Annalisa Netherly & the History of The Read House

WEBVTT

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Southern fried True crime covers cases that
are not suitable for young listeners, and

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there may also be some explicit language
used. Listener discretion is advised. In

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nineteen twenty seven, the city of
Chattanooga, Tennessee, was thriving off the

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back of the early twentieth century industrial
boom. The hospitality sector, in particular

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was enjoying a renaissance, largely due
to the relaunch of a well known local

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establishment called the Red House a year
earlier. Following extensive renovations. The Chattanooga

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institution, which played a seminal role
in the city's development and identity, was

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a popular destination for city residents and
tourists alike. At the time, Extended

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hotels days for out of towners like
Annelisa Netherley weren't unusual. After arriving in

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Chattanooga from San Francisco, the young
woman checked into room three eleven of the

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Red House one morning during Annalysee's stay. Housekeeping staff received a gruesome shock.

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Lying in the bathtub of the three
bedroom suite was Annelisa's lifeless body, her

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head almost severed and her corpse largely
submerged beneath the bloody water. How could

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a young woman so far from home
have come to such a brutal end.

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Welcome to Episode one ninety two,
Annelisa Netherley and the History of the Red

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House. Nestled in the southeast of
Tennessee, at the foothills of the Appalachian

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Mountains and alongside the Tennessee River,
the city of Chattanooga lies just north of

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the border with the State of Georgia, immortalized in the Glen Miller version of

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the nineteen forty one jazz standard Chattanooga
choo Chow. The city came into its

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own in the mid nineteenth century with
the arrival of the railroad. According to

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author Allan Brown and his book Haunted
Tennessee Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer

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State, local businessman Thomas Crutchfield Senior
promised officials from the State of Georgia,

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which owned the Western and Atlantic Railroad, that if Chattanooga was placed on the

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route, he would construct a hotel
to accommodate passengers. Thomas Senior secured the

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perfect spot in the downtown area on
what was then Ninth Street, straight across

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from Union Station. He later became
Mayor of Chattanooga in eighteen forty seven,

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Crutchfield House opened with a three story
hotel, eagerly awaiting its first guests arriving

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by rail from Atlanta in May of
eighteen fifty. When Thomas Senior died that

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same year, the running of the
hotel was passed to his son, Thomas

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Jr. As the local economy boomed
over the next decade, crutchvill House prospered

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as one of Chattanooga's biggest, finest, and first hotels. It became a

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buzzing social hub where both locals and
guests met to discuss pressing matters like politics,

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business, and development deals. But
in the background, political instability was

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rumbling. With the American Civil War
looming on the horizon. Tensions rose in

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Chattanooga on January twenty first, eighteen
sixty one, when former Senator Jefferson Davis

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was on his way back to Mississippi
after tendering his resignation to the US Senate.

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During a stopover at the Crutchfield House, Davis gave an impromptu speech in

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the lobby urging the importance of Tennessee
seceding from the Union and joining the Confederacy.

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Thomas Junior's younger brother, William,
who was a staunch Union supporter loudly

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denounced Davis as a renegade and trader. The heated argument escalated, almost culminating

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in a duel. As the click
of cocked pistols could be heard. Just

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in Tom Thomas Junior spirited his brother
out of the room, narrowly avoiding violence.

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Seeing the riding on the wall,
Thomas Junior made the decision to sell

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Crutchfield House. He continued to enjoy
financial success after the war, opening a

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general merchandise store on Market Street.
Chattanooga itself played a pivotal role in the

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Civil War as a Confederate rail hub
for transporting soldiers, essential supplies, and

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raw materials, with Crutchfield House designated
as local Confederate headquarters. But early in

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September eighteen sixty three, after Union
soldiers occupied the city, the hotel was

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converted to a military hospital for wounded
Union soldiers during the Battle of Chickamauga.

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In one day alone, on the
last of the brutal and bloody conflict,

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around five hundred men were taken in
for treatment. Almost four thousand Union and

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Confederate soldiers died at Chickamauga, including
those who died both armies combined had losses

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of thirty four thousand. Sadly,
many men lost their lives at Crutchfeld House

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during the war, succumbing to their
injuries sustained in battle. Their bodies were

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stored in the basement, which served
as a temporary morgue, but the spirits

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of some never left, leaving an
eerie paranormal imprint on the grounds which pervades

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to this day. I'm going to
pause now for a short commercial break.

