Haunted St. Augustine
TRUTHS OR LEGENDS?
These are some of the legends and truths found here in the Nation’s Oldest City, and quite arguably one of its most haunted as well.
Everything you hear on our Ghost Train Adventure can be verified through documentation on file at the St. Augustine Historical Society. The following are just some of the stories you might experience on your investigation.
“Elizabeth”
St. Augustine’s ghastly gal of greetings is Elizabeth. For nearly two centuries she’s been welcoming visitors with a wispy wave at our City Gates. READ MORE »
“Battlefield at the Fort”
Re-enactors dressed as Spanish soldiers from the 1700’s appear daily to thousands of visitors at our amazing Castillo De San Marcos, but why would one or two of them suddenly materialize only late at night?
READ MORE »
“Harry’s Restaurant”
There’s nothing quite like bay front dining in the elegant courtyard at Harry’s Seafood Restaurant. It is, after all, a wonderful old St. Augustine home from the 1750’s converted into a fine dining establishment.
READ MORE »
“St. Augustine Lighthouse”
Many visitors to St. Augustine feel as if they’ve already visited our lighthouse. The Sy-Fy Network’s “GhostHunters” have been there often…READ MORE »
“Judge Stickney”
Why do people see a man crawling on his hands and knees in one of our historic cemeteries? And why does this man suddenly disappear READ MORE »
“Death in the Castle Warden”
The building that houses the original Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum has not always been Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!…believe it or not.READ MORE »
“Tolomato Cemetery”
Rest in Peace. Nothing new here. All cultures throughout recorded history have acknowledged the sanctity of death, the promise of eternity, and the comfort of memorial. Well, almost all of them.READ MORE »
“Flagler College”
Nothing could ever withstand the will of Standard Oil co-founder Henry Morrison Flagler. The Donald Trump of the 1880’s ran roughshod over any persons, governments, and environments daring to slow the creation of his new Florida Empire…READ MORE »
“Pirates in the Plaza”
We did not hang pirates in 17th century St. Augustine. We didn’t have firing squads either.READ MORE »
However…this tiny, emaciated girl with the vacant stare is gone as quickly as she appears. In fact, she’s been “gone” since 1821 when she and her entire family fell victims to the infamous Yellow fever plague that claimed one-third of our city in just a few weeks time.
Why does Elizabeth’s “wave” carry a much darker message? Why do children see her more often the adults?
As our Ghost Train winds past this jaw-dropping 17th Century fortress tonight, you’ll also hear why metal-detectors are forbidden to be used on this federally owned property. What – or who -could you POSSIBLY find buried under the Fort’s battlegrounds?
Why then would we suggest that women visiting Harry’s might want to steer clear of the 2nd floor ladies room? It seems that some ONE or some THING lurks up there.
Recently, we found ourselves in a sort of role reversal, listening intently to a story told by one of our guests, a person who should know about the haunting at Harry’s. She is one of the restaurant’s managers. As the Ghost Train travels temptingly close to Harry’s, perhaps we’ll share with you her frightening firsthand account.
…and even if you’ve never seen that show you might be interested in knowing that the T.A.P.S. crew (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) labeled this 1874 structure as the “Mona Lisa of paranormal activity”. Hmmmm…
You’ll ride our Ghost Train near the river’s edge tonight and see the beam of the lighthouse piercing the evening sky. Why has the dark figure the “GhostHunters” captured on video been haunting the property for over 130 years? Is the young girl who whistles in your ear happy to see you, or totally unaware of her own tragic death?
In 1882 Judge John B. Stickney was one of Florida’s most respected public officials. His sudden death of typhoid at age 49 left his two young daughters orphans. Although he was one of the last people to be buried at our “French Huguenot Cemetery”, the judge’s body is no longer underneath his spectacular 7-foot tall tombstone. Is the dark, cloaked figure the Judge? What exactly is he looking for? Did his daughters inadvertently sentence Judge Stickney to his eternal fate?
It’s a real castle from the 1800’s, built by Standard Oil’s William G. Warden, and later turned into an elite hotel by Pulitzer Prize winning author Marjorie Rawlings. Tonight’s finale is a foreboding foray inside the Castle Warden, where death came calling in the past and still echoes throughout.
Will you hear the names “Betty” and “Ruth” being whispered in your ear? Were they murdered in 1944 and trying desperately now to reveal the truth? Did police mistakenly label their deaths as smoke inhalation and allow a murderer to escape justice?
And why WOULDN’T your EMF meters engage in a delightful dance of death? Rosaries of human bones, real shrunken heads, blood spilled into Sumatran soul boats – these things are all around you now. And, after all, didn’t they once belong in and to someone else before Robert Ripley whisked them half a world away to ultimately be displayed here? You’re never truly alone in the Castle Warden.
Was a burial site from a millennium ago disturbed here at the Tolomato Cemetery? Could the Spanish Catholic dead from the 1700’s have enraged the one here who does NOT rest peacefully? And why did your camera just go dead? Why can’t the train driver please speed up?
When the Ghost Train glides past this not-so-silent spot tonight, double check your batteries and have your EMF meters at the ready.
…beautifully crowned here in St. Augustine with the opening of his grand Ponce De Leon Hotel in 1888, the Spanish Renaissance goliath that is now Flagler College’s main building.
But one person thought they could. One person tried to kill Henry Flagler. Twice. His 2nd wife, Ida Alice Shourds, was a woman who was said to often play the “planchette”, an 1880’s precursor to the Ouija Board.
Her attempts failed in life, but is she having better luck in the after-life? Is she the reason an old man might barge into a certain young lady’s dorm room tonight, convinced she is his deranged wife?
What DID we do to any belligerent buccaneers unlucky enough to get caught pilfering from the Spanish treasure fleet? Let’s just say you shouldn’t be surprised if you feel a chill racing down your spine tonight when the Ghost Train Adventure cruises past our Plaza De La Constitucion. Yes, even if it was 94 degrees today.
