Like many hauntings, this one also started with a scandal. William Balser Skirvin, the original owner, impregnated his maid mistress (named Effie) sometime in the early 1930s, and kept her on the top floor of the building to hide her pregnancy. Even after the baby was born, both were imprisoned on the top floor and never allowed to leave. According to the legend, Effie became so distraught and stir-crazy that she leapt from the highest point of the hotel with the baby in her arms. Guests and employees alike have since heard the phantom cries of a baby and seen a nude female apparition in the hotel, with the former being so loud that some guests report losing sleep.
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