THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The vanished Yarborough Hotel remains part of Raleigh's ghost lore decades after the historic hotel burned in 1928. Stories associated with the property include phantom hotel guests, unexplained touching and a disturbing account of a dark liquid-like manifestation encountered in an upstairs room.
The Yarborough House, later commonly called the Yarborough Hotel, was once one of Raleigh's leading hotels and a center of the capital city's political and social life. The building stood on Fayetteville Street until it was destroyed by fire in 1928. Ghost stories associated with the old hotel survived its destruction and the site remains a stop on Raleigh paranormal tours. Accounts include an apparently deceased guest seen at the hotel bar, phantom hands reportedly touching or waking guests and other unexplained disturbances. One modern retelling describes a woman in an upstairs room discovering a dark pool on the floor that allegedly moved up her arm and changed to a blood-red color before she fled. The former hotel site was subsequently occupied by Hudson-Belk and is now associated with The Hudson mixed-use condominium building. Because the original hotel no longer survives, this entry represents the historic site and its continuing ghost folklore rather than an extant haunted hotel. The current building contains private residences and should be treated accordingly.