{"id":2865,"slug":"sloppy-joes-key-west-florida","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Sloppy Joe's is the '33 — the 'December 5' that's the repeal, the 'Prohibition' that's the ended. The 'Hemingway' is the Mob — the 'Joe Russell' that's the cashed, the 'co-owner' that's the called. The 'Havana' is the name — the 'filthy water' that's the sloppy, the 'Joe' that's the Jose.","The '1937' is the moved — the 'Duval' that's the corner, the 'never closed' that's the carried. The 'six-toed' is the cats — the 'Snowball' that's the descendants, the 'Whitehead' that's the house. Sloppy Joe's is the legend — the 'look-alike' that's the contest, the '85 years' that's the corner.","The file keeps Sloppy Joe's: the 1933 repeal, the Hemingway Mob, the Havana name, and the 1937 move.","Sloppy Joe's is the archive's Key West file — the writer's bar."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Sloppy Joe's is the archive's Key West file — the sloppy's origin.","A bar keeps its mob — the file's suggestion being that Sloppy Joe's hold is the carried: the '1937' that's the moved, the 'never closed' that's the transition, and the 'Hemingway' that's the silent partner."]}],"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["LOCAL_FOLKLORE","HAUNTED_PLACE","HISTORIC_BUILDING","LITERARY"],"groups":["hauntings","legends"],"desc":"Hemingway’s bar—the 1933 original on Greene Street.","full_desc":"A site in Key West, Florida, Sloppy Joe’s is filed here for what the record attaches to it. Hemingway’s bar—the 1933 original on Greene Street. Its signature presence is Ernest Hemingway — the figure the file’s accounts keep returning to. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. 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":2579,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"Hemingway is reportedly remembered at the bar. The lore gives it a name — Ernest Hemingway — which is what turns a report into a resident. The site in Key West, Florida gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. The name gives the haunting a face, and the sightings give the name a job.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"Ernest Hemingway","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":2580,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported a presence in the bar. The site in Key West, Florida gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. Witness accounts, no evidence file: the claim is anecdotal and stays that way. Sources including 'Sloppy Joe’s' keep the claim in circulation. It is the sighting the place is known for, and it hasn't stopped.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"Opened 1933; the Hemingway connection is documented. A documented history gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that spine. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'Sloppy Joe’s'. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry. The lore keeps its witness.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":"1933","date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"Hemingway is reportedly remembered at the bar. The site in Key West, Florida gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. It's a documented legend: the telling is real, the contents remain folklore. Every community keeps one story like this; this is theirs. The file stays open on it.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"Ernest Hemingway","claimed_identity":"Ernest Hemingway","verified":null,"summary":"Hemingway is reportedly remembered at the bar. Ernest Hemingway is what the reports name it. Sloppy Joe’s' file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. The report is preserved in sources like 'Sloppy Joe’s'. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease.","behavior":"Hemingway is reportedly remembered at the bar.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","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":"Sloppy Joe’s","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_Joe%27s","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}