Rankin House
Built for Scottish-born planter and hotelier James Rankin, this high-style Italianate mansion rose between 1860 and 1870, its construction interrupted by the Civil War before it became the finest home in the city. Today the first floor serves as an 1850s-1870s house museum while the Historic Columbus Foundation keeps its offices above, and the gardens host weddings beneath the iron grillwork and flying balcony. Guests at those weddings have reported a soft, unexplained tapping and the fleeting sight of a woman in the rooms, a figure many believe to be Agnes Rankin, James's wife. Some brides have even claimed she lingered close enough to offer them beauty tips before the ceremony, a gentle hostess who seems reluctant to leave her grand home.
📍 1440 Second Avenue, Columbus, GA 31901, Columbus, GA · Get directions