South — open filings

Open to visit in Florida

58 dossiers in Florida carry the open to the public filing — the legend is on record and the door, per the last source, is open. Access is a filing, not a guarantee: hours, tickets and seasonality live with the venue. Everything else in the archive stays documented but admired from the legal distance.

58 open dossiers9 counties coveredSt. Augustine Lighthouse — deepest file

Also open:New York132 Virginia113 Ohio105 Arizona101 Pennsylvania96 Michigan93 Maryland93 Hawaii87 Illinois82 Texas79

High confidence

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine, Florida

The museum presents lighthouse ghost stories and investigation experiences.

4 claims · 3 legends→

Historic Settlement

Koreshan Unity Settlement

Estero, Florida

Surviving members transferred settlement land to Florida in 1961.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Sculpture Garden

Coral Castle

Homestead, Florida

Ed Leedskalnin single-handedly quarried and moved 1,100 tons of oolite—how is still argued.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Don CeSar

St. Pete Beach, Florida

The pink palace of St. Pete Beach—Gatsby-era resort with a founder’s ghost.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Tampa Theatre

An indexed operator excerpt describes alleged spirits of employees and patrons.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Casa Monica

St. Augustine, Florida

The 1888 Moorish hotel—Flagler’s neighbor, revived.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Cathedral Basilica

St. Augustine, Florida

The 1797 cathedral—America’s oldest Catholic parish.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Key West Cemetery

Key West, Florida

"I told you I was sick"—the 1847 cemetery at the island’s heart.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Fort Zachary Taylor

Key West, Florida

The 1866 fort that held the Union at the Confederacy’s edge.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Curry Mansion

Key West, Florida

The 1899 mansion of Florida’s first millionaire—still a family home.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Edison and Ford Estates

Fort Myers, Florida

The neighbors’ winter estates—Edison and Ford’s Florida.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Rosewood

Cedar Key, Florida

January 1923—the town erased from the map.

2 claims · 1 legend→

The Vinoy Resort

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Pete’s pink 1925 resort—the salesman who leapt and the spirits of the Roaring Twenties.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Pensacola Lighthouse

Pensacola, Florida

The 1859 Gulf light with a keeper’s bloodstains legend.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse

Jupiter, Florida

The 1860 inlet light—Civil War darkening and a keeper’s ghost.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Castillo de San Marcos

St. Augustine, Florida

The 1672 coquina fortress—the oldest masonry fort in the U.S.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Ponce de León Hotel

St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler’s 1888 Spanish palace—now Flagler College.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Fountain of Youth

St. Augustine, Florida

The 1513 landing park—the spring that made the legend.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Old Jail

St. Augustine, Florida

The 1891 jail built to look like a hotel—Pinkerton’s disguise.

2 claims · 1 legend→

González-Alvarez House

St. Augustine, Florida

The "Oldest House"—St. Augustine’s oldest surviving dwelling.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Palace Saloon

Fernandina Beach, Florida

Florida’s oldest bar—1903, and the ship captains still drink.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Biltmore

Coral Gables, Florida

The 1926 tower hotel—the Fatty Arbuckle floor and the dead veteran.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Ernest Hemingway House

Key West, Florida

The 1851 house where Hemingway wrote—and the six-toed cats remain.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Captain Tony’s Saloon

Key West, Florida

The bar built around the hanging tree—the oldest saloon in the Keys.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Sloppy Joe’s

Key West, Florida

Hemingway’s bar—the 1933 original on Greene Street.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Ca’ d’Zan

Sarasota, Florida

The Ringlings’ Venetian palace on Sarasota Bay—1926.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Arcadia Opera House

Arcadia, Florida

The 1906 opera house—where the fire’s dead are said to watch.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Everglades

Homestead, Florida

The River of Grass—the sawgrass sea and the Skunk Ape’s country.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Ocoee

November 2-3, 1920—the Election Day massacre.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Fort Pickens

Pensacola Beach, Florida

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Egmont Key

St. Petersburg, Florida

The US Army detained Seminole people here before forced removal in 1858.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Fort Former Prison

Fort Jefferson

Key West, Florida

Unfinished island fort used as a Civil War military prison.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Historic House Museum

Stranahan House

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

1901 trading post—Fort Lauderdale’s oldest building and its most haunted.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Cultural Center

Thomas Center

Gainesville, Florida

1910 hotel-turned-cultural-center with a Red Room ghost.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Bok Tower Gardens

Lake Wales, Florida

1929 carillon tower on Iron Mountain—Edward Bok’s birdsong sanctuary.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Historic Mansion

Ca’ d’Zan (Ringling)

Sarasota, Florida

John Ringling’s Venetian-Gothic palace on Sarasota Bay.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Fort Matanzas

St. Augustine, Florida

1742 coquina fort guarding the inlet where 245 Frenchmen were massacred.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Fort Clinch

Fernandina Beach, Florida

1847 Third System fort guarding the Amelia River—never finished, never tested.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Lightner Museum

St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler’s 1888 Alcazar Hotel turned museum—haunted by a woman in white.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Myakka River / Skunk Ape country

Sarasota, Florida

Florida’s swamp sasquatch—famous for the 2000 "Myakka photos."

1 claim · 1 legend→

Vizcaya

James Deering’s 1916 Italianate palace on Biscayne Bay.

1 claim · 1 legend→

Gulf Breeze UFO site

Gulf Breeze, Florida

The 1987–88 photo case that divided ufology.

Versace Mansion (Casa Casuarina)

Miami Beach, Florida

The Ocean Drive mansion where Gianni Versace was shot on his steps.

Freedom Tower

The "Ellis Island of the South"—where the Cubans were processed.

Fort Jefferson National Monument

Dry Tortugas, Florida

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Key Biscayne, Florida

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Fort Mose

St. Augustine, Florida

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Angola Maroon Community

Bradenton, Florida

NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.

Full Florida record → state index· Sleep over → haunted stays· Every open file → the open shelf

Record last amended October 2, 2026