HGB Ep. 493 - St. Augustine Haunted House Investigation

Moment in Oddity - Penny Treasure

Economic times have been tough for many of us these days, but what if you came upon an unexpected stash of coins? Copper to be precise, as in a collection of 1 million pennies! Recently a family in California discovered a collection of coins while cleaning out the basement of a deceased relatives home. Some of the coins were still encased in bank sealed bags and boxes. Reports in the New York times estimated the value of the pennies at around $10,000. Removing the coins from the crawl space they were found in was tedious. The process even left imprints on the fingers of the family members who removed them, due to the weight of the coins. One helpful detail in the discovery was that each parcel removed had the number of coins written on the outside of the package, somewhat simplifying the task at hand. However, the family has been faced with difficulties in finding a bank that actually wants all the copper coins in exchange for the appropriate pay out. A Wells Fargo manager said that the family may possibly find a few high value pennies that could be pre-WWII in the midst of the collection. The relatives have no desire to sort through the 1 million coins for the possibility of happening upon a few of the rare pennies. So they have decided to list the coins for sale on OfferUp, asking $25,000. Most people would concur that coming across an unexpected creatively concealed cache of coins is exciting. However one thing is for certain, finding 1 million pennies in a deceased relatives crawl space, certainly is odd. 

This Month in History - Death Sentences Halted

In the month of June, on the 29th, in 1972 the US Supreme Court halted all death row executions. In Furman v. Georgia, the court ruled 5 to 4 that capital punishment violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The case centered on Furman who was burglarizing a home when he was discovered. During his attempt to flee Furman tripped and fell, causing his gun to fire which killed a family member in the home. By a narrow majority the court decided that the death penalty constituted 'cruel and unusual punishment'. This was the first time that the US Supreme Court had ruled against capitol punishment. However, the Court ruling also suggested that new legislation could make death sentences constitutional again in the future. The Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 in part because polls showed two-thirds of Americans supported capital punishment and progress had been made in jury guidelines. Today, the Court often faces questions on the constitutionality of particular aspects of the death-penalty system but cases continue forward following the revised laws of 1976.

St. Augustine Investigation

A haunted house in the city of St. Augustine is not unique. It seems every location near the historic downtown is haunted. But this house was fairly new, being built in the 1980s. We conducted an investigation here that lends credence to the theory that any place can have unexplained activity, regardless of age. Perhaps it is because of the land. Maybe things that happened in the house left spiritual residue. Or its also possible that spirits gather somewhere because of people seeking to communicate with them. Join us as we investigate a small house just outside of the historic downtown of St. Augustine!

So we arrived at the house at midnight and were greeted by our host John. we had booked a private investigation for just our family for two hours with Ghost Augustine and Para4rce Investigations. Ghost Augustine hosts ghost tours and pub crawls and they also make investigation equipment. One of our first pieces, an EMF detector, we bought from them and Diane has done a tour with them. John gave us a quick history of the spot before we went inside. (St. Augustine Intro) We also found that this was a commercial property for many years. One of them being Jim's Dry Wall.

The Seminole Indians were involved in three separate Seminole Wars. They are a tribe of Creek origin. The name Seminole is thought to derive from the Creek word simanó-li, meaning “separatist,” or “runaway.” The name may also have derived from the Spanish cimarrón, “wild.” They settled mostly in the Everglades and were joined by other tribes and runaway slaves. Eventually, the Indian Removal Act came calling and that is what started the wars as the Seminoles fought removal. The Second Seminole War was one of the deadliest and costliest American Indian Wars ever fought on US soil and a group of Seminoles was captured and brought to St. Augustine as prisoners. They were kept at the Castillo de San Marcos, which at the time was known as Fort Marion. They were held for two months between November and December of 1837. Osceola, a famous Seminole war leader, was one of those prisoners. After the wars, many Seminoles fled south again and to this day they claim to be the unconquered tribe.

