The Walking Horse Hotel is a hotel on the National Register of Historic Places . It is located in downtown Wartrace, Tennessee , and is a part of the Wartrace Historic District . The hotel is in business as such, and also contains the Strolling Jim Restaurant, named for the original owner's World Grand Championship-winning show horse .
10-552: The Walking Horse Hotel was first built in 1917 as a railroad hotel, and was named the Hotel Overall. In 1933, the Hotel Overall was purchased by Floyd and Olive Carothers. In the late 1930s, it was the base for a group of horse trainers, who eventually created the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration , an annual horse show held for the first time in 1939. Because of this, the name was changed to
20-609: A World Grand Championship. Prior to the championship, Melody Maid had won both the Tennessee State Fair and Kentucky State Fair . Carothers' ghost, as well as the ghost of Strolling Jim, is reputed to haunt the Walking Horse Hotel itself, as well as the stables behind it. Tennessee State Fair Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
30-480: A day. The hotel has seven rooms available for rent. Every fall from late September to Halloween , the Walking Horse Hotel is open to the public as a haunted attraction. It is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Floyd Carothers, and in 1995 some guests reported seeing the ghost of Strolling Jim "prancing" around by his old stables behind the hotel. Paranormal activity is supposed to have dropped, however, after Olive Carothers, Floyd's widow, died in 1991. In May 2016,
40-497: A horse training stable in Wartrace. On April 30, 1939, they purchased a three-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse gelding named Strolling Jim for $ 350. Although Strolling Jim had been used as a plow horse by his prior owner, Carothers immediately began training him to be a show horse . Strolling Jim was soon sold to Colonel C. H. Bacon of Loudon, Tennessee , but was left in training with Carothers so he could be exhibited in shows over
50-623: The Hotel Overall. It was closed several years later, renovated again by current owner Joe Peters, and reopened in 2007 with the Walking Horse name. True to its history, the hotel retains many Walking Horse-related artifacts, particularly in the Strolling Jim Restaurant. The hotel was renovated in 2007, and now includes the Chais Music Lounge, named for the owner's late wife, and the Strolling Jim Restaurant, which serves three meals
60-583: The Walking Horse Hotel. The first winner of the Celebration, Strolling Jim , who was owned and trained by Floyd Carothers, is buried behind the hotel. Since 2015, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum has had a framed portrait of Strolling Jim on display. Floyd Carothers died in 1944, but the hotel was owned and operated by Olive Carothers until 1958. The building was sold several times, then renovated in 1995 and reopened as
70-492: The hotel live with viewers through social media. The episode aired on the Travel Channel. Floyd Carothers Floyd Carothers (died 1944) was an American horse trainer from Wartrace, Tennessee . Carothers trained Strolling Jim , the first Tennessee Walking Horse to become World Grand Champion of his breed. He also trained the third World Grand Champion, Melody Maid. Carothers died of cancer in 1944. Carothers
80-537: The second floor of the hotel caught fire. It and the third floor sustained smoke and water damage but were mostly unharmed. The Walking Horse Hotel was featured on an episode of My Ghost Story . The segment was titled "Dead Horse Walking". It aired on the Travel Channel in 2012. The hotel was also showcased as a haunted location on Haunted Live in 2018 as the Tennessee Wraith Chasers investigated
90-401: The summer. The first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration was held in late summer of 1939. Carothers entered Strolling Jim, and the pair won the first World Grand Championship . Soon after, Strolling Jim was sold to a California owner and taken out of Carothers' stable. In 1942 Carothers rode the mare Melody Maid, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Rambo of Fayetteville, Tennessee , to
100-514: Was born in Wartrace, Tennessee to W. G and Minnie Griders Carothers. He was married to Olive Carothers. The couple bought the Hotel Overall, later known as the Walking Horse Hotel , in the early 1930s, and lived on the third floor of the building. Carothers died of cancer in 1944. He is buried in Wartrace, not far from the hotel he owned. Carothers and fellow trainer Henry Davis operated
#225774