Located in rural Jefferson, Texas, the Excelsior House Hotel is considered a focal point for paranormal activity. You don’t believe it? Just ask Steven Spielberg.
THE GHOST OF DIAMOND BESSIE
The Excelsior House Hotel.
Excelsior House was built back in the 1850s and has functioned as a hotel since then. It is the oldest hotel in East Texas and—according to some—just one haunted building in a town chock full of paranormal activity.
In the 19th century, riverboat traffic via the Big Cypress Bayou made Jefferson a busy port town. Given that it was back in the wild and wooly West, lawlessness saw many murders occur both in and near the hotel. That brings me around to a woman named Bessie Moore, known as Diamond Bessie.
In 1877 Diamond Bessie checked into Excelsior House with a guy named Abe Rothschild, perhaps her husband, but that was never made clear. This lowlife sometimes had Bessie prostitute herself to support his drinking habit. During their stay they went for a picnic just outside town. Later, Rothschild returned without her, saying that she had gone off to visit friends out in the bayou. Her body was found a week later, a bullet in her head. Rothschild was charged with her murder, but—unbelievably—he was acquitted. Afterward, reports of Diamond Bessie’s spirit haunting Excelsior House became routine.
WHAT ABOUT SPIELBERG?
Joining Bessie in the hotel is a headless man reputed to wander the corridors. (That would freak the crap out of me!) There is also a woman, dressed in black, who floats around with a small child at her side. And hotel guests insist that their bed covers have been torn away as they slept.
Is this one of the hotel’s haunted rooms?
The most paranormal activity occurs in the hotel’s Jay Gould room. The door will open and close on its own, and a rocking chair will do its thing with no one sitting in it.
In the 1970s Steven Spielberg and his crew checked into Excelsior House while he was directing the movie, Sugarland Express. Spielberg had the Jay Gould room all to himself. At some point he tossed his briefcase on a chair. It flew back at him. Then, in the wee hours, a kid awakened the director and asked if he wanted some breakfast, then disappeared. Spielberg gathered up his crew and checked out of the hotel, posthaste. It is said that he based his work on the popular film, Poltergeist, on his experiences at Excelsior House.
All of the above just might be hogwash. But if paranormal activity is your thing, you just might want to check out the Excelsior House Hotel in Jefferson, Texas. If you do, say hi to Diamond Bessie for me.