Plantations were spread across parts of St. Augustine. They grew sugar cane and indigo. Indigo in St. Augustine was called blue gold. It was the major export crop from St. Augustine in the 1760s and 1770s. Florida had a perfect environment for growing indigo and plantations could produce three crops a year.  It took about 100 pounds of indigo plant to produce four ounces of processed indigo. Indigo was processed in three vats that were made from coquina, tabby or wood. The plants were cut up and placed in the vats that were filled with water and urine to help the fermentation process. The urine usually came from slaves. In the second vat it was beaten with sticks as the water drained off and in the third vat it was pressed and then dried into blocks. The finished product would be shipped to England. The indigo was grown by and processed by slaves. The chance of there being slave graves in the area where the house stands is possible. The plantation closed down in 1866 and the land was sold.

The house is fairly small. We entered into the kitchen at one time with a restroom to the right. This is a modern restroom, but that doesn't stop it from being haunted and we will get some evidence in there a little later. The kitchen area is the central hub with a TV featuring the transmission from four cameras throughout the house. There are two small bedrooms coming off a central hall that empties into a medium size room that was probably the family room. It holds a dining table now. The original house was built in 1931 and there was another house right next to it where there is a garage today. That second house burned down in the 1940s. The 1931 house stood until 1981 when it was demolished because of foundation issues and then rebuilt. The kitchen and bathroom were part of an extension built in 1985. The house is fairly new considering that it was built in the 1980s, but that doesn't stop it from being incredibly active. This house is proof that it is important to know about the land and everything that has stood on the property through the years.

John told us about the various spirits they believe are in the house. The first room we went into was Jack's Room. The story behind Jack is that he lived in the original house during the 1940s and he became depressed and hanged himself in the house. John is going to tell us about the spirit and right at the beginning you will hear us react to a piece of equipment that picks up static electricity because it blipped. It is similar to a REM Pod. (Jack) 

The main room with the dining table is home to the spirit of a little boy named Tommy and just as always seems to happen with us, we got the most interaction from him. He was a ton of fun! There is also a ghost cat that hangs out as well as another entity. Here's John telling us about these spirits.(Tommy) That thing called the Spider will seem to show up later in the way John said it would, on the SLS Camera. There are some people who think that the Spider was brought in via a Ouija board at some point. John also told us later that Tommy occasionally swears because he has picked up a few of those bad words through the years.

The other small bedroom is home to a spirit named James. John told us that it feels oppressive to people who are sensitive and Kelly definitely felt weird in there. Here's John sharing about the ghost. (James) It is a small room that could make people feel claustrophobic, but Kelly felt something else. So perhaps this is some kind of portal. Then John cut us loose to start investigating. We started in the main room. Diane set up the flashlight experiment, but the light never turned on. John had a maglite he set up on the table and it was really active, but even after we set our flashlight next to his, we got nothing. That makes us think that maybe there was a battery issue. Although it did turn on once when Kelly asked it to and then turned off right after that when John asked for James to turn it off and then it turned on again when Kelly asked it do it again. 

Ghost Augustine makes equipment and they have an Ovilus like device they developed because Ovilus went out of business. It was spitting out a lot of words, which again made us wonder if it was an equipment issue. It did say "34 years" when first turned on and it is believed that Jack was in his 30s when he committed suicide. Diane asked about the spider entity - you will hear the Ovilus in the background and John does decide to turn down the sensitivity. (Spider) There are many spirits in the house, so that also may be why there were so many words coming out of it. We also had a music box set up in the front room and it is going to be very active. It went off for the first time about 10 minutes into the investigation. The creepy word at the beginning of this clip is the Portal Box in Jack's Room. (Music Box 1)

While Jake and Diane stayed in the main room, Kelly, Christy and Jordan went into Jack's Room and did a dowsing session. Diane heard Kelly ask if something was pushing on her legs. It seems that Kelly and Jordan were getting touched quite a bit. Jake and Diane picked up an orb that moved from the floor to the chair and back down again so we thought maybe this might be the cat. Then the music box went off again and it seems that Tommy was here, so perhaps he was the orb because the chair the orb went up on had Tommy's bear sitting in it. In this clip you also will hear the Spirit Box starting because Diane was setting that up when the music box went off. (Music Box 2)  Sounded kinda like a kid saying "yes" when we asked if he liked the bear. 

