The Barbee Hotel

The Barbee's haunting tradition is shaped almost entirely by its Prohibition history. The single most-told story is the cigar smoke. Cleaning staff and managers across decades have reported the smell of cigar smoke originating from the door of Room 301, which is no longer rented and was Capone's preferred suite during his 1920s stays. Investigation of the room reveals nothing burning. The smell is consistent enough across separate accounts that local interpretation has settled on Capone as the residual presence, an explanation that is unfalsifiable but coherent within the building's own history.

A secondary thread of accounts comes from the bar. The longtime bartender has described an older man seated in a particular booth on multiple occasions, dressed in dated clothing, present long enough to register but absent when the bartender returns from the kitchen with a co-worker. Photographs taken of group portraits on the main staircase have produced orbs in the background; staff have noted these in framed photographs displayed in the dining room. The legend includes a woman heard wailing in the upper halls, sometimes interpreted as a Capone-era figure but not tied by any local source to a documented incident.

The Barbee was investigated for the Travel Channel's The Dead Files in a 2014 episode. The hotel acknowledges its haunted reputation on its own website and welcomes guests interested in the paranormal aspect, while operating primarily as a Big Barbee Lake restaurant.