HGB Ep. 565 - Haunted Cedar Key and the Island Hotel

Moment in Oddity - Frog Milk (Suggested by: ?)

Throughout history, many methods of food and drink preservation have been discovered. Prior to the invention of modern refrigerators, preserving things like milk proved to be challenging. However, centuries before modern refrigeration, the people of Russia and Finland discovered a strange method for keeping milk fresh and free from bacteria. It just so happens that the body secretions of their common frogs have many antibacterial properties. Although the idea of preserving milk with frogs was considered folklore, scientists in Moscow announced this discovery back in 2012. Apparently, Russian brown frog's skin secretes peptides that have antimicrobial compounds that help reduce the growth of fungi and bacteria. The scientists even discovered that the slime of these amphibians can even be as effective as certain pharmaceuticals against bacteria like salmonella and staphylococcus. Now, we don't recommend grabbing some random frog and popping it into your milk to help it last longer. Nor do we recommend licking one because you're worried about a possible bacterial infection. But a fascinating amphibian fable that turns out to be factual certainly is odd.

This Month in History - Christopher Columbus Discovers Puerto Rico

In the month of November, on the 19th, in 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Puerto Rico. Columbus was on his second voyage to the New World and arrived on the island with approximately 1,300 men and 17 ships. He named the island San Jaun Bautista to honor Saint John the Baptist. The explorer encountered the indigenous Taino people who called their island Borinquen and themselves, Boricua. In the beginning, the Taino people were friendly with Columbus and his men, sharing gifts and food and showing the explorers how they lived. Unfortunately, Columbus and his men soured the relationship with the island people by forcing them into labor and slavery. As interrelations continued to decline, smallpox took hold of the natives wiping out a majority of their people. The first European settlement on the island was established by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1508. The settlement was called Caparra. By 1521, the island was renamed Puerto Rico which means "rich port" and that port city became San Juan.

Haunted Cedar Key and the Island Hotel

We originally featured the Island Hotel and Restaurant in Cedar Key, Florida back on Ep. 36 in 2015. In November 2024, we stayed overnight and did a little investigating and while our experiences were subtle, it does seem that paranormal activity does occur here. The building was originally built in 1859 and used as a general store and it was built to last. The building material that was used was Tabby, which is a mixture of oyster shells, sand and limestone, and the structure has lasted 165 years. The most recent hurricanes to hit the area, particularly Hurricane Helene, only caused slight wind damage to the structure. The building has passed through the hands of many owners, some of whom may still remain in the afterlife. People claim there are as many as thirteen ghosts here. The rest of Cedar Key did not fair well during Hurricane Helene, but we still enjoyed the surroundings of what seems to be a very haunted island. Join us for the history and hauntings of the Island Hotel and Cedar Key!

Cedar Key is located just south of the mouth of the Suwannee River. This is actually a group of barrier islands, despite being referred to as just Cedar Key. The islands derived their name from the Eastern Red Cedar that once grew abundantly in the area. It is believed that Archaic indigenous people were here, followed by the Woodland Indians. These groups left behind shell mounds that can still be visited at Shell Mound Historic Site. When the Spanish arrived, the Timucua tribe were here and they were decimated by the Spanish when they arrived in the 1500s. The Cedar Keys would go on to be used by several groups including the Seminoles and pirates. The United States Army established itself on Cedar Key in 1839 by building a fort there where a garrison was headed by General Zachary Taylor. A hurricane in 1842 chased the army away. That same year, Congress passed a law called the Armed Occupation Act. The bill was a blatant attempt to run the Seminole off and bring more white people to Florida.

It would be the Florida Railroad that would bring big changes to Florida and in particular Cedar Key. The President of the Florida Railroad was also a United States Senator, David Levy Yulee. Yulee was a Jewish Moroccan, making him the first ever Jewish Senator. Because he was the president of the Florida Railroad, he was nicknamed the "Father of Florida Railroads." Yulee had bought Way Island, which was part of the Cedar Key group, to have a place for the railroad's terminal facilities. Cedar Key would become the railroad's western end of the line. The first train arrived in 1861.