Diane got the idea that we should sing nursery rhymes and this is going to be a big hit with Tommy. In this clip you'll hear us singing and then we ask Tommy if he'd like us to sing again and we think we got a pretty clear answer on the Spirit Box. (Spirit Box Yes Sing) We continue with the song fest! (London Bridge) As you heard, the REM Pod also went off, along with the music box and the cat ball went as well. We finished off with Itsy Bitsy Spider in the room that has the spider. LOL! Then we decided to Ring Around the Rosie and go around the actual table and the REM Pod went crazy. (REM Pod 1)

John pulled out the SLS Camera at this time. We first aimed it at the bathroom and there was definitely something sitting in there on the toilet. We recorded a video of that. Then we took it to the main room and Jordan gets touched as does Jacob. (Touched) So Jordan's butt got touched and Jacob's hand got tingly. Tommy showed up on the SLS Camera and waved and we did "Ring Around the Rosie" again and Diane made a video of the SLS Camera and a bunch of stuff going off on the table. (Rosie)

Jake then gives the ESTES Method a try. Unfortunately, we don't have the internal Spirit Box recording for this (Jake Estes Final) We wonder if the numbers he said like 7 and 8 were referring to spirits in the location because he said "here" a bit after that. John mentions the Spider being on the table numerous times. There was a vase with dried roses in it on the table, so it was interesting to hear Jacob say rose when we asked where the spider was. Then we were told to leave, but we didn't agree to that. 

Jordan tried the Estes Method next. You'll hear at the beginning that John gets his ear tugged and then he mentioned someone else who died in the house named Colleen. Apparently she died in a fire. John also mentions hearing something like nails on a door. (Jordan Estes) We asked for a name through Jordan, but Jack apparently preferred the Portal Box and said his name through that. A word that Jordan didn't catch may have been (Sweetums)? There was also safe a couple of times, sense, 40th and fight or sight. Lots of alliteration, Kelly.

Christy tried the Estes Method next. (Christy Estes) Something got screwed up with her Spirit Box internal recording because I think it actually somehow merged something from our Lilian Place investigation because we got words that we remembered from that. And unfortunately it happened with all the rest of the sessions. Here is John giving the Estes Method a try. (John Estes) He got six several times too. Maybe in reference to our family group of 6? And then Diane did an Estes session. (Diane Estes) Diane thought it was cute that Jack was behind her and Jordan said "Jack and Diane." The Portal Box said "Yep" after Christy asked if Jack was behind Diane. And then that was hilarious after Kelly said Christy hadn't been touched before and Diane blurts out "Horny." Then at the end of Diane's session the SBox just switched what it was doing all on its own. 

This investigation was a ton of fun and even better, we got the opportunity to introduce our niece and nephew to ghost hunting. Our brother-in-law Rich still left as a skeptic, but there was no doubt that some things happened on this evening that we couldn't explain. Is this house in St. Augustine haunted? That is for you to decide!

The Ghosts of Prohibition

On this day, January 16th, in 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified making the sale and production of alcohol illegal.  The Prohition Era had begun!  A temperance movement that had been spreading since 1820 steamrolled legislation in several states and the wave finally hit the federal government.  President Woodrow Wilson originally vetoed the measure, but his veto was overturned.  On October 28th of that same year, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which gave the government power to implement the 18th Amendment.  Nationwide prohibition began in 1920.

It was not illegal to drink alcohol and thus bootlegging, speakeasies and gang activity surrounding the distribution of alcohol blossomed.  The level of supernatural activity resulting from things that went on during Prohibition is far too great for a single blog post, but let us focus on just a couple of places.

