The Ghost of Gracie Watson
Gracie Watson, born July 10, 1882, was the daughter of W.J. and Frances Watson. The couple managed the Pulaski House Hotel, on Johnson Square, Savannah Georgia. In life Gracie would often play in the hotel and entertaining guests, or she would often be seen outside on Johnson Square to playing amongst the trees. She was also the unofficial greeter for the Pulaski Hotel. Guests loved to see her welcoming smile has they entered the hotel lobby. She was affectionately nicknamed “Little Gracie”, by the locals. Unfortunately, 6 year old Gracie died of pneumonia two days before Easter in 1889.
Her parents were understandably devastated. Her father commissioned sculptor, John Walz, to sculpt a marker for his daughter, It was a life sized presentation of Gracie, in Bonaventure Cemetery, where she was laid to rest. After Gracie’s death, visitors to the Pulaski Hotel claimed to have seen Gracie’s ghost in and around the hotel, playing in the Square, running through the tree and even interacting with people. Her mother and the Hotel staff said they could occasionally hear Gracie laughing and playing. Gracie’s father fell into a deep depression not long after the tragic death of his little Gracie. He and Gracie’s Mother gave up their positions in the Hotel and moved towns to start a new life. The Pulaski hotel was sadly demolished in 1956
Because of Gracie’s tragic story, her statue is now a popular place where people visit frequently, leaving gifts and toys as offering to Gracie’s spirit. There are a few local legends surrounding the statue. People claim that if you remove one of the gifts, the statue of Gracie cries tears of blood.
Another legend says that if you put a quarter in Gracie’s hand and circle the statue 3 times, the coin will disappear. Numerous witnesses have claimed to see what they perceived to be a real girl in a white dress skipping through the cemetery grass before vanishing into thin air.
The Statue now has a huge iron fence around it but visitors still leave toys and gifts on the perimeter of the fence. There’s no evidence of Gracie’s ghost or the legends that surround her statue as its all hearsay but there’s only one way to find out if the stories are true and that’s by visiting the statue of little Gracie for yourself.