HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
A 1906 South Main building that ran as an upscale bordello with Turkish baths, then a family hotel and later a private home, reopened in August 2025 as a 10-room boutique hotel; its lore centers on 'Sidney,' a caretaker whose 1947 death by fire is documented on a Memphis death certificate.
69 E. Pontotoc Ave., Memphis, TN 38103
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Rooms are booked through the hotel's website; rates vary by date. The Dame, a bar and restaurant, occupies the building's lower levels.
Access
Accessibility not stated
Historic three-story building in the South Main district; ask the hotel about stairs and room access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1906 · South Main historic commercial district · Upscale bordello with Turkish baths (1906-1920s) · Touliatos family hotel (1929) · Private home (c. 1980-2022); reopened as a hotel in 2025
The Hotel Pontotoc was built in 1906 on a quiet side street off South Main Street in downtown Memphis. In its first roughly twenty years the building was publicly advertised as a rooming house for single gentlemen, but in practice operated as an upscale bordello with Turkish baths, catering primarily to railroad and riverboat travelers. The brothel period extended into at least the late 1920s.
In 1929, Greek immigrant Dionysos (Dan) Touliatos purchased the building, ending the bordello operation and converting the property into a more conventional family hotel. The Pontotoc became a popular short-term lodging for vaudeville performers playing at the Orpheum Theatre two blocks away. In the early 1930s the building briefly housed Mexican sculptor Dionicio Rodriguez while he created the Crystal Shrine Grotto at Memorial Park Cemetery.
From about 1980 the building was a private home: Leigh Davis lived there for more than three decades and spoke publicly about both its history and its paranormal reputation. New owners bought it in 2022, and after a renovation it reopened in August 2025 as a 10-room boutique hotel on the upper floors, with The Dame bar and restaurant on the lower levels.
The building is featured on the South Main historical-tour circuit, including the VoiceMap 'Brews, Blues and BBQ' audio walking tour.
Sources
The signature ghost story of the Hotel Pontotoc centers on Sidney, who is described in ghost-tour accounts as the building's coal-tending caretaker. According to tour narration, Sidney lived next door, was often intoxicated, and on one occasion fell or was burned inside the building's coal-fired boiler — leaving the hotel's morning staff to discover his remains. The tour version is dramatized; the documentary record is more modest. According to a 2008 Memphis Downtowner article cited by US Ghost Adventures, a 1947 Memphis death certificate records a man named Sidney living next door at 305 South Front Street who died 'about home' as the result of an accident in which his 'clothes caught fire.' The death certificate does not place the fire inside the Pontotoc boiler.
Leigh Davis, who lived in the building for more than thirty years, has publicly described seeing shadow figures along the walls — most actively on the second floor — but characterizes the presences as friendly. Tour-tradition stories also describe a girl crying in upper-floor windows and orbs photographed near the building.
Memphis Magazine's profile of Davis treats the paranormal claims with skepticism while documenting the building's preservation and Davis's intention to open the basement as a live-music venue. The Pontotoc appears on US Ghost Adventures' top-ten Memphis haunted list and the VoiceMap walking tour.
The building reopened as a hotel in August 2025.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The top two floors of the 1906 building hold a 10-room boutique hotel that reopened in August 2025, with The Dame bar and restaurant on the lower levels. The building's ghost lore centers on Sidney, a caretaker whose 1947 death by fire is recorded on a Memphis death certificate.
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