The Casablanca Inn

This bed and breakfast located in St. Augustine, Florida was once a boarding house.  It was built in 1914 in the Revival architectural style and named The Matanzas Hotel.  A couple years later, the hotel was turned into a boarding house and the name was changed to Bayfront Boarding House.  The woman who ran the boarding house decided that the place was better off as a hotel and so she changed the name to the Casablanca Inn.  This woman was an intelligent businesswoman and she saw a great opportunity when Prohibition began.  She knew that providing alcohol for her customers would make her money.  She also knew that helping the bootleggers would have financial reward as well.

She was well positioned to help the bootleggers because government agents would stay at the Casablanca Inn in hopes of catching illegal rum coming into port.  Whenever the agents were in town, the woman would notify the bootleggers with a special warning they had worked out together.  She would use a lantern to signal to the bootleggers whenever the agents were in town.  She would wave the lantern from the second floor.  The woman eventually died and was buried at Huguenot Cemetery and Prohibition was repealed.  But this has not stopped the lantern warnings.  To this day, people out on the water claim that they still see a lantern light waving back and forth from the second floor of the Casabalnca Inn.  Wispy fog like apparitions are seen inside the inn as well.

Children's Center in Ohio

The following is a true story as told by a journeyman working in a building that was a former speakeasy.

"As a young Journeyman in a construction union I had been waiting to finish my apprenticeship so I would be able to run my own jobs and in a way be my own boss but when I finally got the opportunity to work on a job by myself, I was wishing that I would have been working with someone else.

First off I was given a key to walk into my project that was located down a shady brick stairwell from the outside of the building. This stairwell led to a door that you most commonly see in old prohibition movies about Elliot Ness and the mob. Thinking nothing of it, excited to finally work alone I was shown my project and I worked my first day there aware that it was eerie inside of what is now a Children's Center but nothing happened.

The next day I went in to work earlier than I usually did so I could get a better idea of what kind of material I needed for the work week. I used my key and quickly turned the lights on. I walked down a brick hallway further into the basement. The whole area that was once a speakeasy had motion activated lights set up, again I didn't think anything of it. There was one dark room in the whole basement that didn't have any motion lights at all. When I reached the bottom of the stair well I peeked my head in the dark room and waived my arms thinking it would turn the lights on. At that moment a wooden chair slid across the floor. I remember the sound of it echoing as I started screaming and running in the other direction but I was the only one there.

Eventually I found the maintenance man and told him the story. He told me that he knew about the ghost he was the one that painted the religious picture down there and that one time he saw someone walking through the building when he was the only one there. He said "I don't mess with them and they don't mess with me"...

True story."

Bell's Jewelry Store

Bell's Jewelry Store in Decatur, Illinois was a former speakeasy that hosted drinking and gambling.  The building was built in 1865.  During Prohibition it became the most popular spot in town serving its own brand of homemade beer and whiskey.  When Prohibition was overturned, the place became a brothel as well.  The police force in Decatur was known to be lazy and corrupt and crime flourished in the city.  People were killed at the speakeasy due to fights and most probably gang activity.

Utility workers have heard noises coming through the walls reminiscent of those one would associate with a bar.  Heavy objects moving around and footsteps have been heard coming from upper floors.  Employees have expressed feeling weird when they enter the area that use to be the old speakeasy.  Much of this space has never been touched and has some pieces still left from a bygone era like pin-up pictures.  A chill can be felt in this area as well.

Have you heard of any former speakeasies that are haunted?  Let us know in the comments!

HGB Podcast 15 - Outside The Gate, St. Augustine

Moment in Oddity - Whisky Scented Fabric

Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland has a School of Textiles & Design.  The school was experimenting in the development of new and different kinds of fabric and they came up with a very unique and strangely scented fabric.  Their new fabric carries a permanent odor of whisky.  And not any old whisky either.  The scent is that of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky.  The scent has been dubbed "Aqua Alba."  The technique used to make the fabric is known as "microencapsulation technology," which layers the scent into the fabric.  The fabric was developed for textile company Harris Tweed Hebrides and distiller Diageo's Johnnie Walker Black Label brand and the school's  business development manager Jim McVee said, "Smart textiles are a fast-developing sector that offers enormous potential. Our year-long collaboration with Harris Tweed Hebrides is a great example of the ways in which we can help Scottish textile companies to develop their business, add value to their textiles and bring exciting new products to market."  We're not sure what Harris Tweed Hebrides or Johnny Walker plans to do with the fabric, but we sure hope they don't plan to upholster vehicles.  Trying to explain to the officer that it's just your fashionably upholstered seat that is drunk, would be quite odd.