Because the railroad meant prosperity, several people took interest in establishing homes and businesses there. Major John Parsons bought some land and began construction on the building that would one day become the Island Hotel. The structure was built from Tabby as we said and massive 12-inch oak beams secure the frame of the structure in the basement. Parsons partnered with a man named Francis E. Hale and when the building was finished, they named it Parsons and Hale's General Store. Unfortunately, just as the general store was ready for opening and business seemed ready to grow in Cedar Key, the Civil War started. It brought a halt to all growth and it brought war to Cedar Key. Union troops invaded the area and they burned nearly every building. The general store was left alone because the Union saw it as a strategic point for a headquarters. Cedar Key was near a major port and the general store provided shelter, supplies and storage.

Major Parsons joined the war effort and he served as a commander of some Confederate volunteers. He and his men defended the Gulf Coast and soon the Confederates were able to take back Cedar Key and they then used the general store as a barracks. The war ended and Parsons returned to Cedar Key where he and Hale reopened the general store. Parsons and Hale ran shipping from the general store and supplied the area with everything from furniture to oil to hardware to food to building supplies. The Cedar Key Post Office and the customs house were also inside the general store. At some point, Parsons and Hale decided to offer boarding at their place and John Muir is one of the people who may have stayed there. Muir is considered the father of America's National Park System. Cedar Key was the finish to his thousand mile walk, which he had started in Indiana and this walk was his attempt to study and enjoy the natural landscape. He wrote of this adventure in his book "A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf" and in it he recounts stepping into a little general store in Cedar Key. President Grover Cleveland is also rumored to have stayed at the Parsons and Hale's General Store on a return trip from Cuba. Times were very good, but they would not last.

Parsons died in 1888 at the age of 71. Florida is known for hurricanes and a big one hit Cedar Key in 1896. Most of the town was destroyed and despite the fact that the general store was built from almost indestructible tabby, it did suffer damage. A fire roared through the town a few years later and then the business collapsed. Cedar Key had hit rough times. Francis Hale died in 1910 and the property went to Langdon Parsons, Major Parsons nephew. He decided to sell the building in 1915 to a man named Simon Feinberg. Feinberg had no use for the general store and he turned the building into a full fledged hotel he named Bay Hotel. Feinberg added a second floor balcony and reconstructed much of the inside. Marcus Markham managed the operation with his wife.

On May 11, 1919, Feinberg died in the hotel under very mysterious circumstances. Feinberg was a religious man and he supported the efforts of the Temperance Society, a group heading up the effort to bring Prohibition. Prohibition had not been made law yet, but President Woodrow Wilson had already called for a temporary wartime prohibition in 1917. Feinberg had gone to the Bay Hotel to collect money from the manager and was dismayed to find out that the manager had been running a whiskey still in the attic. There was a false roof about twelve inches below the real roof and this concealed the copper pipes used for the still. The manager wanted to placate Feinberg, so he treated him to a wonderful meal and then Feinberg retired to the hotel and went to sleep. He never woke up.

The hotel would filter through the hands of several owners after the death of Feinberg. The building became known as the Cedar Key Hotel and then later was renamed Fowler's Wood after a new owner. It was the hotel's tenure as Fowler's Wood that it would become a brothel and speakeasy during the 1930s. A Mr. Crittenden managed the hotel at this time. In 1932, the railroad stopped running to Cedar Key and economic depression hit the area once again. Times were so tough for the hotel that it went into foreclosure. The owner took the foreclosure pretty hard and tried to burn the building down three different times. His plan might have worked had he stopped to remember that the fire department was right across the street. The fire was extinguished every time.

