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History of the haunted Magnolia Hotel

A Haunting in South Texas

SEGUIN, TX – Looking at the Magnolia Hotel you would not know that it was originally a log cabin built in 1840.

It was built by one of the first Texas Rangers, James Campbell.

Campbell did not get to enjoy the place for too long. During a trip to San Antonio he was ambushed and killed by Indians.

Check out KSAT's A Haunting in South Texas section featuring more frightening stories in the area.

After Campbell, the hotel went through several owners before the Johnson family turned it into a three room hotel in 1844 and added a stagecoach station.

“This is a frontier hotel,” current owner Erin Ghedi said. “Ride the stagecoach up, get off and stay here. So, it’s very unique.”

During this time the bottom part of the hotel was an Indian raid shelter and the first jail in Seguin.

Throughout the years many people visited including the murderer Wilhem Faust.

Faust had planned to go murder his wife while she was staying with the Voelcker Family in New Braunfels.

His wife was sleeping in the same bed as a little girl named Emma Voelcker. When he got there he started stabbing his wife with an axe.

“Unfortunately his wife and the young girl that they used to stay together, they switched places, and so he was actually murdering the little girl, “ Erin Ghedi said.

After committing the murder he rode back to Seguin and spent the night inside the Magnolia Hotel. He was later arrested and charged with murder. Faust was later killed inside a jail in New Braunfels.

READ THE FULL STORY OF WILHELM FAUST HERE.

Erin said since owning the hotel they are trying to figure out the identities of the ghosts that haunt the hotel like Faust.

“I love it when people say if these wall could talk and I go, they do,” Ghedi said.

Check out KSAT's A Haunting in South Texas section featuring more frightening stories in the area.


About the Authors
Erica Hernandez headshot

Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with 15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. She's currently the court reporter and cohost of the podcast Texas Crime Stories.

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