Emily Morgan Hotel (Downtown San Antonio)

Located in one of the largest and most imposing buildings in downtown San Antonio, the Emily Morgan Hotel is one of the city's quintessential lodgings — all the more so in that it is the "official hotel of the Alamo" — and at the same time stranger and much different than any of the others. Its merits as a beautiful luxury hotel aside, it has both a unique and atypical history and as its namesake the woman who may well have inspired the classic song "The Yellow Rose of Texas." 

"The Emily Morgan Hotel was originally developed as a hospital and then in 1984 it was converted into a hotel," Allison Schiess of the Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours told me. "It is named after the woman, an indentured servant, who was 'distracting' Santa Anna when the Texans attacked the Mexicans during the Battle of San Jacinto. So, she helped us win our independence." 

Those are the opening two paragraphs of my chapter on the Emily Morgan Hotel for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country! Among other things, it explores the history of one of the most colorful and controversial figures in Texas history, the woman known variously as Emily Morgan and Emily D. West. 

Spanish Governor's Palace (Downtown San Antonio)

"Soon after the Spanish viceroy founded the city of San Antonio in 1718, Martín de Alarcón, governor of Coahuila and Texas, established the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar. This fortress served as the center of Spanish military power in Texas and as defense for the San Antonio de Valero Mission (known later as the Alamo) ... Plans for the house that became known as the Spanish Governor’s Palace originated as early as 1722 and, upon its completion in 1749 — the date given on the keystone above the front entrance bearing a carved, double-headed eagle — it served as the commandancia, the office and residence for the captain of the presidio. ... In 1772, the importance of the presidio grew when the capital of Spanish Texas moved from the presidio at Los Adaes, east of Nacogdoches, Texas, to the settlement at what is now San Antonio. From this point onward the Spanish governors stayed in the commandancia and it was thereafter referred to as the Spanish Governor’s Palace." 

That excerpt is from the chapter on the Spanish Governor's Palace in San Antonio that I wrote for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country," the travel guide on haunted sites in the title area that I am working on for Clerisy Press's America's Haunted Road Trip series. Pictured above is Allison Schiess of Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours. 

An Evening with Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours

SAN ANTONIO -- Had a great time with Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours and guide Allison Schiess on Saturday, January 25, visiting haunted places downtown in the Alamo City! About half of them were places that I have investigated previously in the course of my research for Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country, the title I am currently working on for the America's Haunted Road Trip series of travel guides. A number of the sites were completely new to me, however, and I learned a number of interesting things about all of the ones we visited. 

We kicked off the evening by enjoying a great steak dinner with our guide and fellow tour goers in the elegant formal dining room of the famous and very haunted Menger Hotel. We then proceeded to explore the haunted histories of it and several other sites, including the Alamo, Casino Club Building, Cathedral of San Fernando, Spanish Governor's Palace, and old Bexar County Jail. 

Above left, Allison set the tone for the tour by being attired in authentic 19th century garb. Above center, Diane Varhola checks out the spot on the outer wall of the Roy Rogers Suite that was once used to give fodder to Rogers' horse Trigger! Above right, the original bedstead in the King Ranch Suite where Captain King died and around which his spirit is sometimes seen. 

Above one of the sumptuous lobbies of the Menger Hotel, as viewed from the third floor. Above right, I have no idea what is causing this particular anomaly, but am well aware that a heavy spiritual presence can wreak havoc on electronic devices. 

Above left, this particular photographic anomaly caught me eye because it affected only Allison -- clearly a spiritual magnet of some sort -- and not our two friends from Canada or anything else! Above right, a view of the Riverwalk in which can be seen a couple of orbs, one left and the other above of center. 

Above left, outside the Casino Club Building, a historic structure now used for private apartments that has any number of ghosts sharing space with its living residents. Above center, a statue associated with the old Aztec Theater -- I have no reason to think it is haunted but think it would be cool if it was! Above right, front of San Fernando Cathedral, built in the 1700s by Canary Islanders and today the oldest continuously-operating cathedral in North America. 

Above left and center, the exterior of the 18th century Spanish Governor's Palace, once the seat of government for San Antonio and a bastion against Comanche and Apache raiders. Above right, the old Bexar County Jail, which now houses visitors to the city in the guise of a Holiday Inn Express! It remains haunted by the spirits of men executed on its third floor. 

All in all, we had a great, informative, and sometimes spooky evening with Allison and Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours! Anyone interested in learning more about the sites we visited should do the same and check out grim sister Lauren Swartz's terrific Haunted History of Old San Antonio (and, of course, my own book when it comes out in October).