Ray Andrews bought the property at the end of the 30s and had his sister and her husband manage the place. It was here that most of the residents of Cedar Key heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1945, the King Neptune lounge was added to the hotel. The hotel would experience a renaissance and one of its grandest times when in 1946, Bessie and Loyal "Gibby" Gibbs purchased the hotel. It was in bad shape and they renovated it and reopened it as the Island Hotel. The couple added their unique flair to the place and Gibby kept bar. The townspeople loved to gather at the bar, as did visitors. Some of those visitors included Pearl Buck, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Frances Langford, Richard Boone and Myrna Loy. In 1948, the couple hired an artist to paint murals in the restaurant and bar and upstairs. The restaurant had a great reputation as well and was known as a place to eat the freshest seafood and vegetables around. Bessie created many of the recipes cooked by their chef Catherine "Big Buster" Johnson and she chastised any patrons who did not eat their vegetables. She is credited with creating the signature dish for the restaurant with Big Buster. That dish is Heart of Palm Salad and the restaurant still serves it. The recipe includes slivered lettuce, slivered palm hearts, pineapple chunks, chopped dates, chopped crystalized ginger that is covered in palm dressing made from mayonnaise, vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and green food coloring.

In 1950, Hurricane Easy hit Cedar Key and ripped the roof off of the Island Hotel. The upstairs room was water damaged as well as the King Neptune mural in the bar. The couple added the nearly wraparound veranda on the second level in 1958 and they filled it with rocking chairs. Gibby Gibbs died in 1962 and while Bessie had just lost her love and her rock, she forged forward with continuing to run the hotel. Gibby's body was cremated and his ashes spread at Channel Marker 32. Everyone called Bessie "Miss Bessie" and she was beloved on the island. She had a big personality and didn't put up with any nonsense. A drunk who came into the lounge filthy was quickly ushered out by Miss Bessie and she handed him a bar of soap. Miss Bessie got involved in the community in many areas. She helped establish a museum, she fought to keep the oldest house in Cedar Key from being demolished and the hotel served as a de facto Chamber of Commerce for the city of Cedar Key. The city gained not only prominence in Florida, but at a national level as well. Miss Bessie served as a City Commissioner, Judge, Fire Chief and Mayor. On top of all that, she ran the Island Hotel successfully until 1973. 

Arthritis was getting the best of Miss Bessie by that time and two back operations had left her in a wheelchair. She sold the hotel to Charles and Shirley English and bought a little wooden cottage on Hwy. 24. Bessie would die tragically in a house fire two years later and her remains were cremated and laid at sea with Gibby. We ended our trip on Cedar Key with a visit to the Cedar Key Cemetery to see Miss Bessie's cenotaph. The Englishs did not last long and they sold the hotel to Harold Nabors in 1978. Nabors remodeled the bar and made that his main focus, letting the restaurant and hotel fall by the wayside. In 1980, he sold the operation to Marcia Rogers and she refocused efforts on the restaurant once again, hiring Chef Jahn McCumbers. The restaurant again became a place known for its food. Singer Jimmy Buffett became a frequent guest at the Island Hotel during the 1980s and gave impromptu performances in the Neptune Bar. The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Marcia got a little New Agey at this time and closed the Neptune Bar to the public and made it into a coffee and juice bar where she hosted things like the Full Moon Wakefulness Retreat. Cedar Key residents burned her in effigy in front of the post office in response. And that's not surprising because the locals love this lounge and it was very busy on the Saturday night we stayed there.

Tom and Allison Sanders bought the place in 1992 and cleaned it from top to bottom and reopened the Neptune Bar after they fully reconstructed it, covering it with a Cedar Key cedar top. The Island Hotel became a social center once again and the restaurant continued its reputation for good food still under Chef Jahn McCumbers. Dawn Fisher and Tony Cousins moved to Florida from England and they purchased the Island Hotel in 1996. The couple would focus on refurbishing the hotel and added private bathrooms to every room. Central heat and air was also added, bringing the hotel more up to date. Televisions and phones were still kept out of the rooms to retain the hotel's charm and that continues today. While redecorating the dining room, the couple hired a colorist to help them decide which colors to use. They chose a lilac and plum with a pine ceiling. Dawn got the shock of her life when Bessie Gibbs' nephew came to visit and showed her a bunch of old photos. One of the photos was in color and featured the dining room. The colors that Bessie had chosen to paint the dining room were the same ones that the dining room was repainted with by Dawn.