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It wasn't just soldiers who died at
the makeshift hospital during this time. According

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to one account, a Union soldier
got into an argument with a sex worker

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in his room over payment and ended
up killing the woman. Even after one

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hundred and sixty years, her ghost
is still said to haunt the historic building.

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Just three years after the war had
ended, the Tennessee River flooded Chattanooga

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in March of eighteen sixty seven,
the largest flood in recorded city history.

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After a four day storm, the
river rose fifty seven feet, inflicting severe

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structural damage to many of the city's
buildings. Streets were at least four feet

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under water, and the lobby of
the crutch Filled House was flooded. This

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flood was the catalyst for the city
raising street level by one story to minimize

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the impact of future flooding. The
hotel's fortunes continued looking bleak when it was

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destroyed by fire just six months later, after ablaze broke out in the oil

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room. Could it be that the
lost and lonely spirits of the soldiers who

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had died on the site during the
Civil War had somehow cursed the building?

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If they had, it did not
deter Surgeant John Reid and his wife Caroline

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from buying the former hotel in eighteen
seventy one, which was now an office

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building on the corner of Broad and
Ninth Streets. Read envisioned turning the premises

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back into Chattanooga's grandest hotel, dedicated
to providing the finest in Southern hospitality.

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The Reds had a hotel in their
hometown on Mcmanville, Tennessee, which burned

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down before they moved to Chattanooga in
eighteen seventy one. On New Year's Day

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eighteen seventy two, the new forty
five room hotel was ready and now renamed

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the Red House. Seven years later, in eighteen seventy nine, John sold

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the business to his nineteen year old
son, Samuel Robertson read. During this

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period, the hotel was again temporarily
used as a hospital, this time treating

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those afflicted by the eighteen seventy three
cholera outbreak, which killed one hundred and

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two people, followed by the eighteen
seventy eight yellow fever epidemic, which claimed

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one hundred and forty lives. From
the late nineteenth century onwards, more improvements

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were made, including electric lighting,
a fourth story, telephones in every room,

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a billiard's room, Turkish baths,
a rail ticket office, expansion to

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two hundred and fifty guest rooms,
and a dedicated retail space on the ground

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floor. But despite all the upgrades
and progress, accidents at the hotel continued

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to claim lives. In nineteen sixteen, thirty year old traveling Nashville salesman Lane

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mcquittie was sitting writing a letter to
his mother died after a hydraulic pressure tank

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burst, ripping through the hotel walls
in a massive explosion. In a separate

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incident, another man died after falling
down an elevator shaft. Despite these tragic

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accidents, like his father, Samuel
Reid was a constant innovator and had bigger

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dreams for the Red House. In
nineteen twenty five, much of the existing

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hotel was demolished, apart from one
twenty rooms, in preparation for Samuel's ambitious

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revitalization plan. The following year,
construction was complete on the ten story,

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four hundred room Georgian Revival style building, costing a whopping two point five million

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or just over forty three million today. On July fifth, nineteen twenty six,

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the fully renovated Reedhouse was officially launched. Appointed with all the latest modern

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facilities combined with luxury, the lobby
instantly conveyed a feeling of grandeur. Its

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soaring arches and magnificent columns beneath vaulted
ceilings with bronze light fixtures, two large

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chandeliers, marble Toronto floors, richly
upholstered furniture, and exquisitely carved Russian walnut

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paneling exuded opulence. The newest wing
consisted of two hundred and eighty rooms,

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decked out with walnut furniture. Amenities
available included a drug store, floor,

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travel bureau, barber shop, coffee
shop, riding room, beauty shop,

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tea room, and two private dining
rooms. Twenty five foot ceilings were a

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feature of the elaborate silver Ball Room, along with Waterford crystal chandeliers, silver

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leaf ornamental cornices, solid silver sconces, and an oak floor, while the

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two hundred and twenty seat public dining
room delighted patrons with crystal light fixtures,

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gold damask drapes, and soft blue
china. The large scale improvements were even

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featured in an impressive eighteen page spread
of the July nineteen twenty six edition of

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the Hotel monthly magazine, including full
page photos and floor plans. But even

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after the hotel's spectacular face lived,
the restless spirits of those who spent their

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last days on the premises continued to
make themselves known. Civil War soldiers who

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died in the former military hospital began
appearing in the mirror of the Silver Ball

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Room when no one else was around, as well as roaming the fourth floor.

