THE DRISKILL
Austin Ghost Tours as the only locally owned ghost tour in Austin, Bartlett and Pioneer Farms tells the Driskill Hotels real history and ghost stories as they have been told to us.
Just looking at The Driskill Hotel’s architecture will take you right back to the gilded age of the Southwest, when glamor and oil money reigned supreme.
In the 100+ years that it has stood at the corner of 6th St., The Driskill has hosted everything from inaugural balls to high-profile weddings and many mysteriously wealthy guests in between. Sure, its eye-catching architecture and expensive decor draw visitors in, but the rumors of its ghostly past are what make it an Austin destination not to miss.
HISTORY OF THE DRISKILL HOTEL
The Driskill was built in 1886, making it now the oldest operating hotel in Austin, Texas.
The hotel’s stunning Romanesque-style architecture makes it one of the most widely recognized. Impressive pillars, lofty arches, gleaming white limestone, and marble detailing make The Driskill easy to spot from its corner location in Downtown Austin.
Inside The Driskill, the luxurious decor continues in stained glass lighting fixtures, period artwork, and, of course, more marble floors and pillars. So glamorous is the interior that it’s been a feature in several movies through the ages.
However, before making its way to the silver screen, The Driskill had a long history of catering to Texas’ wealthiest residents. Many of them were enjoying the booming cattle and oil industries of the era. Jesse Driskill, the successful cattleman and socialite who built The Driskill, envisioned it as “the finest hotel south of St. Louis.”
Since then, famous politicians, movie stars, musicians, and artists have put their names on the guest list in fulfillment of Jesse Driskill’s dream. It’s no mystery why The Driskill Hotel has captured the imagination of historians and tourists alike for generations.
HAUNTED HOTEL
Like any high-end hotel, The Driskill boasts excellent in-house cuisine and nightly entertainment for its guests. However, the real entertainment is a little more out of the ordinary.
For years, visitors have encountered haunted happenings in the hotel’s decadent halls.
Take the Original Austin Ghost Tours and discover the true ghost stories of the Driskill Hotel in Austin.
HAUNTED AUSTIN, TX
ABOUT THE ORIGINAL AUSTIN GHOST TOURS
Founded by Jeanine Plumer
Initially when I decided to start a walking tour company in Austin, my intention was to give tours about Austin’s unique history – historic downtown walking tours. While researching the old buildings downtown, the building occupants would mention with surprising frequency unexplainable events taking place that they attributed to a … ghost. I would nod my head and pretend to listen, but really, I had never thought about ghosts in my life. Still, every now and then on a tour I would mention that the building dwellers believed they had a ghost. When I mentioned that, the people in the tour group invariably lit up with interest. It became obvious: they wanted to hear ghost stories! It was then I decided to collect Austin’s ghost stories and create a ghost tour.
Of course the first question to ask is who is haunting the building? It came to my attention that pretty much everybody believed their ghosts came into existence through some sort of drama. Each suicide or murder seemed to be over lost love. Every building was at one point either a brothel or bordello, a speakeasy or gambling hall. Austin’s colorful famed gun fighter Ben Thompson was haunting every bar in the city. What ended up floating around with the ghosts were lots of urban legends, no real facts.
I decided that if I was going to tell these stories, I was going to tell the real story. After all, we don’t REALLY know what is happening, but perhaps by telling the truth I would stay on the good side of the spirits.
What I discovered, of course, changed my life. Whatever you want to call these energies – ghosts, spirits, or souls – they seem to be remnants of people who have lived, died and continue to reside. Why they choose not to leave, or whether they’re unable to, we don’t know.
What you believe is your choice, but I can tell you without a doubt, there is something happening around us everywhere, barely discernible, but very much there. After interviewing hundreds of people, it is clear what ghosts can do is astonishing.
