The Foley House Inn is one of the infamous historical places in Savannah, Georgia. Because of its dark history, tourists daily walk by the house on one of the city’s many tours.
Though lovely, it’s not the architecture that draws the crowds but the story of the skeleton in its walls.
@fabledcollective Skeleton in the wall | ##hauntedtiktok ##savannahga ##hauntedsavannah ##hauntedplacesinamerica ##hauntedplaces ##spookyvibes ##historytiktok ##ghoststory
♬ Eerie and calm BGM – LEOPARD
There once was a house with a secret inside,
that a woman thought best to hide.
She had a life to live and children to raise,
and self-defense was rare in those days.
So, she made a grave behind the wall
and crafted a story to tell all.
And kept her secret, lips tightly sewn,
until one day, someone uncovered his bones.
-Vanessa K. Eccles
The Foley House Inn
The Foley House was built in 1896 in Savannah, Georgia by Honoria Foley. She was the widow of a wealthy Irish immigrant, Owen Foley. The Foley’s original home was one of the first boarding houses in Savannah. The current structure that you see today is actually two units combined to create additional living space.
Like many of the buildings in the city, the site is believed to rest on graves from early settlers. And in 1889, there was a great fire in Savannah which destroyed numerous homes and buildings. The Foley House sits on the ashes of a home burned in the fire.
By all accounts, Mrs. Foley was incredibly successful. She took great pride in her Inn and was a wise businesswoman. Her son-in-law and his five children lived there with her after her daughter Catherine’s death. They had a relatively comfortable life thanks to Honoria’s efforts.
The Murder
Until one guest at the Inn began making advances at Honoria. These were unwelcome, but they persisted, nonetheless. On one tour we took, the guide suggested that Honoria may have been in a relationship with another man, who was either a guest or a friend of her late husband.
One night, while Honoria slept in her bed, the man snuck into her bedroom. Terrified, Honoria grabbed the nearest object she could to use as a weapon—a candlestick. She swung at the dark shadowed man hovering over her and heard the candlestick collide with flesh and bone. He fell to the floor, dead.
Honoria had a problem. A dead man in her bedroom, at her Inn, would not be good business, but more importantly, she could have lost her life for taking his. So, she did what she had to do—bury the truth.
With the help of her gentleman friend, who conveniently was a carpenter and mason, they placed the man’s body inside the wall, and there he stayed for nearly a century.
On Honoria’s deathbed in 1914, she finally confesses to the horrible events of the fateful night. But the story seemed unbelievable. Was she speaking out of her mind in those moments before she died, or could the eerie tale be true?
While undergoing some renovations in 1987, the crew found a skeleton within the walls. No positive identifications of the body have been made, but the story of Mrs. Foley’s midnight murder has become famous in Savannah.
If you enjoy ghost stories, check out the spooks of the Springer Opera House.
Haunted Savannah, Georgia
Several of the city’s ghost tours tell her tale. What’s more, many guests claim to have seen an apparition of a man on the property. One woman claimed that a man in a hat pushed past her, rushing up the front steps. At first, the woman was taken aback by how rude the man was, but as she watched him standing in front of the door, she noticed how pale and dark his features were. And he appeared quite angry. And then, without warning, he vanished into the door. When she entered, she could hear heavy footsteps going up the staircase but could no longer see him.
People also claim to see the man, dressed in a suit, wearing a hat in the gardens. There are reports of cold spots. These strange occurrences happen so frequently that the staff has given the ghost a name, Wally.
So, as it turns out, some people really do have skeletons in their closets—or their walls, in this case.
FAQ
Yes. By many accounts, the Foley House Inn is haunted by a man’s spirit. He’s often heard breathing in Mrs. Foley’s old room.
Yes. Savannah is a city built on its dead. Many buildings and homes are built on old burials. Savannah is often called the most haunted city in America. If it’s not the most haunted, it certainly is near the top of the list.
The Marshall House
The 17hundred90 Inn
The Kehoe House
The Hamilton-Turner Inn
The Olde Harbour Inn
Music:
Nervous by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4118-nervous
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Ghostpocalypse – 6 Crossing the Threshold by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
