The Spirits of Brookstown Inn

Posted: 06.11.2025 | Updated: 06.11.2025

Originally the first cotton mill in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the historic Brookstown Inn is known for its luxurious accommodations as well as its resident ghosts. Although the Brookstown Inn has a light and inviting feeling today, it was the site of immense tragedy and violent deaths in its early years. It seems that no matter how much time passes, the spirits who lost their lives at the inn centuries ago linger on.

Planning your next trip to Winston-Salem? You can learn all about the city’s plethora of haunted locations by booking a ghost tour with Queen City Ghosts today!

Who Haunts the Brookstown Inn?

Several ghosts are known to call the Brookstown Inn home. A ghost named Sally haunts the inn’s fourth floor, where she met an untimely demise in the 1800s. The spirit of a man named Eddie walks the halls of the inn at night, unable to rest after his horrific death. The apparitions of children also appear late at night, and have even been known to follow guests home. 

Needless to say, the powerful hauntings at the Brookstown Inn make it a destination spot for ghost enthusiasts and lovers of history alike. Staff also acknowledge the supernatural entities who roam the inn, and have their fair share of stories to tell.

History of the Brookstown Inn

Although the town of Salem, North Carolina, was founded in 1766, it would take until 1835 for the city to have its first cotton mill. It was at that time that businessman Francis Fries founded the Salem Manufacturing Company and built a large brick cotton mill. 

The mill opened in 1837 and employed both adults and children to carry out the laborious work of milling cotton. The mill quickly became the most successful business in town and among the first buildings in North Carolina to have electricity.

However, it would only be a short while before the Salem Manufacturing Company fell on hard times. After Fries left the company to begin a new business venture, the mill began to fail for various reasons, namely, unskilled labor. 

By the end of the 1840s, the mill was put on the market. It would change hands numerous times between the 1850s and 1900s, which can lead to increased hauntings in certain buildings.

Over the years, the Brookstown Inn was occupied by an electric company, a tobacco company, and a storage warehouse. In 1977, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its significance in the Winston-Salem community. 

The Brookstown Inn in Modern Times

A year later, the mill was purchased by two companies, and in 1979, the Brookstown Inn Rehabilitation Project began. The plan was to renovate the mill and turn it into an inn, restaurant, and office space. The Cotton Mill Company restaurant opened in 1981, and the Brookstown Inn had its grand opening in 1984. Originally a 41-room hotel, Brookstown would expand to 71 rooms after acquiring the Arista Mill in 1991.

Today, Brookstown Inn offers spacious, light-filled rooms with rustic wood ceilings and fine antiques. In addition to having a relaxing stay, guests may be joined in their room by one of the inn’s many resident ghosts.

Hauntings at the Brookstown Inn

The ghosts that haunt the Brookstown Inn make themselves known in a variety of ways. Guests often report hearing someone walking on the wood floors or children laughing and playing in the hallways late at night. When the guest gets up to investigate, they find the hallway empty. Whispering and shouting have also been heard in certain guest rooms. 

Spirits also enjoy showing up on film. There are countless photos of bright white and green orbs captured in the corners of rooms or on the ceiling. Even more shocking are the photos that show outlines of shadow figures, even though nothing can be seen with the naked eye. One of these shadow figures appears to be a woman in a Victorian dress. 

Sally

The most famous ghost that haunts the Brookstown Inn is Sally. Sally is believed to have been a former cotton mill employee who was murdered. 

The fourth floor of the mill was originally living quarters for employees. One night, Sally got into a fight with another employee on the fourth floor. The woman allegedly pushed Sally down an open elevator shaft, where she fell to her death.

Since then, there have been reports of seeing the ghost of a frail, pale woman with wiry red hair wearing a Victorian dress. One guest said she woke up to find her room filled with light. When she looked over, she saw Sally’s ghost as a skeleton in a gray dress with red hair. 

Other times, Sally will pat the foot of the bed as guests attempt to sleep. In other instances, she will scream “Mercy!” or call out the names of guests. “Mercy!” could have been what she shouted during her deadly flight with a coworker. She is clearly an intelligent spirit if she knows the names of guests.

Eddie

Another well-known ghost is a former employee known as Eddie. As the story goes, a brick wall in the inn needed to be replaced when the building acted as a storage warehouse. While taking apart the wall, construction workers made a horrifying discovery. 

Inside the wall was the skeleton of a man. No one knows how or why this skeleton was sealed in the wall, but its discovery unleashed a haunting. 

Since then, heavy footsteps have been heard in what is now the lobby. One guest also heard someone whispering in their room in the middle of the night. 

Everyone else in the room was asleep, so the guest followed the whispering. They determined, to their terror, that the whispering was coming from inside the walls of the room. 

Traveling Spirits

A guest informed the inn that two ghosts had followed her home. One was a matronly-looking woman, and the other was a little boy. 

She said that the spirits were friendly, and the ghost woman would even whisper in the guest’s ear if her alarm didn’t go off. It’s unclear who these spirits are, but they are likely former mill employees, since both adults and children worked there.

Haunted Charlotte

The fascinating hauntings at the Brookstone Inn are along the many ghostly tales Winston-Salem has to offer. You can learn more by booking a ghost tour with Queen City Ghosts today! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real North Carolina hauntings.

Sources:

• https://brookstowninn.com/about/history-timeline/

• https://www.northcarolinahauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/brookstown-inn.html

• https://www.hauntedrooms.com/north-carolina/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/historic-brookstown-inn