Boutique hotel inside the rebuilt 1913 Winecoff Hotel building, site of the 1946 fire — the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history — and the source of its enduring paranormal lore.
176 Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Operating luxury boutique hotel; nightly room rates apply. No ticketed paranormal tour offered by the property itself, though Atlanta walking ghost tours stop on the sidewalk outside.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Modern restored hotel interior; full elevator access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1913 · 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire — deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history (119 deaths) · Catalyst for modern U.S. fire and building code reform · Original 1913 William Lee Stoddart design
The Winecoff Hotel opened in 1913 at 176 Peachtree Street NW in downtown Atlanta. The 15-story building was designed by New York architect William Lee Stoddart for hotelier W. F. Winecoff and was advertised at the time as 'absolutely fireproof.' The building had a single central stairway and combustible interior finishes.
On the night of December 6-7, 1946, fire broke out on the third floor and spread rapidly upward through the single stairway. The Atlanta Fire Department received the first alarm call at 3:42 a.m. on December 7. By the time the fire was suppressed, 119 people were dead — including hotel builder William Fleming Winecoff and his wife Grace, and 30 of 40 high school students attending a youth-government program in Atlanta. Patricia Ann Griffin, the 14-year-old daughter of future Georgia governor Marvin Griffin, also died in the fire.
The Winecoff fire remains the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. It prompted sweeping reforms to American building and fire codes, including requirements for multiple protected exit routes, self-closing fire-resistant doors, and prohibition of operable transoms in guest rooms. President Truman convened a national fire prevention conference in 1947 in response.
The building changed hands repeatedly in the decades after the fire. In 1967 it was donated to the Georgia Baptist Convention for use as senior housing, then later sold to various owners. A $23 million restoration began in April 2006 and the building reopened on October 1, 2007 as the boutique Ellis Hotel. Today the Ellis operates as a 127-room Tribute Portfolio hotel by Marriott managed by Colwen Hotels, and is included in Atlanta's Fox Theatre Historic District walking-tour circuit.
Sources
Paranormal reports at the Ellis Hotel attach directly to the 1946 Winecoff fire, and most originated in the 2006-2007 reconstruction period and the years immediately after the 2007 reopening.
Atlanta Ghosts and Southern Spirit Guide both document the same core set of phenomena. Construction workers during the 2006-2007 renovation reported tools moving or going missing, footsteps and voices coming from empty rooms, and equipment malfunctions. After reopening, hotel guests have reported being awakened by the smell of smoke in rooms with no source, hearing screams and the sound of running in empty corridors, and witnessing elevators that operate without being called. Switchboard calls have reportedly come from unoccupied rooms.
The most frequently repeated specific claim is that the hotel's fire-alarm system has been known to trigger at 2:48 a.m. — a time that paranormal sources describe as 'the time the fire started.' Hauntbound notes that this folkloric time does not align with the documented historical record: the Atlanta Fire Department's first alarm call for the Winecoff fire was logged at 3:42 a.m. on December 7, 1946. The 2:48 a.m. detail is a paranormal-tradition timestamp, not a historical one.
Passersby on Peachtree Street have reported seeing faces in the upper-floor windows, with some descriptions including expressions of pain. These reports are gathered most often during Atlanta downtown ghost-tour stops at the hotel and are treated as folklore rather than verified phenomena.
Hauntbound treats the Ellis Hotel with editorial care: the 1946 fire was a mass-casualty event in which 119 people, including children, died. Paranormal interpretation here is presented as folklore that grew up around a real and tragic event, not as a thrill.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Book a room at the 127-room boutique hotel occupying the rebuilt 1913 Winecoff building at 176 Peachtree Street NW. The Ellis acknowledges the building's history in onsite materials; guests have historically reported phenomena associated with the 1946 fire.
The hotel is a fixed stop on Atlanta Ghosts and several other downtown walking ghost tours, which cover the 1946 fire and the reported phenomena from the sidewalk outside.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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