This Day in History - Edward VIII Abdicates

Today's moment in history is a tale of a wonderful love story.  On this day, December 11th, in 1936, King Edward VIII publicly abdicates the throne to his younger brother George.  King Edward had taken over the throne on January 20th, 1936 after the death of his father.  The king was a bachelor at 42, but he had his sights set on marrying an American girl he had fallen in love with named Wallis Simpson.  There was a problem though, Ms. Simpson had already been married twice before with her most recent divorce still pending.  King Edward tried to convince the Church of England, his family and politicians that it would be okay for him to marry Ms. Simpson, but he received no support.  He was informed that the only way he would be allowed to marry her would be to give up the crown.  And that is just what King Edward did.  In a speech on December 11th, King Edward said, "You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.  But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.  And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.  I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all."  The King's brother George bestowed the title "Duke of Windsor" on Edward and Edward and Wallis lived happily until his death in 1972.

Outside the Gate

History Goes Bump traveled to one of our favorite cities in America, which just happens to be the oldest city in America: St. Augustine, Florida.  We were in town for two events, one was the Annual Night of Lights and the other was the Ghostly Encounter ghost tour hosted by Ancient City Tours.  Night of Lights in St. Augustine begins in November and runs through February every year and has been voted several times as one of the best holiday light displays in the country.  It truly is beautiful as white lights line the main drags and illuminate the many historic buildings that make this city so wonderful.  The tradition of using white light bulbs traces back to the Spanish tradition of placing white candles in the windows during the holidays.  Our advice if you decide to see this in the future is to do your own walking tour.  Trolleys are overloaded with people and waits are long, plus we didn't see any of them stop for photo opportunities.  Here are a few pictures we took:

No trip to St. Augustine is complete without a ghost tour and the city offers a bunch of them.  Our tour with Ancient City Tours was the third we have done in the city and we have enjoyed each one.  Since St. Augustine is full of so many haunts, we thought that it would be best for this podcast to focus on a specific area of St. Augustine and that would be the area just outside the city gate.  To begin, we want to remind everybody about a little history that was covered in Podcast Episode 1 dealing with the beginnings of St. Augustine.  The city was founded in 1565, making it one of the oldest cities in both North and South America.  It is America’s oldest city.  The city took its name from the day upon which the city was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the Festival of San Augustín.  The city was originally founded to protect the Spanish trade route and the Castillo de San Marco was built to help facilitate defense with a small city cropping up nearby.

The city of St. Augustine had been established for 150 years before walls were built to protect it from the continuous onslaught it endured from pirate attacks, British attacks and various other attacks.  The final attack that caused the city to make the decision to enclose itself behind walls was an English attack in 1702 lead by Governor James Moore.  The old city was looted and burned as Governor Moore and his men tried to take the Castillo de San Marco where the 1500 residents of St. Augustine were hiding.  He was unsuccessful in taking the fort, but the city was utterly destroyed.  Construction on the wall began in 1704 and it was made from earth and Palmetto logs.  The wall stretched west from the Castillo along the northern side of the city all the way to the San Sebastian River.  This was named the Cubo Line.  A second wall was built running south down the west side of the city and it was named the Rosario Line.  Redoubts were placed along the walls for fortification and for placement of artillery.  The word "redoubt" means a place of retreat and is entirely encircled providing protection from all directions.  To give everyone an idea of what that looks like, here is an illustration:

The walls worked and the city was never again taken or destroyed by force.  Since the walls were wood, they had to be replaced frequently.  Today, a portion of the wall has been reconstructed to give visitors an idea of what they looked like in the past.  The Cubo Line contained the main city gates.  The Old City Gate was originally constructed in 1808 and made from coquina, a concrete like substance infused with shells, that was quarried from nearby Anastasia Island.  Here is a picture of coquina:

