Sepia-Saturday Not A Bearded Ghost in the House

Or is there? 

The Potter Palmer Mansion at 1350 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, could have been a hotel.  Built in 1882 - 1885 towered greatly until it was demolished in 1950.  Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress, Washington D.C. Prints


The very successful Potter Palmer had an elegant hotel in his thoughts, and it became a reality.



Rumor has it, the hotel below is filled with stories and secrets, essentially built for tired souls to rest, it brings forth the question, is it haunted?

Or, are they simply, drumming up business?


SEPIA SATURDAY and 


     
Was That a  BEARDED GHOST We Saw at the HOTEL?


No, just Potter Palmer, the man who gave the business district of Chicago, the elegantly designed hotel,

           "The Palmer House"



Why do long and established places of business, particularly restaurants and hotels eventually end up on the 10 Most Haunted Places list?



Like, The Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, which originally opened in 1871, is now owned by the Hilton chain today.
      Legends say, the Palmer House Hotel has lots of orbs and sounds, if you believe in ghosts.

A view from inside The Palmer House.  The corner of State and Monroe Streets have seen three Palmer hotels.  The first hotel which opened on the 26th of September 1871, was built by Potter Palmer and given to his new bride, Bertha Honore' of Louisville, Kentucky as a wedding present.

Thirteen days after their wedding on the 9th of October 1871 the "Great Chicago Fire" destroyed the Palmer Hotel.  Potter Palmer immediately constructed a new hotel with architect John M. Van Osdel and the second Palmer House Hotel complete with 7 stories was opened. The third hotel was rebuilt with an ever growing Chicago and featured 25 stories.  In 1945 it was purchased by Conrad Hilton for 20 million.



Heading to the southern regions of America, the ghosts keep showing up there too.

ANTOINE'S RESTAURANT in the FRENCH QUARTER of NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana.



The Postcard reads, "The Oldest French Restaurant in New Orleans In the Heart of the Vieux Carre' Roy L. Alciatore, Prop."


Last on my list of hungry ghost stories has to do with an inn for seafarers and became a rendezvous for thirsty pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas, in the beginning.  Situated in Savannah, Georgia, (one of my most favorite southern places to visit) and The Pirates House, located on Broad Street and this photo (as well as the two that follow it) were taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston about 1939.  The building dates back to ca. 1790.

Today The Pirates House features 15 separate and distinct dining rooms for your dining pleasures (and their food is exceptional)

Pirates House dining

Of course this isn't how the Pirate's House Restaurant appears today.  Who would care to dine here if it did?  But honestly if it's really a haunted place shouldn't it look something a bit more like this?

Perhaps it's silly, but isn't there something a bit more magical and interesting when it has to do with ghosts and delicious dishes from the south, rather than scruffy old beards?

If you didn't notice, our theme is featured from "Mrs. Marvel (her blog is a marvel too) from her blog, Who were they?" (The secret is, she has a hairy story to tell on her blog.)

A special note, Potter Palmer did sport a beard.

If you want to play along with Sepia Saturday or just search through other Sepia posts please

go here

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/03/sepia-saturday-116-hair.html