Spooky St. Augustine
Pumpkins for Sale by St. Augustine artist Roger Bansemer
Halloween is just around the corner and with almost five centuries of ghost stories to tell, St. Augustine is one of the most haunted places in the US.
Get a glimpse of St. Augustine's ghoulish past at Flagler College, then summon the spirit of Halloween with special events, tours, and dinner at a local restaurant where the former residents never left.
Click the link below to read our blog about St. Augustine's historic cemeteries, important figures laid to rest, and a chilling tale or two.
FASHION & FOLKLORE
Celebrate five centuries of historic fashion and local folklore in the Nation's Oldest City this Halloween weekend.
From October 28-30th, visitors are encouraged to pick a century of fashion and enjoy three days of free and ticketed city-wide costumed events.
Roam the historic streets while professional photographers capture looks from the Gilded Age, Rococo, the 1920s, and more.
Music & Moonlight brings free outdoor concerts at the Plaza de la Constitución throughout the weekend. Professional storytellers and pop-up poets will entertain visitors with haunted tales of the past.
On Sunday, October 30th, Steampunk St. Augustine pays homage to Henry Flagler's love of the Industrial and Gilded Ages with a Steampunk City Stroll, a concert in the Plaza, Steampunk Trunk or Treat, and a Steampunk Revival Dance Party featuring the music of Remedy Tree.
Click the link below for more information.
SPIRIT CENTRAL
Located just outside the City Gates, the Huguenot Cemetery was established in 1821 as the final resting place for non-Catholic citizens. Not long after its opening, the yellow fever pandemic claimed the lives of many St. Augustine residents. With countless sightings, events, and recorded paranormal activity, the Huguenot Cemetery is believed to be the most haunted cemetery in town with gravestones dating back nearly 200 years.
It is said visitors can see a young girl, estimated to be 14 years old, who was left at the City Gates after dying from yellow fever. Her body was never claimed, but she is known to wave at guests wearing a flowing white gown, usually between midnight and 2 AM.
Perhaps the most famous figure in the Huguenot Cemetery is Judge John Stickney who passed in 1882, just two years before the graveyard closed for burials. The honorable judge left behind two orphan girls as their mother had passed years earlier. Once they grew up, they made the decision to exhume their father’s body and re-inter him in Washington, DC to be closer to them.
While being exhumed, gravediggers took a break from the brutal Florida heat, accidentally leaving the casket open. When they returned, the Judge’s gold teeth had been stolen. Fearing losing their jobs, the two workers closed the casket and prayed no one would notice.
Judge John noticed and he continues to haunt the grounds appearing as a tall dark figure searching for the people who disturbed him or the thief who stole his gold teeth.
On the first Saturday of each month, Memorial Presbyterian Church leads free tours of the Huguenot Cemetery from 11 AM until 2 PM.
A LEGEND IN LIFE & DEATH
Henry Morrison Flagler was a railroad and oil tycoon who built the Hotel Ponce de Leon, now Flagler College, which helped put Florida on the map as a tourist destination.
There have been several reports that he continues to stay at the Gilded Age marvel.
Known to be superstitious in his waking life, Flagler requested that all the windows and doors remain open upon his passing to free his spirit.
During his funeral, a large gust of wind came from the auditorium. As the janitor made his rounds, he began closing the doors and windows.
Legend has it, Flagler's spirit was trapped in the building, bounced off a window, and landed in a tile where his face is imprinted forever.
You can find the tile on the lobby floor to the left of the entrance.
A SPOOK-TACULAR EVENING
Let your resident Ghost Host take you on a "frightseeing" adventure around the darker side of historic St. Augustine! Presented by Old Town Trolley Tours, Ghosts & Gravestones is a one-hour family-friendly trolley tour sharing the unnerving tales of the city's past.
Start at Cromwell's Parlour of Paranormal Curiosities to see macabre illusions and equipment. Your first stop will be the Old Jail, built by Henry Flagler and listed on the National Register of Haunted Places as a site of countless paranormal occurrences.
Cameras are encouraged to potentially capture something otherwordly at the historic cemeteries, City Gates, and even the Castillo de San Marcos.
Ghosts & Gravestones has been voted as USA Today's Top 10 Best Ghost Tours and featured on the Today Show, SYFY, and the Travel Channel.
This tour is available 7 days a week and is recommended for ages 13 & up. Reservations are required as space is limited on this very popular excursion.
LURKING IN THE NIGHT
We visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum for the Ghost Tales Tour to find out why St. Augustine's beacon of light has earned a spot on several "most haunted" lists, including Southern Living and Conde Nast Traveler.
With only the light from the glowsticks given to us at the start of the tour, we were shown around the grounds, the Keeper's House, and the base of the lighthouse. Our guides shared the history of the grounds, stories of the people who lived and worked there, and their personal encounters with the souls that never left.
We described the family-friendly tour as "equal parts creepy and informative" as we got a wonderful history lesson, and while we didn't capture any entities on camera, we certainly felt the presence of two former keepers, Mr. Harn and Mr. Rasmussen!
The Lighthouse has been visited by SYFY Channel's Ghost Hunters twice and has been recognized by USA TODAY, BuzzFeed, Conde Nast, and others as one of the most haunted places in Florida and the US.
Click the link below to learn more about the ghost tours at the Lighthouse offered year-round.
THE DOCTOR IS IN
Though the original hospital no longer stands, the exact replica of the Spanish Military Hospital is one of the most haunted places in town. The actual building stood from the late 1700s until 1821 when several water lines under the structure needed to be replaced, revealing thousands of bones buried below.
The North Florida Paranormal Research group suggests the bones are from a burial ground belonging to St. Augustine’s native Timucuan tribe. Many patients and employees of the hospital before its demolition reported an “evil presence” that scared people off and lingered like a "dense fog of death.”
Considering the hospital operated during several wars, it continues to be a hotspot for paranormal activity. People have claimed to hear residual screams and cries in the Mourning Room and some have seen a depression in the bed with no one laying on it. The sick and dying were kept in the Ward where painful groans are heard, misty apparitions appear, and objects are moved.
A FRIGHTFUL BITE
O. C. White's Seafood & Spirits, a popular restaurant at 118 Avenida Menendez, occupies the historic building formerly known as the Worth House. 21st-century staff and customers have reported encounters with the spirits of those who lived in the house hundreds of years ago.
The Worth House was built in 1790 by prominent St. Augustinian Don Miguel Ysnardy, who ran it as one of the first hotels in the city. The coquina structure was eventually purchased by the Worth Family, who owned it for generations. With over 200 years of history, phantoms and unexplained happenings in the building should come as no surprise.
Modern-day witnesses believe they have seen the ghost of Margaret Stafford Worth, whose husband - a decorated military officer - died of cholera in 1849. Left to fend for herself as a widow, Mrs. Worth consoled herself by writing letters to her late spouse and it is said she kept them until her death in 1869. Visitors to O.C. White's claim she has set and reset tables, possibly to assist wait staff.
Her son-in-law, Colonel T. Sprague, has been spotted in the mirrors of the men's restroom wearing a bowler hat. Doors seem to open by themselves, candles are relit after being snuffed out, and salt and pepper shakers slide across countertops, untouched by human hands.
Overlooking the City marina and the Bridge of Lions, O.C. White’s is the place to go for great food with stunning balcony views. The cozy atmosphere is the perfect setting to enjoy fresh local seafood, choice steaks, chowder, pasta, and so much more.
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