Ghost Stories

St. Augustine’s Paranormal Places: What’s Locked Up in the Old Jail? The Old Jail in St. Augustine, Florida is listed on the Florida and National Register of Haunted Places. The Old Jail’s paranormal past has been featured on The Today Show, the Syfy Channel and the Travel Channel. These supernatural occurrences include loud banging noises, light orbs, sudden chills and even sightings of moving shadows and apparitions. The history of the jail is sordid and scary, so many tourists and locals flock to the site to experience the haunted tales firsthand. Henry Flagler, a key industrialist in Florida, built the structure in 1891. The same construction company would later go on to build the infamous Alcatraz prison. During its time as a jail, conditions for prisoners were notoriously inhumane, with poor diets and sanitation. The maximum security area housed the most dangerous criminals, and a total of 8 men were hung from the jail’s gallows. All of the violence and death led to many a...

via Judy Kapral on Pinterest Named for the original owners seven daughters, the Seven Sisters Inn are two beautiful Queen Anne and Gothic style Victorian houses in Ocala, Florida. They offer candlelit dinners, gourmet breakfasts, accommodate weddings and even have murder mystery events. A perfect bed and breakfast to get away. You can stay in one of it's 13 themed rooms. One snag though. The inn has permanent guests who will keep you on your toes. Seven Sisters International House (purple) was built in 1892 and was the family home for entrepreneur and influential Ocala citizen Charles Rheinauer and his wife Emma. The couple moved in to the house in 1895 and remained there until they each died 30 or 40 years later. It is believed the house was possibly built on the very spot of a triage nearby Fort King. Her sister, The Scott House (pink) may or may not be on the site where a battle between soldiers and Seminole Indians took place. The original house was built in 1888 but burn...

Photo by: Kevin Brady Built in 1915, The James McCabe Theater is located in the booming town of Valrico, Florida. The Valrico Improvement Association raised $3,500 to build a structure for the group and as a focal point for the community and named it the Valrico Civic Center. By like the 1950s, it was home to a Woman's Club and in the late 1970s, Hillsborough County repossessed the building. The Village Players obtained permission to use the structure for theatrical productions until 1994 when the property was deeded to them. It achieved historical landmark status and received a name change. James McCabe was one of The Village Players founds as well as their former president. After he suddenly passed away, the building became known as The James McCabe Theater. For the past few years, the theater has been experiencing continuous renovations. They rely on donations from generous people to keep this project going. This theater may be the only commercial property from Valrico...

Below is information on the history of the lighthouse. It was provided by Kathleen who may or may not still work in the lighthouse's archives (It's been about four years since I received her email). This is part of a post I published here in 2008. I'm reposting it in honor of National Lighthouse Day. Enjoy! A Tour of the Lighthouse Before the lighthouse we have now there was another one just to the east. We're not sure when it was built (this was a Spanish colony then (1600s). When the British took over in 1763 they made improvements and when St. Augustine became a US territory and later, a state, the US government made more improvements. Eventually the beach eroded so much that it was necessary to built a new tower 1/4 mile inland. The land was bought from locals who owned it . Ballard never owned the lighthouse. It was built by the U Lighthouse Service, which was later absorbed into the US Coast Guard. He was one of the people who owned the land (2 separate p...

Tampa Theatre is the city’s only non-profit theater. Operating costs are mostly covered by its membership program, various corporate sponsors as well as ticket sales. It features a wide variety of independent, foreign and documentary films and has been used as a backdrop for movies, MTV videos and local programming. The theatre was built in 1926 and officially opened on October 15 the same year. John Eberson designed it to reflect Florida Mediterranean including touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor and seats 1,446. Inside, audiences are transported to a lavish, romantic Mediterranean courtyard complete with old world statuary, flowers, and gargoyles. Above them is a nighttime sky with twinkling stars and floating clouds. For decades, the Tampa remained a centerpiece in the city’s culture. People were treated like royalty uniformed ushers and attendants, sole kisses in the balcony and followed the weekly newsreels...