Dawn and Tony got married and had a child and realized that the hotel was too much for them, so they sold it in 2001 to Bill and MaryLou Stewart. The Stewarts had been born in Florida, but they had both ended up in Texas. They retired and decided to return to Florida. Things at the hotel seemed fine at first, but in 2002, the couple abruptly fired the entire staff, boarded up the place and ran back to Texas. The Cousins took back ownership and reopened the hotel and restaurant. They then sold the place to Andy and Stanley Bair, who still own it today. They refreshed the place and have run it for the past twenty years. Stanley writes of their adventure, "We returned to the States in August 2003 and began a search for 'that one last quiet, undeveloped spot' that might be still found in Florida. We stumbled onto Cedar Key and the Island Hotel. We immediately knew we had found what we were looking for. The wonderfully quaint island and the manner in which they welcomed us has been a bonus beyond our wildest dreams. We are greeted every day by friendly, smiling faces. Our first few weeks were spent giving the hotel a face lift. We painted the downstairs lobby and replaced worn out furniture throughout the hotel. A new bath/shower was added for room #27. The hotel quickly came back to life, and I do believe even the ghosts are smiling. It is as if they had spent the day at a beauty parlor! Our staff is excited about the 'new look' and they have reason to be proud of 'their' hotel again."

The Island Hotel has ten rooms and operates as a bed and breakfast, so there is a complimentary breakfast in the morning. Get the french toast - you won't be disappointed. All the rooms are decorated differently with antiques and each has their own private bathroom. Rooms 27 and 28 have the bathroom across the hall from the room, which can be a little inconvenient, but we didn't mind. Although there are no televisions or phones in the rooms, there is Wi-Fi. As one can see, the hotel has passed through many hands, but it has never lost its character. Its spirit has continued to thrive and now some say that spirits from the past remain here at the Island Hotel. Thirteen spirits to be exact. Let us introduce you to the thirteen ghosts. As described earlier, Native Americans lived in the area before the Island Hotel was built. Three spirits have not been described by anybody, but psychics claim that they are there. Then there are two spirits of Native Americans that have been seen in the hotel at various times. A fisherman has made an appearance and another specter has been described as tall and thin. None of these spirits is very well known, but the rest of the thirteen are seen more often and have made themselves known.

One of these is a young black boy. When the Island Hotel was Parsons and Hale's General Store, this young man of nine was given the job of stock boy. He would stock shelves and keep the store clean. One day, something went missing in the store and the manager accused him of stealing. Whether the boy actually stole anything is not known, but he was scared and ran away and hid. The location he chose to hide in was a bad one. It was a five foot deep, 2,500 gallon cement cistern in the basement of the store and he drowned. No one knew what happened to him until his skeleton was discovered in the cistern a year later. The young boy's ghost continues to haunt the basement. Although, Kelly thinks she had him interacting with her on the dowsing rods in our room on the second floor.

There is another female spirit that is described as a small-waisted woman wearing a long black dress with a modest black hat. She has been seen in the downstairs by staff and guests for decades. This spirit is usually holding a pitcher of water. She is thought to have been a woman who ate at the restaurant and then died on her way home when her carriage overturned. This spirit and the little black boy are thought to cause puddles in the hotel. One of these puddles kept appearing under a bed. Sometimes water would be dripping down from the bed frame, but the bed and bedding were dry. On another occasion, a mother came to the hotel so her daughter could write a paper on the ghosts of the hotel. This mother was amused by the whole idea of ghosts until a staff member took them to the puddle room and a puddle of water formed at the mother's feet. When the staff member pointed this out, the mother screamed, grabbed her daughter and ran from the hotel.

The most seen ghost at the hotel is that of a Confederate soldier who apparently died on the property for unknown reasons. Had he been wounded or did something sinister take place? His ghost seems to like to take early morning walks and is often seen in the early morning mist that blankets the coastal location. He is seen standing at attention near the doors leading to the stairs, also. Some have wondered if the apparition is that of Major Parsons who had led a Confederate garrison.

