Haunted St. Augustine: The Ghosts of the Old City
Just in time for Halloween! You know that I have e been to St. Augustine with my girlfriends and my family. However, there’s a haunted St. Augustine that I think you would love to learn about!
During the day, the sun shines on St. Augustine’s charming cobblestone streets and narrow alleys, painting an impression of an idyllic, quaint town. At night, however, as shadows fall, the alluring dark side of St. Augustine comes to light.
America’s oldest continually inhabited city is also one of its most haunted. From pirates to Spanish conquistadors to Native American warriors, St. Augustine has seen everything from bloody skirmishes to disease.
Let’s explore the spookiest, most ghoulish places in St. Augustine, the Old City.
This is a collaboration post with US Ghost Adventures.
Haunted St. Augustine: The Ghosts of the Old City
The Spanish Military Hospital
The Spanish Military Hospital, now a museum, is one of the creepiest places in the city. It’s renowned for the medical practices of the Second Spanish Period, during which time this hospital served only military members. Sadly, there are rumors of medical experiments being conducted unknowingly on innocent patients.
The museum was reconstructed in 1966 according to the way the hospital used to look. Interestingly, the hospital was built on sacred burial grounds, although it is unknown whose spirits are buried there.
Some believed it was the Timucuan tribe, murdered by colonialists, but later findings indicated that it was another tribe that warred with the Timucuans before the arrival of English settlers. Regardless of who they are, they became wrathful when the ground was dug up, both when new water lines were being created in the area in the 1800s and when the museum’s reconstruction was taking place. But, beware, because they sometimes try to take out their anger on visitors to the museum.
Clay County Jail
The Old Clay County Jail was first built in 1894. From escapes to executions, this prison has seen it all. It’s a popular sight for paranormal hunters and is reputed to be haunted by ghouls of past inmates, banned from heaven for eternity. Ghost seekers tell of the creaking sound of doors and the faint echoes of footsteps during their investigations.
The Casablanca Inn on the Bay
The Casablanca Inn may have beautiful views overlooking the bay, but numerous reviews on TripAdvisor attest to its haunted nature. It’s built on Matanzas Bay, which has a long history of bloodshed. In case you didn’t know, matanzas means “killings” in Spanish. It was here that Spanish conquistador Pedro Menéndez slaughtered around 100 French Protestants during the founding of St. Augustine.
In one review on TripAdvisor, a guest reports feeling an eerie presence. Even scarier, a light kept turning on and off, even when it was unplugged!
What many people don’t know is that this hotel was once the epicenter of an illegal rum-running operation during Prohibition. The hotel was seeing red, and to make some extra cash, the manager decided to skirt the law and take advantage of the demand for illegal booze. Although the hotel didn’t have many guests at that time, those who did stay there were illegal rum runners.
Castillo De San Marcos
The Castillo de San Marcos (St. Mark’s Castle) is both the oldest and the largest masonry fort in the US. It has a long history, passing hands between numerous powers, including the British, the Spanish, and the Confederates. It was often used as a prison for hundreds of Native Americans and prisoners of war, and numerous died within its walls.
There have been reports of Spanish soldiers being seen patrolling the grounds in the early AM hours. The ghost of a Seminole prisoner has been seen attempting to leap to freedom over the wall. On stormy nights, lights can be seen going on and off in unusual places, and you can frequently hear faint wails coming from this fort at dusk.
A1A Aleworks
A1A Aleworks is a popular watering hole in St. Augustine, and it’s easy to be misled by its welcoming atmosphere. Because what they probably won’t tell you is that after a hurricane in 2017, when reconstruction was being done, human remains were found interred in the ground underneath this bar.
The bones date back to the 1570s, the early days of Spanish colonialism in the area. So, it’s no wonder that so many regulars at A1A Aleworks have reported strange occurrences, such as finding their glasses empty when they could swear they did not drink it themselves.
If you’re a ghost hunter or you love creepy stories, you shouldn’t stop at St. Augustine. Take a weekend to drive 3 hours north to Savannah and go on a Savannah ghost tour to explore the haunted Hostess City of the South. Together with St. Augustine, it is one of the most haunted Southern cities, featuring haunted buildings such as the 17Hundred90 Inn and the Kehoe House.
Wasn’t that spooktacular!
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