The Old City Gate stands to this day - minus the actual gates - at the northern end of St. George Street, which travels through the heart of the shopping district and the old city.  The Gate has two 24 1/2 foot high square towers on each side and once featured a bridge that went over a moat that used to be around the city walls.  Here is a picture of its appearance about 50 years after it was built:

Photo taken by Samuel A. Cooley, circa 1860s

The Old City Gate is the scene for our first haunting.  While many spirits may be hanging around this location due to its proximity to the Castillo and cemeteries, there is one spirit in particular that is reported to haunt the gates.  In 1821, a devastating Yellow Fever epidemic hit the city killing hundreds of people.  Yellow Fever is an acute viral disease that is spread by mosquitoes.  It causes flu like symptoms and if it worsens, it attacks the kidneys and the liver causing people to have yellow skin, thus it is called Yellow Fever.  One of the first people to catch the horrible disease was a fourteen year old girl named Elizabeth.  Her father was a guard at the City Gate and she loved to join him as he stood watch so she could wave to and greet people.  Upon her death, she was buried at the Huguenot Cemetery, which sits just outside the city wall.  She is sometimes seen dancing in the cemetery, but most times is seen keeping her post at the City Gate after midnight.  People report seeing the young girl waving, but it is not known if she is welcoming visitors or warning them to stay away.

Denise and I were strolling along St. George Street when we decided to enter a neat little shop by the name of Faux Paws located at 4 St. George St.  Dogs were welcome and we had our furry producer, Rafiki, with us, so we decided to check out the inventory, which consists of a lot of dog collectibles and figurines and gifts.  We purchased a couple of items and struck up a conversation with the owners, Lynn and Marc Small.  They were a really neat couple and when we mentioned the podcast, Lynn took us next door to the St. George Inn.  This inn is not only charming with beautiful accommodations, but it sits right in the heart of the City Gate Plaza with great views of the city.  Lynn didn't take us there to show us the inn though, she wanted us to see a picture that was taken right outside the inn during a ghost tour.  The picture was amazing and we were both left believing that the picture was the real deal.  The picture was taken while the tour guide was telling a story.  The guide is holding a mug and it almost seems as though an orange colored mist is rising from the mug that ends in a ball of light, or an orb, at the guide's head.  This isn't just a typical dust orb though because there is a face in the orb and it sure looked to Denise and I like the profile of a young girl.  Did this picture capture the ghost of Elizabeth?

As mentioned early, there is a cemetery right outside the Old City Gate by the name of the Huguenot Cemetery.  The same year that Yellow Fever erupted in St. Augustine, the Huguenot Cemetery was established as the public burial ground.  There were already Catholic cemeteries, but the Protestants needed a place, so this half acre area was set aside for them.  It would take on the name Huguenot at a later date and was named for the 16th century French Huguenots that were massacred by the man who established St. Augustine, Menendez.  There were so many deaths due to Yellow Fever that one whole section of the cemetery has no headstones because it is a mass burial.  Burials continued from 1821 until 1884 and then the cemetery fell into a period of neglect.  In 1946, citizens of St. Augustine decided to clean up and restore the old cemetery and maintenance has continued to the present under the Friends of the Huguenot Cemetery.

As is the case with many cemeteries, Huguenot spirits are not completely at rest.  As mentioned earlier, Elizabeth is sometimes seen dancing among the headstones.  Unexplained faces and shadows and lights appear in pictures and sometimes voices can be heard along with the giggling of children.  John Hull, John Lyman and Erastus Nye were three men who died in 1835 at nearly the same time and so they were buried side by side in the cemetery with similar headstones.  In life, the men had been mischievous, which probably explains why they died, and those prankster ways have continued into the afterlife.  The spirits of the men are blamed for people being pushed, hats being knocked off and women's skirts flying up.  As for us, I had some trouble taking pictures of Nye's headstone the night we were on the ghost tour.  It was the only time I couldn't get the camera to work properly.

