The Lingering Echoes of Polly Barclay's Chains

The Fitzpatrick Hotel has been standing on the courthouse square of Washington, Georgia for more than a century now, its red-brick walls and Queen Anne trim casting long shadows over the town’s oldest streets. But around here, folks say it wasn’t just the fire that cleared the way for the hotel to be built—there are darker stories too. Stories about graves left behind. About spirits that never moved on.

And one name you’ll hear more than any other is Polly Barclay.

Back in 1806, Polly found herself at the center of one of Georgia’s earliest true crime stories—accused of plotting her husband’s murder and sentenced to die. She was beautiful, sharp, and by all accounts sure she’d never see the gallows. But fate had other plans, and her execution would go on to spark one of the region’s most enduring legends. Some say Polly never left. Some say she's still there, beneath the Fitzpatrick, rattling her chains on stormy nights when the wind kicks up just right.

This week, we’re digging into the real story behind the legend—who Polly Barclay really was, what really happened that night outside Washington, and why her ghost might still be walking among us today.

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