Gracie Watson is a bit of a little legend… and ghost story.
It all started in 1883 when Gracie, the only child, was born to W.J. and Frances Watson. Her father managed the Pulaski Hotel. Gracie would play in the hotel lobby, sing and dance, and play the piano for the guests. She became very popular in Savannah and was loved by everyone that met her. Two days before Easter in 1889, when Gracie was just 6 years old, she passed away from pneumonia. Her father never could move past the grief, and in 1890, he commissioned sculptor John Walz to create a statue from a photograph taken not long before her death. The life-sized likeness of the monument is uncanny and is said to be one of Georgia’s only funerary monuments sculpted in such a way.
Over time, Gracie’s monument gathered more and more attention as people started leaving her gifts, toys, and trinkets. Some people believed she could grant them good luck or that if you took any of the offerings left for her, then her statue would cry tears of blood (this is just a story as far as we know).
At some point the nose on her statue needed to be replaced as it was damaged (the exact cause is unknown). Due to this destruction, safety measures were put in place to help protect her monument. Beautiful bushes were planted around her and a wrought iron fence was put up in 1999. But, you can still go visit the forever-loved little girl who now resides in the Bonaventure Cemetery.
