HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 2 further entries on record
A 1917 National Register railroad hotel in Wartrace, Tennessee, birthplace of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, reported haunted by apparitions and unexplained sounds for decades.
101 Spring Street, Wartrace, TN 37183
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Guest rooms available; Strolling Jim Restaurant open to public; seasonal haunted attraction ticketed separately
Access
Limited Access
Historic multi-story building; limited accessibility
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1917 · National Register of Historic Places · Birthplace of Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration (1939) · Site of Strolling Jim's burial, first World Champion Tennessee Walking Horse
The Walking Horse Hotel was constructed in 1917 as a railroad hotel serving the Louisville & Nashville rail line through Wartrace. Known originally as Hotel Overall, it served travelers and local businesses in Bedford County through the early decades of the twentieth century.
In 1933 Floyd and Olive Carothers purchased the property and transformed it into a hub for Tennessee Walking Horse breeding and training. A group of trainers working out of the hotel in the late 1930s organized what would become one of the most significant equestrian events in the region: the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, held for the first time in 1939. The horse that gave the restaurant its name, Strolling Jim, was trained by Floyd Carothers and won the inaugural World Championship that year. Strolling Jim is buried in the ground behind the hotel, and since 2015 the Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum has displayed a framed portrait in his honor.
Floyd Carothers died in 1944; Olive continued operating the hotel until 1958. The building went through several ownership changes and a brief period as Hotel Overall again before a 1995 renovation. Current owner Joe Peters acquired and renovated the property again in 2007, reopening it as the Walking Horse Hotel with seven guest rooms and the Strolling Jim Restaurant. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and operates as an active hospitality venue year-round, adding a seasonal haunted attraction each fall.
Sources
Former owner George Knight openly discussed the haunting with local media, stating: 'The hotel is not evil, it's not demonic, but there is a haunting at the hotel.' Knight described guests regularly coming to him 'flustered,' reporting apparitions in the upstairs hallways. His straightforward acknowledgment of the phenomenon—from an owner with no commercial incentive at the time—gives the accounts unusual credibility for a rural Tennessee property.
Guests over multiple decades have reported sounds of horses' hooves on the ground floor and running across the upstairs corridors—consistent with the building's deep connection to the Walking Horse industry. Other commonly reported phenomena include disembodied voices and singing, shadow figures moving through the hallways, a piano playing without a visible player, and guests being physically touched. Room 11 of the hotel's thirteen rooms consistently produces the most visitor reports of a sensation of being watched.
The hotel featured on the paranormal television program 'Haunted Live,' which conducted an investigation of the property. According to Nashville Ghosts and Tennessee Haunted Houses, the activity is described as playful rather than threatening: 'the spirits that are there are friendly as well, but they are playful, and people have been messed with in that hotel for years and years.'
Note: An often-cited legend claims a Vietnam veteran shot four guests in the 1970s. Independent research finds no documentary record of this event, and current hotel operators have explicitly stated it never happened. This claim is not included here.
Notable Entities
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