{"id":2864,"slug":"captain-tonys-saloon-key-west-florida","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Captain Tony's is the tree's — the hanging that's in the bar, the 17 who were hanged. The icehouse was the morgue — the '51 building that stored the bodies, the cold that served both. The Sloppy Joe's was the origin — the '33 Russell that's the real first, the '38 midnight move.","The Hemingway was the regular — the '33-'37 evenings that he spent, the urinal that's the cat trough. The Lady is the blue — the woman who killed her family, the strangulation that's the ghost. Captain Tony's is the layered — the icehouse, the morgue, the telegraph, the bar.","The file keeps Captain Tony's: the hanging tree, the icehouse morgue, the Sloppy Joe's origin, and the Lady in Blue.","Captain Tony's is the archive's Key West file — the hanging tree's bar."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Captain Tony's is the archive's Key West file — the tree in the bar.","A saloon keeps its tree — the file's suggestion being that Captain Tony's hold is the hanging: the 17 who died, the icehouse that was the morgue, and the Hemingway who drank."]}],"name":"Captain Tony’s Saloon","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","HAUNTED_PLACE","HISTORIC_BUILDING"],"groups":["dark-history","hauntings","legends"],"desc":"The bar built around the hanging tree—the oldest saloon in the Keys.","full_desc":"Captain Tony’s Saloon is a site in Key West, Florida. The bar built around the hanging tree—the oldest saloon in the Keys. HauntHunt files it with dark history, local folklore and haunted places. The presence its accounts keep returning to is the one they call the lady in blue. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Key West","county":null,"state":"Florida","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":24.565063,"lon":-81.775539,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site","research_notes":"FL batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2577,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"The Lady in Blue is reportedly seen at the bar. Captain Tony’s Saloon in Key West, Florida carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. The account has a collector's pedigree — written down as legend, which is the most honest status it can hold. The report is preserved in sources like 'Captain Tony’s'. Named ghosts are the ones that last — this one has lasted.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"The Lady in Blue","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":2578,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported figures in the saloon. The reports at Captain Tony’s Saloon are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. The claim comes from paranormal investigation work: suggestive results, no accepted proof. The report is preserved in sources like 'Captain Tony’s'. The figure remains the site's most-repeated sighting.","evidence":"PARANORMAL_INVESTIGATION_CLAIM","evidence_label":"Investigation claim","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The building’s morgue and hanging-tree history is documented. A documented history gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that spine. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. The detail is preserved in 'Captain Tony’s'. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The Lady in Blue is reportedly seen at the bar. Captain Tony’s Saloon's file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. It's a documented legend: the telling is real, the contents remain folklore. It's the version the place will be remembered by, whether or not it's the true one.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The Lady in Blue","claimed_identity":"The Lady in Blue","verified":null,"summary":"The Lady in Blue is reportedly seen at the bar. The site in Key West, Florida gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The file keeps The Lady in Blue on the roster; the sightings keep the name alive. The telling survives; the proof stays folklore. The report keeps its place in the record.","behavior":"The Lady in Blue is reportedly seen at the bar.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Captain Tony’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tony%27s_Saloon","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}