Chattanooga Boo Boo?
In our last newsletter, we asked you for your haunted hotel stories, and Sheraton Read House Hotel director of sales and catering Debra Warren was more than happy to oblige. The 10-story, Georgian-style hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. sits on a site that has been occupied by hotels for over 160 years, including the grand Old Crutchfield House, which was built in 1847 and used as a hospital by Union troops in 1863. For the past 80 years, it's been haunted, and most of the occurances have happened around Room 311. Among the theories are that the ghosts were murdered soldiers from the Civil War or suicides.
Here's a vintage shot of the Old Crutchfield House. Debra tells us that the most common interpretation is that the room is haunted by the ghost of Annalisa Netherly, who stayed there for a while in the 1920s. Legend has it that her head was nearly severed by a jealous lover or husband while she was bathing, and that her spirit has never left the hotel or Room 311. Guests say she's particularly angered by men, especially those who smoke.
