HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Texas's oldest continuously operating hotel, an 1840 stagecoach inn in Seguin where Jack Coffee Hays married in 1847 and 13 documented spirits still hold court.
203 S Crockett St, Seguin, TX 78155
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Nightly B&B rates vary by room; VIP night ghost tours available select Saturdays; day history tours Mon–Fri. Book via Airbnb (overnight) and Eventbrite (tours).
Access
Limited Access
1840s limestone and concrete structure; uneven floors and narrow passages
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1840 · National Register of Historic Places — Seguin Commercial Historic District · Historic American Buildings Survey (1934) · Earliest example of Park's concrete construction in Texas · Jack Coffee Hays wedding site, 1847 · Frederick Law Olmsted visit, 1854
James Campbell constructed the original log structure at 203 S. Crockett Street in 1840, the same year Seguin was platted as one of the earliest Anglo settlements in Guadalupe County. The building served from the start as a stagecoach stop and frontier hotel, offering travelers the first substantial lodging between San Antonio and the Texas coast.
The more durable section of the hotel — the limestone and concrete wing still standing — dates to around 1846–1853. The contractor was Dr. William Read, who operated the hotel from 1850 to 1860 and expanded it using a material called 'Park's concrete,' an early manufactured-concrete formula developed by local chemist John Park. The resulting masonry was unusual for its period and became one of the earliest examples of the technique in the state. The Historic American Buildings Survey documented the property in 1934, and it was included in the Seguin Commercial Historic District's National Register listing in 1983.
The hotel's most frequently cited historical event is the wedding of Texas Ranger captain Jack Coffee Hays to Susan Calvert on April 29, 1847, held in the south room of the concrete wing. Hays was among the most celebrated Texas Rangers of the republic and statehood eras. Author and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted visited the hotel during his 1854 Texas journey and recorded observations of the building and its guests.
Ownership changed several times over the following century. Inez and Edgar Lannom purchased the property in the 1930s and ran it continuously for roughly 75 years. In March 2013, Jim Ghedi and Erin O'Wallace-Ghedi acquired the hotel and undertook restoration, repositioning it as a B&B and ghost-tour venue.
Sources
Since the Ghedis opened the hotel to paranormal tourism in 2013, they have catalogued 13 spirits they say have been documented through guest and investigator reports. The most prominent is Mr. Deavors, identified as a former music teacher who committed a murder at the property and, according to Houstonia Magazine's 2019 feature, 'never leaves his room.' Owners emphasize that the spirits are described as 'pleasant, kind, and willing to communicate' rather than threatening.
A second named figure is Emma Voeckler, reported by Houstonia as a woman murdered at the hotel, though the specific circumstances have not been independently documented in surviving historical records available to this research. A traveling salesman who died by suicide on the premises is also part of the documented roster, along with a figure referred to in tour materials as Madame Pink Rosebud.
The property has attracted sustained media attention. Ghost Adventures filmed an episode here; Ghost Brothers conducted an investigation; and the YouTube series BuzzFeed Unsolved featured the hotel. A Watcher channel production also documented activity in the building.
Paranormal investigators and guests consistently report unexplained sounds, object movement, and direct communication attempts — EMF fluctuations, rapping, and responses to spoken questions. The owners maintain that the activity is concentrated in specific rooms and that it correlates with the documented occupants of those spaces during the hotel's operational years.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Where this legend is told
Book a room at what owners document as Texas's oldest continuously operating hotel. Named rooms include Amelia's Room, the Faust Room, the Parlor, the Smoke Room, and the 2nd Floor Suite — all inside the 1840 and 1853 limestone structures.
Immersive guided evening tour of the full property with owners documenting all 13 reported spirits. Held select Saturdays 7–9:30pm. Book via Eventbrite.
Daytime guided walk through the hotel's 180-year history, covering the 1847 Jack Hays wedding, the John Park concrete construction, and the documented paranormal cast. Monday–Friday 1–2:30pm.
See current room rates and availability at Magnolia Hotel.
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