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The presence of a very young spirit, perhaps a child, had also

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been reported on the second floor.
Not every guest who checked into the revamped

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Redhouse would check out. When Annelisa
Netherley arrived in nineteen twenty seven from San

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Francisco for an extended stay, no
one could have guessed what would happen.

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Unfortunately, not much is known about
Annelisa. Reports vary as to whether she

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arrived in Chattanooga with her husband or
on her own. Nevertheless, she checked

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into room three eleven on unknown business. There are several accounts of how Annelisa

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met a sorry and gruesome end.
The most off repeated version has it that

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when her husband returned to their room
one day following a meeting, he found

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her with another man. Enraged with
jealousy, he slit Anelisa's throat with a

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razor in the bathtub where she was, almost decapitating her. This is where

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her body was later discovered, her
head hanging over the side of the tub.

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A different version claims Annelisa was a
sex worker who was killed by a

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client she checked into the hotel with
after he found she was entertaining other men.

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Other stories say Annelisa took her own
life after a man she had taken

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a fancy too took up with another
woman, or simply that her husband abandoned

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her for someone else. Overwhelmed with
heartbreak following their rejection, she died by

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suicide. I have no idea how
it'd be possible to die by almost cutting

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your own head off, but the
details in this instance are lost to history.

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To add to the mystery, there's
nothing from this time formally documenting Annelisa's

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death. If indeed her manner of
death was a homicide, it's not even

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clear whether her murderer was brought to
justice. Following Annelisa's death, guests staying

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in room three eleven began reporting all
manner of unexplained occurrences. Unusual noises,

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objects, moving flickering lights, a
heavy and despondent presence, a feeling of

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being watched, touched while in bed, and sudden running water are common as

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our shadowy figures in the room.
Guests often experienced someone knocking on the door,

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but no one in sight when the
door is opened. On one occasion,

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the phone in room three eleven repeatedly
rang for a male guest staying there,

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but every time he picked up,
no one was on the line.

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According to author Alan Brown, in
August of two thousand and seven, a

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couple staying in the room each had
chilling experiences. Around three thirty am one

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morning, the woman awoke to the
sound of something like a marble rolling across

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the bathroom floor before the open bathroom
door closed on its own. The following

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night, her husband had just come
to bed after finishing some work on his

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laptop around three am. Just as
he was drifting off to sleep, he

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saw the shadow of someone next to
the bed, followed by the sense that

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the shadow was pressing its face close
to the man's own. The shadow suddenly

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disappeared before moving to the dresser,
waking the man's wife. To this day,

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Anna Lisa's restless spirit is believed to
haunt not just from three eleven,

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but other parts of the hotel,
especially the third floor. She has also

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said to have been spotted inside the
mezzanine level restroom. Anna Lisa takes an

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intense dislike to mail guests, especially
those who smoke, with many men at

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the hotel reporting their cigarettes and cigars
being extinguished by an unknown force. According

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to author Susan Sawyer in her book
Myths and Mysteries of Tennessee, one hotel

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employee of thirty years had always dismissed
the stories about Anna Lisa until one day

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he saw a confused looking woman in
a nightgown at the open door to room

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three eleven. When the employee returned
with another staff member to help the woman,

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she was gone. The door was
now shut and locked from the inside

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and could not be unlocked for love
or money. Not everyone who stays in

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Room three eleven reports unexplained events or
paranormal activity, but others have found their

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experience so frightening. It's not uncommon
for terrified guests to present at the front

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desk in the middle of the night
requesting a new room. As recently as

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Halloween twenty twenty, a woman staying
in Room three eleven with her husband sought

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assistance just before midnight. She had
found him lying on the floor, shaking

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and cursing people in a deep,
uncharacteristic voice. Staff described the man's behavior

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as something like a possession. Despite
its grisly morbid history, the Reed House

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was still the place to see and
be seen, even if you were an

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infamous mobster. In nineteen thirty one, the hotel played host to Al Capone

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as he awaited trial in Chicago on
federal tax of Asian charges. The notorious