The Stranahan House is the oldest surviving building in Broward County, Florida. Built in 1901, Frank Stranahan was the first settler along the New River. He made the trip to Fort Lauderdale in 1893 due to health reasons. Frank decided to use the site to run his Barge Ferry as part of the new road between Lantana and North Miami. Stranahan was also Forth Lauderdale’s first postmaster as well as a banker and businessman. This trading post for settlers and Seminole Indians soon became a community center and town hall for the area. Frank married Ivy Julia Cromartie, one of the area’s first schoolteacher. The upper floors hosted community festivals and dances until 1906 when it became the Stranahans permanent residence. The house came with modern plumbing, electric wiring, wide porches, running water, interior stairways, and bay windows. Throughout the years, it was remodeled and expanded to represent the original 1913-1915 look. The original furnishings were either sold or given ...

The Seven Sisters Inn are two beautiful Queen Anne-style Victorian houses in Ocala, Florida. They offer candlelit dinners, gourmet breakfasts, accommodate weddings and even have murder mystery events. A perfect bed & breakfast to get away. One snag though. The inn has permanent guests who will keep you on your toes. Seven Sisters International House (purple) was built in 1892. It contains 13 bedrooms each with its own themes, representing the many locations owners Bonnie Morehardt and Ken Oden have traveled to. It is believed the house was built on the very spot of a triage nearby Fort King. Her sister, The Scott House (pink) may or may not be on the site of a battle between soldiers and Seminole Indians. The original house was built in 1888 but burned down. Most of the experiences described are that of playfulness. TAPS discovered this first hand. During a K2 session, something was making it light up in a childish manner. At one point in the evening, Jason and Grant attempted ...

In January, TAPS investigated the St. Augustine Lighthouse for a second time. The first one was eventful and the second was just as good. On occasion, I provide more information on locations TAPS investigates on their show. Two years ago, I posted about St. Augustine Lighthouse. And earlier this year, it was pointed out that some of the information was wrong. Kathleen, who works in archives at the lighthouse, provided a more accurate history: Before the lighthouse we have now there was another one just to the east. We're not sure when it was built (this was a Spanish colony then (1600s). When the British took over in 1763 they made improvements and when St. Augustine became a US territory and later, a state, the US government made more improvements. Eventually the beach eroded so much that it was necessary to built a new tower 1/4 mile inland. The land was bought from locals who owned it . Ballard never owned the lighthouse. It was built by the U Lighthouse Service, which was lat...

The Clearwater Monster has remained a mystery for sixty years. It's a fine example of things aren't always what they seem. In 1946 or '47 a monster emerged from the Gulf of Mexico and wandered around in the dark leaving tracks. Tracks that looked like anything anyone had ever seen before. They were about fourteen inches long and eleven inches wide. They featured a narrow heel and three long toes. The tracks were more birdlike than reptilian, though not entirely birdlike. The news of the discovery made the papers and radio. It was the talk of Clearwater, Florida. Citizens even stepped forward claiming to have seen the mysterious visitors with their own theories of what it was. Clearwater was a sleepy place, something right off a postcard - the perfect stomping ground for the monster. The Clearwater Monster was clever. The fiend left tracks, inflamed imaginations, then vanished. Just when people stopped thinking about him, he crept out of the surf again. This time he kno...

I think from now on I'm going to post stories on Wednesday that coincide with investigations done on TAPS (if I can). This week they got overwhelming evidence. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find much information beyond what was said on tonight's episode. St. Augustine Lighthouse was originally built in 1824 and owned by Dr. Alan Ballard. He was forced to sell it to the government in 1865 because it was thought the ocean would eventually swallow it. After the Civil War, Florida's funds were depleted and offered to buy it for substantially less than it was worth. Ballard refused to sale it. The government threatened to take it via eminent domain and give him nothing. Ballard became outraged and vowed to never leave the lighthouse. Some say he kept his vow and can be seen in and around the property. The keeper, Peter Rasmussen, was always seen enjoying a cigar, and had a reputation for being a very strict manager and quite meticulous when it came to maintaining the ...