Ghost Stories

Haunted hotels and ghost stories were not the main reason I found myself in Reliance, Tn. on a breezy spring day, but regardless, I was intrigued and interested in the history behind the two-story abandoned hotel towering before me.  The supposed history behind the Higdon Hotel begins in the 1880’s when Calvin Higdon discovered an opportunity to be a halfway house for those passing through Polk County on the railroad being built. It would house his family, travelers, and railroad workers. The railroad company soon found this stop to be extremely important, and although the post office was called “Reliance,” it quickly became known as “Higdon’s Station.”  As the town developed, and ferries became roadways over the Hiwasse River, the Higdon Hotel became less of a necessity.  In the year of 1920, the Higdon Hotel shut down.  And that is where the history ends and the ghost stories begin…

Once the Higdon Hotel shut down as a halfway point for the railroad station, it opened up as a boarding house in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  One family, in particular, claims they were sitting downstairs having dinner and reading, when the sound of a heavy chain being dragged across the floor upstairs would abruptly interrupt.  Apparently these occurrences happened more often than not and are rumored to still happen to those to dare to tread in the Higdon Hotel.

The stories continue in the year of 1993, a strange man came to town with the hopes and dreams of renovating the Higdon Hotel and restoring it to former glory.  The locals claim the man was driven away by the spirits that still reside in the edifice.  Evidence of this fact prevails to this day.  Newer plywood boards and a more modern fiberglass shower were discarded on the side of the house where the brick chimney remained.  

Whether or not these ghost stories are true should not keep the wild hearted explorer from finding beauty in the architecture and backstory of the Higdon Hotel.  

From actual county history books, supernatural stories from ghost hunters, or weird lore from the mouths of locals, the Higdon Hotel is an abandoned building that is full of enough adventure and history to keep the stories turning in your head for days to come.