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mob boss stayed under police garden room
three eleven, where Annelisa Netherley died just

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four years earlier, in which the
hotel was having trouble renting out for obvious

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reasons, but now custom iron bars
were installed on the windows to prevent Capone

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from escaping. For the record,
he didn't report any unusual happenings in his

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room. I'm going to pause now
for a final commercial break. Following Samuel

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Reid's death eleven years after al Capone
stayed there in nineteen forty two. The

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hotel changed hands multiple times, and
as the face of travel started changing in

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the nineteen sixties, with motor ends
taking off across the country, the Reid

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House expanded its accommodations in nineteen sixty
two. This cost one point six million

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or sixteen point five million today.
A one hundred and six room, six

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story motel was added in a rear
wing, complete with outdoor pool and parking

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garage, catering to tourists traveling on
the interstate. Today, the former motel

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is known as the Manor Wing.
The Reed House's significance as part of the

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historical and architectural fabric of Chattanooga was
then cemented in nineteen seventy six, when

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it was added to the National Register
of Historic Places. After flying under the

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flag of Best Western, Radisson and
then Starwood Hotels, which runs Sheraton,

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the Reed House was sold in twenty
sixteen to Aveasett Hospitality Group founded by Charleston

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attorney, developer and hotel manager John
Whites from South Carolina, specializing in restoring

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historic properties. They also run the
Todds Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina,

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and a boutique art hotel in Charleston
known as The Vendue. In two thousand

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four, Starwood Sheraton conducted a twelve
million dollar Florida ceiling renovation, opening Porter

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Steakhouse inside the hotel. A twenty
seven million dollar renovation project worth thirty four

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million today commenced, including a complete
overhaul and modernization of all guest rooms.

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The hotel's main entrance was also relocated
from Broad Street back to the front of

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the hotel, where it originally was
on what is now Martin Luther King Junior

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Boulevard. Ninth Street was renamed around
nineteen eighty one, the hotel was returned

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to its former glory, providing guests
with a nostalgic yet tastefully elegant step back

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in time to the jazz era of
the Roaring twenties. The iron bars on

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the windows of Room three eleven were
reinstalled to give guests an authentic experience of

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what al Capone's stay was like,
but things didn't always go as smoothly as

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contractors hoped. In renovating Room three
eleven, for a start, they couldn't

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even open the door, which was
the only one in the hotel that wouldn't

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budge. Even attempts to remove the
handle were feudal, resulting in workers having

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to cut a hole through the door
with a saw. Three eleven was also

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the only room where pipes burst during
renovations in the middle of the night when

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all was quiet. One tiler reported
online that while working in the room,

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there was an uneasy feeling in the
fire alarm kept going off, only ceasing

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when the contractors finished their work.
In twenty eighteen, the Reed House was

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officially relaunched to great fanfare. Two
hundred and forty one guest rooms now had

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modern bathrooms, new furnishings, and
of course the latest TV's and Wi Fi

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access. But one room is styled
differently from all the rest, remaining truly

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faithful to yesteryear with no modern electronics
like a hair dryer, coffee maker,

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many refrigerator, or TV. And
it's entirely intentional. The scuffed gray door

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to Room three eleven can only be
accessed with a physical key as opposed to

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a typical access card. The room
was restored as authentically as possible, looking

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much the same as it would have
during annalysa Netherly stay back in nineteen twenty

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seven. There's distressed hardwood floors,
ornately card Victorian era furniture, including a

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00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:21.440
velvet sofa, a marble topped coffee
table, antique rotary phone, a vintage

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00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.799
claw foot tub, pool chain toilet, and an AM radio for display purposes.

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00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:30.680
The goal was to make Anna Lisa's
spirit fill at home as opposed to

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00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:36.319
future guests. The first people to
stay in Room three eleven following the revamp

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00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:41.400
had a somewhat eventful visit. The
hotel chose these guests by emailing all past

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guests asking if they would like to
stay in the room. According to the

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Hamilton County Herald, the couple were
healthy skeptics and even set up a video

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camera. Apparently, shadows moving at
night were detected. The woman felt something

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grab her wrist in the bedroom,
later developing a large fresh bruise. Later

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00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.039
that night, trying to make sense
of the unexplained noises in the room,

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the woman felt the bed move,
shaking her husband awake. The woman felt

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something brush the back of her neck. The next morning, as the couple

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prepared to leave, the man closed
the door on the living room cabinet,

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which he noticed was open when he
looked again. A few minutes later.

