SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Miss Hattie’s has been wrought with tales of mystery, paranormal activity and mischief of all kinds, which have put it on the map and sent chills up spines.

The building where Miss Hatties stands today was built in 1896 and first bought in 1902 by Mr. and Mrs. Hatton according to Miss Hatties’ website. The intent was to turn the lower level into a bar while living on the second floor. Mrs. Hatton soon discovered a dislike for drinking, however, and not long after the couple was divorced.

In the settlement, Mr. Hatton kept the bar and Mrs Hatton kept the second floor, which she turned into a boarding house. Plans quickly changed once more when she decided that a bordello would be more profitable and so Ms. Hatties was born, becoming one of seven bordellos on Concho Street.

The most popular lady of the night at Miss Hatties was known as Miss Goldie, who was described as a beautiful blonde capable of charming any man who stepped foot into the bordello. Her patrons would pay two dollars (about $71 today) for her favors, which was twice the amount of the other ladies of the bordello.

Due to her popularity, Miss Goldie had her own private room and amassed a collection of trinkets, including war medals, from visiting soldiers.

As the times began to change, the Bordello would shut its doors in 1951, but it wouldn’t be the last time it made its mark on history. As for what happened to Miss Goldie, she was last reported being seen selling flowers on the corner of Concho and Chadbourne. Most believe she eventually passed away impoverished and alone.

New owners would turn the Bordello into the museum San Angeloans know today, complete with the last remnants of Miss Goldie’s spirit, which is said to haunt the second floor even now.

One of the owners would first encounter what was believed to be Miss Goldie’s spirit while repairing her old sitting room. He felt a hand grasp his shoulder and reached up to touch it, believing it to belong to his wife, only to discover no one was in the room with him.

Employees of the jewelry store below at the time would report hearing footsteps overhead despite the museum being closed and locked up tight. Sometimes doorbells would ring when no one was there, and intense cold spots would give people the chills.

All of these encounters eventually led to a paranormal investigation looking to document the activity. They would leave empty-handed after brutishly antagonizing the spirits of the ladies of the night, to no avail.

It is never wise to offend the dead, a lesson soon to be learned by the new owners. The day after the investigators left, one of the owners would lock up the museum and begin driving to his home near the lake. Moments after pulling into the house, he would receive a call from the police that alarms had been going off at the museum.

Heading back to the museum he discovered a motion detector had been set off near the kitchen but no one had entered. He would lock up again and head home, only to get another call about a motion alarm going off, but this time, it was in Miss Goldie’s room. He would again go back and discover no one in the building. Making it into bed this time, the police would call for the third time that night.

As he begrudgingly got ready to go back to the museum, his wife told him, ” I bet your investigator friends upset the girls. You should apologize to them.”

Taking these words with him, he would make his way up the stairs to the Bordello museum to reset the alarm and apologized to the ladies, promising to never again allow them to be investigated. From that night on, he never once had a problem with the alarms again.

Despite the longevity of this tale, many details do not add up to historical records of the time, such as the identity of Miss Hattie herself. The story has some inconsistencies, such as records showing that the Hattons left San Angelo after their divorce and the building was not actually constructed until around 1910. Some have said the tale was spun to create an attraction that would garner more money for the museum.

Tall tale or not, the paranormal activity at this location has been undisputable and while it has remained friendly, it is recommended to be kind to the ghostly ladies of the night or you may end up digging your own grave.

CC Suzy Roberts, Caity Roberts and Carson Kent’s production of Ghost Talks with Be Theater

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