Est. 1892 · Queen Anne Architecture · National Register of Historic Places · Gilded Age Resort
The Windsor Hotel opened to guests in 1892, a Queen Anne pile of brick and tower-work designed to make Americus, Georgia a winter destination for travelers from New York and Boston. The hotel originally offered around 100 rooms, an atrium lobby that rises three stories through the heart of the building, and personalized silverware — a flourish that local accounts cite as a Georgia first.
The Windsor occupies nearly an entire city block at 125 West Lamar Street. Its construction reflected a brief turn-of-the-century movement to position southwest Georgia as a southern alternative to the resorts of Florida. That vision did not fully materialize, but the building survived the boom-and-bust cycle that demolished many of its peers.
Franklin D. Roosevelt — then preparing for his run for governor of New York — gave a speech at the Windsor in 1928. The hotel today operates as a member of the Ascend Hotel Collection with 53 guest rooms, a pub named Floyd's, and a full-service restaurant. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Hotel_(Americus,_Georgia)
- https://americustimesrecorder.com/2021/10/08/history-hauntings-and-ghosts-at-the-windsor-hotel/
- https://www.gpb.org/news/2018/10/29/georgia-ghosts-mother-daughter-haunt-hotel
- https://exploregeorgia.org/americus/general/historic-sites-trails-tours/windsor-hotel-historic-haunted-tours
ApparitionsPhantom voicesDisembodied laughterPhantom footstepsCold spots
Several stories cluster around the Windsor's atrium and upper floors. The most frequently retold concerns Emily, a housekeeper who lived at the hotel with her young daughter Emma Mae. According to local folklore documented in the Americus Times-Recorder and Georgia Public Broadcasting, both died after an early-1900s incident at a service elevator shaft, with the original telling attributing the deaths to a violent altercation.
Guests on the third floor have described the sound of a child running, a woman's voice with no visible speaker, and the cry of a baby. A figure described as a woman in black is also reported on this floor. Room 333 is the room most often flagged in published accounts.
A separate story attaches to a cashier from nearby Ellaville who, according to local lore, took his own life in a Windsor bathroom after a bank theft. The Americus Times-Recorder has documented both this account and the housekeeper story among the building's recurring narratives.
Floyd's Pub is named for Floyd Lowery, who worked as a Windsor doorman for 44 years. Staff and guests report seeing a man resembling Floyd at the front entrance, ready to assist with luggage; his continued presence in the bar area is a fixture of the staff's after-hours stories.
The Windsor offers 45-minute guided historic-haunted tours at $12 per ticket that present these accounts as part of the building's broader story rather than as theater.
Notable Entities
The HousekeeperThe Little GirlFloyd LoweryThe Cashier
Media Appearances
- Georgia Public Broadcasting feature (2018)