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The cabinet drawer above was fully open
too. But it's not just guests who

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have experienced odd things. In Room
three eleven, staff has seen the pull

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00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.279
chain on the toilet swing back and
forth with no breeze, and the door

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00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:40.920
on the living room cabinet slowly open. Other spirits in the hotel continued to

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show up in photographs following the hotel's
relaunch, According to the Chattanooga Times Free

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00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:49.559
Press, and one picture of a
woman taken inside the new lobby, the

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00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.759
face of John T. Reid is
said to be seen on the wall behind

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00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:57.920
her. On a different occasion,
an employe took a selfie in the hotel's

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offices, now on the base.
Only afterward did she realize that a detailed,

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00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:08.880
yet disembodied hand was resting on her
left shoulder in the picture. The

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00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:15.119
Readhouse celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth
anniversary last year. In twenty twenty two,

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There's no doubt that as the longest
continuously operating hotel in the Southeast,

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it has remained a prominent stalwart of
downtown Chattanooga, its rich social and cultural

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significance spanning the generations. The hotel
doesn't shy away from its spine tingling paranormal

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00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:40.759
history, but instead embraces it as
a living, breathing part of its identity.

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If you're interested in reading more about
the story of Analysa Netherley and paranormal

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00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.400
phenomena at the Readhouse, you might
like the books Myths and Mysteries of Tennessee

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00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:55.680
by Susan Sawyer, Haunted Tennessee,
Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State

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00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:00.799
by Alan Brown, and Ghosts of
the Southern Tennessee Valley by George na Katarski.

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00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:07.119
The Redhouse will actually be booking Room
three eleven in October. Reservations will

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00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:11.839
be based on a lottery. The
hotel will have a dedicated landing page featuring

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00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:17.000
a form for interested guests to enter. The web page will be available to

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00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:22.240
sign up for until September thirteenth.
On September fourteenth, management will conduct random

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00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:30.680
drawings to select the six winners go
to the Redhousehotel dot com slash three eleven

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00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:36.720
dash package. It can be found
under the offer's tab. Included in the

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00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:42.559
package are overnight accommodations in Room three
eleven, complementary valet parking in room,

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00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:48.240
decanter of bathtub, Gin two Na
Lisa, Cocktails at the Bar and Billiard's

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00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.279
Room, Martini and Pearls, pre
dinner amenity, one hundred and fifty dollars

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00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.799
dining credit at Bridgman's Chop House,
and a twenty five dollars Starbucks gift card

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00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:03.799
for breakfast. I will be staying
in Room three to eleven next weekend.

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00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:07.839
Follow me on Instagram for photos of
my stay. I'm very excited to be

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00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:14.200
a part of living history and even
more excited for a visit from Analyisa.

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Southern Fried Truecrime is hosted and produced
by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was

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00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:27.680
researched and written by Jemma Harris.
Southern Fred's original music is by Rob Harrison

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00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:32.720
of Gamma Radio and the original graphic
artist by Colie Horner. If you have

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00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:37.319
any case suggestions, please go to
our website, Southern Fried Truecrime dot com

273
00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:44.240
and click on the listener suggestion tab
or email SFTC Research at gmail dot com.

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00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.039
This is the best way for me
to get those little known cases,

275
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.960
y'all always send me. Please remember
that I do not accept suggestions on social

276
00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:56.799
media private messages, but please come
join our Facebook group Southern Friedtrucrime Fans Discussion

277
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Group, where we swap recipes,
ship Dolly Parton, and share memes.

278
00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:06.440
I much prefer spending my social media
time and our lovely group. We do,

279
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.839
of course discussed true crime, not
just Southern Fraud, but all kinds,

280
00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:12.640
but it is still very much a
Southern lifestyle group. Our group is

281
00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:15.079
a saving funk corner of Facebook,
and by god, we mean it when

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we say no should ass is allowed. It's not just a motto, it's

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how we run the group. If
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subscribe and please tell a friend or
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285
00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:32.480
is available on all large platforms like
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Audible and now YouTube. Until next
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00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:38.160
y'all. Take care