The most famous ghost that haunts the Huguenot Cemetery belongs to that of Judge John B. Stickney.  Judge Stickney was born in Massachusetts in 1833 and moved to St. Augustine after the Civil War ended.  He worked in St. Augustine as a state and district attorney and as a judge advocate.  He was well liked by the people of St. Augustine and was mourned by them all when he passed away.  The Judge had been appointed as US Attorney for the Northern District of Florida and he had to travel to Washington D.C. on business in 1882.  Unfortunately, the Judge was not feeling well.  As he traveled, he became sicker and sicker as Typhoid Fever ravaged his body.  The Judge was dead within the week and his body was shipped from D.C. back to St. Augustine where he was laid to rest...but not for long.  In 1903, Judge Stickney's children had his body dug up and moved to D.C. to be reburied closer to them.  In the process of digging up the grave, the Judge's gold teeth went missing, more than likely stolen by graverobbers when the gravedigger wasn't paying attention.  Apparently the Judge was quite attached to those gold teeth and although his body was moved, his spirit still hangs out at the cemetery. People claim to see a tall dark figure that resembles Judge Stickney wandering the grounds of the cemetery as he searches for his missing teeth.  Or maybe he is looking for the men who stole his teeth.

Across the road and outside of the Castillo is a large park like area covered in grass.  It is thought that this area is a large unmarked graveyard, yet another place where the hundreds that died of Yellow Fever were dumped in mass graves.  Such a scene reminds one of the Black Death.

Death seems to permeate the area outside the Gate and now the spirits do as well.  Or do they?  That is for you to decide. 

HGB Podcast 1 - Ripley's Odditorium In St. Augustine

Odd history – Great Serpent Mound
The Great Serpent Mound can be found in southern Ohio.  It was first discovered in 1847.  A couple of amateur archeologists, Ephraim Squire and Edwin Davis, surveyed the twisting site and found it to be 1,348 feet long and most parts of the serpentine structure measure three feet high.  Not only did the serpent mound get its name from its curved body, but the mound also has a head that is snake like and appears to be swallowing an egg.  Some people claim the egg like symbol is really an eclipse.  The area beneath the mound is hollow in several places.  It is thought that the serpent mound was built by either the Adena people who walked the earth from 800 BC to 100 AD or the Fort Ancient people who existed in 1070 AD and that the hollow areas may be caves that they lived in or burial chambers of some sort.  Not only is the structure odd, but its reasons for being built are strange and mysterious.  Is it a map of constellations?  Does it keep track of calendar events like the solar and lunar schedules?  New Age groups think it is an intergalactic portal.  Whatever it is, it certainly is odd!

This Day In History

On October 1st 1908, Henry Ford introduced his revolutionary Model T car, that some called Tin Lizzy.  The car could travel at 45 mph.  The Model T was light and durable and could travel 25 miles on a gallon of gas, which is comparable to even modern day cars.  A hallmark of the car was its affordability.  For the first time, it was possible for every middle class family to own a car.  Henry Ford wrote in his book, My Life and Work, "I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."   Fifteen million Model T’s rolled off the assembly line before Ford decided that the vehicle was obsolete and discontinued production in 1927.

Ripley’s Odditorium in St. Augustine

St. Augustine is thought to be one of the most haunted cities in all of America.  It’s long history probably accounts for that fact along with the large amounts of people who died in the city from Yellow Fever, pirate attacks and war.  The city has existed for over 440 years.  It was founded in 1565 making it one of the oldest cities in both North and South America.  It is America’s oldest city.  The city took its name from the day upon which the city was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the Festival of San Augustín.  Today, it is a city rich in history and filled with quaint shops, which we have enjoyed perusing.

