The tour doesn’t go inside the muse-um, so I return the next day for a visit. Though no executions ever took place here, the jail operated until 1978 and stands as a well-preserved relic of criminal justice history. Next we visit the Hood County Museum, also known as the Old Jail Museum, a stout two-story limestone brick building built in 1885, including a tower believed to be an unfinished gallows. “I like to think Mary Lou is still here taking care of her guests,” Herr says. Guest reports have included sudden drops in temperature, the ceiling fan coming on randomly, and even the feeling of being shaken awake in the middle of the night. Nutt House Hotel guests who are interested in paranormal activity can request the Mary Lou Watkins Suite, a cream-colored room appointed with antique furnishings. The experience inspired them to create the Ghosts and Legends Tour. Herr says they heard her laughter, saw the apparition of a lady in a long dress, and witnessed her curious mischief-doors opening and closing, and closets being locked. It was here that Herr and her mother, Coletta Henderson-both former employees of the restaurant-encountered the ghost of Watkins. “Mary Lou’s influence can’t be overstated,” Herr says. She is credited with revitalizing Granbury’s town square, and her statue sits across the street from the hotel. In the 1960s a descendant of the Nutt family, the late Mary Lou Watkins, operated a restaurant in the hotel building. In its 1920s heyday, the Nutt House Hotel was a luxurious destination for Texas travelers. In 1910, they made the building into a hotel with 10 rooms and two separate bathrooms for men and women. The Nutt brothers-David Lee, Jesse, and Jacob-opened a mercantile in this building in 1893. This hotel takes its name from the Nutt family, Hood County settlers who arrived in Granbury from Tennessee in 1858. #Granbury opera house windows#Our first stop is the Nutt House Hotel, constructed of hand-hewn Texas limestone bricks with a row of arched windows on the second story. Then we set off for a tour around the square to explore some of the stories that give this city its rich historical character, and with any luck, to catch a glimpse of a ghost. “Granbury may be where Texas history lives,” says Herr, referring to the town’s motto, “but we prefer to say it’s where Texas history never left.”Īdorned in a gothic gown of black and maroon and a sheer black cape, Herr warns us of eerie sightings and inexplicable happenings during her tours-ghostly orbs caught on cameras, cell phones turning off or playing random music for no reason. Looming above us, the 1891 Hood County Courthouse takes on an orange glow, and my eyes wander up to the charcoal-colored clock tower punctuated with wrought iron filigree, a perfect Hitchcockian backdrop. Call 81.ĭusk ushers in a feeling of suspense as I gather with seven other visitors on Granbury’s downtown square for the Granbury Ghosts and Legends Tour, a walking tour led by Brandy Herr, author of Haunted Granbury. The tour lasts one hour and is designed for all ages, so nothing is too scary. Tickets cost $10 per person $7 for children 12 and younger. The Granbury Ghosts and Legends Tour runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7 and 9:15 p.m. But as the sun goes down, a shroud of mystery sets over this affable North Texas town. Find history – and possibly hauntings – at the Hood County Museum, which occupies the 1885 jail building.Granbury is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone’s business-and if the locals don’t know you yet, they’ll find out soon enough.
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