Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainFormer downtown hotel where elevator doors open without passengers and figures run through hallways before vanishing into walls
131 N Center St, Goldsboro, NC 27530
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Fee charged for the Ghost Walk of Olde Goldsborough tour; see Totally Fly Tours for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Multi-story historic downtown building; exterior viewing only on tour
Equipment
Photos OK
Historic downtown hotel converted to mixed use · Wayne County commercial history · Civil War era railroad junction
The Hotel Goldsboro occupied a prominent spot in downtown Goldsboro, the county seat of Wayne County and a rail junction city that grew substantially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The building served travelers connected to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad corridor and the region's tobacco and lumber economy.
Now converted and known as the Waynesborough House, the property sits in the downtown commercial core that the city has worked to revitalize. The structure retains its original multi-story configuration, including the elevator shaft and upper-floor corridors that figure in the building's paranormal reputation.
Goldsboro itself carries significant Civil War and Reconstruction history — Confederate and Union forces contested the Goldsborough Bridge nearby in December 1862, and the city later became a key Union supply depot during Sherman's final Carolina campaign in 1865. The Hotel Goldsboro would have stood in a town reshaped by those events and the subsequent tobacco economy of the late 19th century.
Sources
The paranormal reputation at Waynesborough House centers on the building's elevator — doors reportedly open and close on their own while disembodied voices are heard coming from inside the empty car. It is unclear whether any specific death or incident from the hotel era is linked to the phenomena; the accounts connect the activity to the building's long run as a working hotel without specifying a cause.
Separately, witnesses have reported figures running through upper-floor hallways before passing directly into walls, a pattern consistent with residual-type haunting accounts at converted commercial properties. The Waynesborough House is a documented stop on the Ghost Walk of Olde Goldsborough, led by paranormal investigator Thomas Bailey.
Paranormal investigator Thomas Bailey leads the Downtown Goldsboro Ghost Tour through Totally Fly Tours, with the Waynesborough House among the featured stops. The tour covers the building's hotel-era activity and reported phenomena including independent elevator movement and hallway apparitions. Private tours for groups of 8-10 are available; contact Visit Goldsboro at (919) 734-7922.
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