an owner of the inn has said Emily roams the house leaving lingering scents of perfume. Guests who notice a sudden floral smell in a hallway with nobody in it tend to give her the credit.
Two Boston terriers
Discover South Carolina tells the island’s most touching ghost story. Two Boston terriers that belonged to a former owner are said to haunt the house. One is supposed to have drowned saving a boy, and the other died of loneliness soon after. Guests have reported barking after dark when no dogs are in the house.
The Gray Man of Pawleys Island
Pawleys Island’s most famous ghost does not belong to any one house. The Gray Man is a figure in gray seen walking the beach shortly before a hurricane, and locals say people who meet him and heed the warning come home to find their houses spared. In the most common version he is a young man who rode from Charleston in 1822 to see his fiancee, became trapped in the marsh and died. The legend first appeared in print in Julian Stevenson Bolick’s writing in 1946.
One of the best-known sightings came before Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when a couple told Unsolved Mysteries they had seen a man on the beach who vanished when they waved; their house survived while neighbors’ homes were badly damaged. The Pelican Inn’s owner has reported seeing the Gray Man too, according to the South Carolina Picture Project. The inn’s front porch faces the beach, so it is as good a place to watch for him as any.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The beachfront porch: The place to sit at dusk and look for the Gray Man on the sand.
- The stairs and hallways: Where guests notice Emily Weston’s perfume and hear footsteps.
- The house after dark: When the Boston terriers are said to bark, though no dogs are in residence.
- The dock over the marsh: On the creek side of the island, the marshes the Gray Man is said to have died in.
History of The Pelican Inn
Pawleys Island grew up as a summer retreat for the families of the rice planters on the nearby Waccamaw River. Plowden Weston of Hagley Plantation bought this lot in 1844, and the house was standing by the 1850s. Sources differ on the exact year; local histories give dates from the 1840s to about 1858.
The house was built in the island style still visible today, with cypress siding, wooden pegs, hand-cut nails, mortise-and-tenon joints and doors and windows placed to catch the sea breeze. It sits behind the island’s highest dunes under live oaks, which is part of the reason it survived Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when many island buildings were destroyed.
The Westons used the house until 1864, when it passed to William St. Julien Mazyck. In 1901 the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company bought it and let employees vacation there for years. Later owners named it the Pelican Inn, and it is part of the Pawleys Island Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
By 2010 the inn needed work. Corinne and Bruce Taylor took it on, reopened it for a full season in 2011, and kept its old rhythm: Southern breakfasts, a big midday dinner, no televisions and long evenings on the porch. It still runs as a bed and breakfast in summer and is rented out as a whole house for the rest of the year.
Tips for a haunted stay
- The inn is only a bed and breakfast from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. Outside the season you can rent the whole house, which suits a group of friends who want a haunted beach house to themselves.
- Book through the inn’s own website; it is not sold on the big booking sites.
- Sit on the porch at dusk and watch the beach. Locals take Gray Man sightings seriously and leave the island before storms.
- Bring crab traps or borrow a line for the dock on the marsh side, one of the inn’s simple pleasures.
- Charleston’s haunted hotels are about 70 miles south if you want to add a city night to the trip.
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.
- USS Battleship North Carolina Ghost Hunt and Tour, Wilmington, NC: Investigate a WWII battleship on the Cape Fear River.
- Roanoke Island Inn Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Manteo, NC: Ghost hunt, then spend the night in a historic Outer Banks inn.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Haunted hotels in Charleston: the Mills House, the Old Citadel and more, about 70 miles south
- 20 South Battery (Battery Carriage House Inn): Charleston’s most famous haunted inn
- Haunted places in South Carolina: more ghost stories around the state
- Haunted hotels in South Carolina
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Pelican Inn on Pawleys Island haunted?
It has a long ghost reputation. Visitors describe the ghost of Plowden Weston in uniform, Emily Weston’s perfume and two Boston terriers heard barking after dark, and the owner has reported seeing the Gray Man. These are stories and reported experiences, not documented events.
Who is the Gray Man of Pawleys Island?
A ghost said to walk the beach before hurricanes to warn residents to leave. The most common legend makes him a young man who died in the marsh in 1822 while riding to see his fiancee. People who see him are said to find their homes spared.
When is the Pelican Inn open?
It runs as a bed and breakfast from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The rest of the year the whole house is rented as a vacation home.
Who built the Pelican Inn?
It was the summer home of Plowden Charles Jenrette Weston of Hagley Plantation, who bought the land in 1844. He was South Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 1862 to 1864.
Are meals included at the Pelican Inn?
Stays have traditionally included breakfast and a large midday dinner of Lowcountry dishes. Confirm current meal plans with the inn when you book.
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.
- PawleysIsland.com: History of the Pelican Inn
- SC Picture Project: Pelican Inn
- Discover South Carolina: 10 haunted South Carolina inns
- Garden & Gun: Lowcountry hospitality at the Pelican Inn
- Wikipedia: The Gray Man (ghost)
- Only Pawleys: The Pelican Inn
- The Pelican Inn: official site
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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.
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