As we talked about earlier, Simon Feinberg had died at the hotel under mysterious circumstances. Had his meal been too rich and caused him to have a heart attack or was someone trying to protect their whiskey still and made sure he would not interfere with operations by killing him? Was he poisoned? Feinberg seems to be at unrest. Hotel guests have seen him walking the halls and heard disembodied footsteps. Feinberg is called the "Wandering Ghost" for this reason. He has been seen in Room 27, which is the room where he died. He also seems to like the kitchen pantry.

Room 27 seems to be the most active area of the hotel, which is why we booked that one. Besides being haunted by former owner Feinberg, a prostitute from the brothel days hangs out in this room and the adjacent Room 28. She had worked here during the Depression and it is believed she was murdered. Male guests have had the most experiences with her. They not only see her, but they feel their bed being sat upon and occasionally a patron receives a disembodied kiss. When lights are turned on, she vanishes. This painted lady appears wearing white and also likes the waitress station in the early evening. Two female guests found a tiny indentation on their bed as though someone was sitting on it when they returned to their room after having a hot toddy in the Neptune Lounge.

The manager who some think poisoned Simon Feinberg was Marcus Markham. He was drinking one night in the King Neptune Lounge when he got in a fight with a steamboat captain. The argument got very heated and a knife was pulled. When the fight was over, Markham had been stabbed to death. His spirit seems to have taken up residence in the bar. His apparition is most often seen behind the bar near the pantry. Bullet slugs have also been found in the wall behind the King Neptune painting. Were these just from some idiot shooting at the painting or did something else take place here in the bar? Hopefully Markham and Feinberg stay away from each other.

The dominant ghost at the Island Hotel is Bessie Gibbs, whose tenure at the hotel is the most memorable. It's not surprising that she would be here since she loved it and she still enjoys taking care of the place. People claim to see her attempting to make beds and cleaning and rearranging furniture. Miss Bessie is a prankster who enjoys locking guests out of their rooms and occasionally comes walking through rooms in the middle of the night only to disappear through another wall. Owners have been locked out of the hotel several times with not only the front door being locked, but the kitchen screen door is locked from the inside. She drops pictures off the wall, unplugs lamps and makes loud noises. The swing on the second floor is her favorite spot as she sat there often during her tenure. We definitely interacted with her and will share more about that in a moment.

One guest reported the following story, "After being out many hours later, my husband wanted to go to sleep while I still wanted to hang out in the famous lounge. I told him to keep the lights on and I was taking the flashlight (having heard that the main ghost had sense of humor about flipping on and off lights). The lights were still on though when I went upstairs. I still felt strangely calm (and I'm rather intuitive and sensitive so if I hadn't been feeling peaceful I would not have even fallen asleep). After several hours of good sleep, I immediately was awakened by a LOUD BANG. It sounded like a book had been slammed to the floor. That was all I heard I waited a while longer and then woke my husband up and asked him to check to see if the Bible that was right next to the bed was still there. He said it was. He got up and turned the nightlights on and we both discovered that a Kleenex box that was on a coffee table across the room had been thrown down across the floor. Just to rule out any possibility of a breeze doing this we did all sets of tests placing the box under a fan and everything but knew it had to have been thrown." 

Our friends over at Peace River Ghost Trackers have investigated the building and the following were their personal experiences:

*We entered the basement at 4:30pm and was also accompanied by Derrick from channel 20 news out of Gainesville. The basement had a lot of dust so any pictures from down there are hard to prove. Scott did have a heavy feeling at one point near the cistern where a 9 year old boy had drowned in the 1860’s. Scott had to remove himself for a moment from that area. Sprout also felt the heavy feeling in her chest and also chose to leave.
* Sprout was entering the room behind the bar at around 1:30am which was where a man had died of a knife stabbing. While entering I had a very cold breeze sweep over the top of my left hand and could find no explanation for it.
* At 2:15am Toni, Sprout, Janice and Scott where in the kitchen using dowsing rods to communicate with a man who is connected with the pantry. Many staff have seen and felt his presence for many years. We were standing in the order stated above when the activity occurred. Janice was facing the pantry and using the dowsing rods, she asked where the spirit was and the one rod swung around and pointed behind her. When Janice asked for the spirit to move in front of her, Toni said “here it comes”. Toni said she saw a dark shadow of a figure of a man coming towards her then making a sharp turn in front of all of us. One at a time we all said “oh” as the coldness swept passed us. I saw Janice shaking from the cold and Scott said it went down his arm.
*We had laid down for bed at 4:30am and shortly after I (Sprout) heard what I thought to be the piano down in the lobby. It was about 7 or 8 hits on the high notes of the keyboard then Lori started to talk. (her first time in a haunted hotel she was a bit nervous ) then I heard it again about 4 hits this time. That's when I asked Scott if we would be able to hear the piano in our room. He said he hopes so because he had just heard it. Didn't get up cause we were pooped and had enough for the night. I can say I believe we were the last to go to our rooms for bed and didn't hear anyone else up and moving about the hall.
* In the morning we were getting the 2 sets of keys together for check out but could only find one set. The key was finally found in the Velcro sealed left pocket of a pair of shorts in the suitcase. They were Scotts shorts and he does not use the left pocket. They were also folded up and unworn shorts. Lori watched her video from the night before and saw Scott take the key out of the door. He put almost everything on the dresser so it was assumed that is where he set the key. There were several incidents of room doors being unlocked by themselves told to us by other investigators. Sprout even witnessed room 23’s door unlock twice by itself. The occupants of the room were inside during the first time and were sitting on the opposite side of the room when the door unlocked.

The television show "Haunted Inns and Mansions" featured the Island Hotel in 1999. Debra Lyon-Dye wrote "Cedar Key Spirit Tour, A Walk Through History" in 2016 and she shares two of her experiences in it. (pg. 92-93)

Our investigation of the hotel gave us subtle results. We first conducted an EVP session and we think we caught something. (Island Hotel EVP) Sounds like "yeah" or "yep" perhaps to the question of whether there were multiple spirits with us. We tried a couple ESTES sessions, but absolutely nothing was coming through using the AM band. I (Diane) didn't trust the FM band. Our most prominent experience involved glasses. I was positive I had put my reading glasses in my fanny pack before we headed down to dinner, but when I went to pull them out to read the menu, they weren't in my pack. When we returned to the room, I expected to see them sitting on the bed or side table where I had accidentally left them. Not there. We searched the room and I concluded that I had lost them somewhere. We turned our backs from the couch to look some more and then Kelly goes, "Here they are!" front and center in the middle of the couch. No way we would have missed them, especially because my laptop was sitting there open and I had looked behind it. I tried to explain it away as we just both missed seeing them, but then we heard from our listener Joanne about her many experiences and this convinced us that Miss Bessie was playing around.

(Joanne's experiences)

There are other haunted locations on Cedar Key. The Historical Society Museum that was the former Lutterloh Building is located at 609 2nd Street. This started as John Lutterloh's private residence and eventually was used as an army depot, service station, restaurant, library and gift shop. The last owner was Gertrude Teas and she donated the building to the historical society in 1978. The building was restored in 2007 and hosts a variety of exhibits on the history of the island. The ghost here is referred to as the Chain Smoking Ghost. Smoke is smelled in the building and upon investigation, nothing is found. Chairs occasionally fall over on their own and strange noises are heard.

The Hale Building located at the corner of Second and D Street is named for former mayor Francis E. Hale who built the structure in 1880 to be used as a clothing and grocery store. The structure is 4,000 square feet with 17 inch thick tabby walls, fifteen foot ceiling, heart of cedar timber framing and a bricked courtyard in the back. A second story porch was added at the turn-of-the-century. Several businesses have used the building including I.O. Andrews & Co., which sold ladies' and gents' furnishing goods, a doctor's office was here as was a real estate office. There was a bar and a movie house and Tony's Chowder House, which opened in 2005 and is still there today on the ground floor. Chef Eric's chowder has won world-championships. The restaurant is named for his brother. Hauntings: pg 101

Cedar Key has certainly seen its fair share of tragedy and death via storms and such. The spirit of these islands is strong and some have to wonder if the presence of spirits is also strong. Does the Island Hotel host more than just living guests? Are there spirits here, particularly Miss Bessie? Are Cedar Key and the Island Hotel haunted? That is for you to decide!