Castle Warden circa 1930

The Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium in St. Augustine is an amazing building.  It is located at 19 San Marco Ave. and hard to miss.  The building was originally called The Castle Warden, named for the man who built the Moorish Revival Castle complete with merlons and wide archways in 1887.  That man was William G. Warden, a business partner of both John D. Rockefeller and Henry M. Flagler.  Warden was an oil man who founded the Standard Oil Company with Rockefeller after building the successful Warden, Frew and Company crude oil company.  One of his philanthropist efforts in St. Augustine was building the Warden Academy School for Blacks.  He was worth over $1,000,000 at the time of his death.  The original Castle Warden design featured twenty-three rooms, which was necessary for the family of 16!  Family members lived in the mansion until 1926.  It stood vacant, except for the occasional vagrants, until 1941 when Pulitizer Prize winning author Majorie Kinnan Rawlings and her husband Norton Baskin bought the place and renovated it into a hotel.  They dubbed the place “Castle Warden Hotel.”  Things went well for several years, but 1944 brought tragedy and some future ghostly activity.

The story that we have heard about the about what happened in 1944 is as follows.  A certain politician, who has been dubbed Mr. X, did what many politicians do:  he took on a mistress.  Her name was Bette Nevi Richeson and she was in her 20s.  Bette was staying in Room 17, while Mr. X was staying in Room 13.  At some point during the middle of the night, a fight ensued.  Perhaps Mr. X was trying to break things off and Bette threatened blackmail.  Mr. X choked Bette to death and placed her body in a dry bathtub.  While this is happening, there is another female guest in the hotel staying in the penthouse.  She is Ruth Hopkins Pickering, a 49 year old friend of the owners.  She apparently is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Mr. X sets fire to the building to cover up the murder of Bette and Ruth is trapped above the flames.  Both women are thought to have died in the fire, but the truth is that Bette was already dead.  Mr. X flees the scene, but he seems to have returned in death.  More on this later.

Robert Ripley was born in 1890 and eventually became one of the most famous men in America and in all the world.  At one time, he received more mail than Santa Clause.  He was a handball champion, but his interests soon changed to the odd and with the help of funding from William Randolph Hearst, Ripley traveled around the world building his collection of odd items.  He detailed his findings in the newspaper cartoon pages with the Believe It Or Not panels.  Ripley was not only an amateur anthropologist and collector of the strange, he also was a talented cartoonist.  The cartoon was fabulously popular and even helped launch the career of Charles Schultz when Believe It Or Not published the first Peanuts comic.  Ripley had stayed several time at the Castle Warden Hotel and absolutely loved the place.  He tried several times to buy the place, but he was rebuffed every time.  Unfortunately, Ripley died young at the age of 58 in 1949.  His estate followed the pursuit to acquire the building and was successful in 1950.

Soon Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium opened with a fascinating design of hallways and rooms, featuring over 800 exhibits.  Nearly every strange thing one can think of can be found here from shrunken heads to ancient artifacts to reproductions of some of the strangest people.  There is even a giant erector set ferris wheel that turns in the center of one of the rooms.  But this building houses more than just creepy and strange seen things.  There is much unseen here as well.  It is believed that there are over eighteen active entities in the museum.  The three most talked about and experienced are Bette, Ruth and Mr. X.

On an upper floor, there is the room where Mr. X killed Bette.  Today, that room is called the Vortex Room

and Mr. X has been seen and felt in that room.  And by “felt” we mean he has choked people.  (In the podcast for this show, we detail our own experience in this room.  We believe Mr. X was active.)  He is an angry entity.  Bette has been captured on film in the Theater Room, which was part of the room in which she was staying.  Phantom women believed to be Ruth and Bette have been seen in the windows and walking the hallways.  A Florida based paranormal team, Peace River Ghost Trackers, have investigated the place and shared one of their pictures with us.  It appears to be the ghostly apparition of a child sitting in the hallway above the room with the giant erector set ferris wheel.

The Ghost Train that Ripley’s offers was well worth the money and includes a tour inside the museum…at night…with low lighting!  Click here for more info on The Ghost Train.

So, is this building really haunted?  That is for you to decide!

Another great site for the history of this location:  http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustineripley.html
To find out more about the mystery of Mr. X:  http://augustine.com/article/mystery-and-history-ripleys

Watch the video below!  Featured pictures are from the inside of the museum!