HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Housed in a historic Broad Street building, staff at this Floyd County history museum report a child spirit beneath the staircase whose laughter turns to crying when approached
305 Broad Street, Rome, GA 30161
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Admission fee applies; see website for current pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level access on Broad Street; historic building interior
Equipment
Photos OK
Primary repository for Floyd County historical collections · Documented paranormal phenomena reported by multiple staff members · Incorporated into Rome Office of Tourism ghost programming (2022)
The Rome Area History Museum operates from a historic Broad Street building in downtown Rome, serving as the primary repository for the history of Floyd County and the surrounding region. The museum's collections document Rome's founding, its industrial development, the Civil War campaigns through northwest Georgia, and the city's twentieth-century growth.
The building's reputation as a haunted site emerged from internal staff reports rather than from marketing efforts. Multiple staff members described hearing the sound of a child playing and giggling beneath the main staircase. In accounts documented by Visit NW Georgia and other regional sources, the distinctive detail is the transition: when someone moves toward the sound to investigate, the laughter shifts to crying. The phenomenon has been reported by more than one staff member independently, which has contributed to its credibility in local coverage.
A second recurring report involves cold sensations experienced in specific areas of the building, particularly during late-night or after-hours periods. This combination — unusual sounds localized to an architectural feature (the staircase), corroborated by multiple independent observers, and accompanied by physical sensations — is consistent with the better-documented haunting accounts among Georgia's historic buildings.
The Rome Office of Tourism incorporated the museum into its Halloween ghost programming beginning at least by 2022, indicating institutional recognition of the building's dark tourism value alongside its standard historical collections.
Sources
The child spirit account at the Rome Area History Museum is notable for the specificity and internal consistency of the reports. The phenomenon is always located at the staircase, the sounds are always the same sequence — laughter that becomes crying when approached — and multiple staff members have described experiencing it independently rather than passing along a single originating account.
The transition from laughter to crying when investigated adds a detail that paranormal analysts often cite as evidence against simple atmospheric or mechanical explanation: the change in the sound is responsive to the observer's action, which purely environmental causes (HVAC, rodents, building settling) would not produce.
Cold spots have been reported elsewhere in the building, a common associated phenomenon in historic buildings with irregular heating and cooling, though staff have described them as localized and abrupt rather than consistent with drafts or HVAC patterns.
Visit NW Georgia documented the museum's haunted reputation in coverage designed to highlight Rome's Halloween offerings, and the Rome Office of Tourism confirmed the building's role in its 2022 ghost tour season programming.
The Rome Area History Museum documents the history of Floyd County and the city of Rome through artifacts, photographs, and archives. The building's staircase area is the focus of the museum's documented paranormal reputation, with multiple staff members reporting the child spirit phenomenon over the years.
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