Haunted Inns, Pubs and Eateries of St. Augustine

By Greg Jenkins

Once sought after by French Huguenots, Spanish invaders, English privateers and indigenous tribes, St. Augustine is a melting pot of cultural conquests. Anyone who traces its cobblestone streets, sails its vast shoreline or explores its unique architecture senses those who came before. Paranormal researcher and author Dr. Greg Jenkins examines ghostly happenings in the city's charming inns, pubs and eateries that keep guests looking over their shoulders. There's the lady with the lantern perched atop the Casablanca Inn who still searches for seafaring bootleggers and the spirit "Catalina" who peers through the window at hungry diners in Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille. Enjoy these stories and more, with personal interviews and documented visitor logs from the featured establishments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781614238188

Greg Jenkins

Greg Jenkins has more than twenty-five years of experience working in the mental health and medical fields and is currently a mental health therapist and case manager with several private facilities. He is a folklorist and collector of urban legends and is an associate member with England's Society for Psychical Research and the Parapsychological Association. He is also a founder and researcher with the International Consortium for Psychical Research and Paranormal Inquiry. Since an early age, Greg has had a profound interest in the supernatural and fringe science, and after a personal experience with the unknown in 1987, he began his journey into the realms of parapsychology and all things mysterious.

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION

ST. AUGUSTINE

AN ANCIENT CITY OF DREAMS

When Americans think of old cities and townships in the United States, they most likely think of Philadelphia or Boston to be among the oldest. Yet St. Augustine, Florida, was the first city to be settled in America, already having been close to sixty years old when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. In fact, as legend tells us, when Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sailed the shores of Florida in 1513, he noticed an abundance of colorful flowers draping across the shores and tree lines. This thoroughly amazed the explorer, and because his discovery occurred during the Spanish Easter Feast Day, he was inspired to call this beautiful land La Pascua de la Florida, translating to Passion of the Flowers. By 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles had become the first governor of this new land, and he christened it San Agustin after his patron saint.

During this time, the French Protestant Huguenots were massing in the northern sections of San Agustin, on the St. Johns River. As soon as Menendez got word of this, he sent his troops to the river and destroyed the French garrison; at the time, a massive hurricane wiped out the French fleet as it approached Florida’s coast. As Spain was assured that San Agustin was its to claim, it began work building the town, establishing Catholic missions for converting the natives and setting forth in the exploration of this new land.

By 1586, the English were quickly usurping the land for the glory of Queen Elizabeth I, sending the famous Corsair captain Sir Francis Drake to sack the Spanish and burn the town to the ground. From there, many other pirates and privateers attacked Florida’s northern coast. In 1668, pirate captain John Davis, alias Robert Searles, plundered the town and burned a good portion of it, killing many of its citizens and ransacking the church and town coffers. It was a time of siege and glory, and St. Augustine existed at the apex of piracy’s golden age.

The Castillo de San Marcos, the national monument of America’s oldest city and the pride of St. Augustine. Courtesy of the State of Florida Archives—Florida Memory Project.

By the late seventeenth century, as the British were establishing their colonies southward in the Carolinas and Georgia, Spain began to worry. Understanding that the encroaching English would be a most formidable enemy, Spain authorized the construction of a massive stone/coquina shell fort to guard the city. Construction began in 1672, and twenty-three years later, the Castillo de San Marcos was finished. Over the years, the fort was attacked again and again, but because of its excellent construction, it did not fall to any battle throughout history.

By 1763, Spain was working desperately to establish a capital in Cuba, and because of finance issues and manpower, it decided to cede St. Augustine to England, thus securing twenty years of British rule in Florida, which remained loyal to the Crown during this time. Florida was then returned to Spain under the Treaty of Paris Act, also known as the Peace of Paris Treaty, in 1763, whereby Spain would rule again for another thirty-seven years. This time, however, its citizens would be a mixture of various peoples, creating a working melting pot of cultures and traditions.

On July 10, 1821, the United States officially purchased Florida from Spain, making St. Augustine the capital of the state. Though the ceremonies and festivities were jubilant, the newly purchased St. Augustine suffered a deadly attack by Yellow Jack, the devastating sickness otherwise known as yellow fever. It killed off many of the citizens and newcomers to St. Augustine, yet the city went on nonetheless. In the 1830s, St. Augustine was besieged by Indian attacks during the Seminole Indian Wars, during which the U.S. Army would commandeer the city and refit the fort with new guns, casemates, powder chambers and supply caches, renaming it Fort Marion, after the Revolutionary War hero General Francis Marion.

For more than five centuries, St. Augustine endured battles and hostile attacks. From Spanish invaders to English privateers and other pirates from across the seas, St. Augustine stood strong throughout it all. Added to this were plagues that nearly wiped out its populations and fires that burned the city to the ground on several occasions, as well as other countless hardships. This created many colorful legends that would last centuries, legends that would inspire and entice writers, artists and filmmakers to visit America’s first coast. What can the visitor expect to find today?

The downtown historic district, for instance, is brimming with things to do. To start with, there are the countless shops, specialty stores, bakeries, pubs and restaurants, with horse-drawn carriages marching down the ancient streets. Lined on either side of these cobblestone pathways are houses built over the last two centuries, giving the entire city an air of both the modestly modern and the downright ancient. One of the oldest homes in St. Augustine is the Gonzalez Alvarez House, built in 1723. It now serves as a museum devoted to the St. Augustine’s commercial, industrial and social history, documenting events from the Spanish colonial period to the British occupation, through the American Civil War and right on up to the present day. There is also the oldest operating drugstore, which also serves as a museum representing a genuine turn-of-the-century general store and pharmacy. And just up the street is the legendary Fountain of Youth, which continues to offer the same spring water that Ponce de León was fabled to drink as the alleged source of eternal life.

The visitor to the ancient city will also have the unique opportunity to view the many archaeological digs that almost always occur here. Because of the immense history of St. Augustine, it is not uncommon for residents and construction workers to occasionally unearth anything from human remains to ancient artifacts. Recently, archaeologists had discovered an ancient church known as the Nombre de Dios Mission and Shrine of the Nuestra Senora de la Leche, one of the first and longest-lasting Spanish Franciscan missions in Florida. Constructed of coquina and tabby, it is believed to predate the Castillo de San Marcos by almost twenty years. Indeed, every visitor should make some time to see this significant archaeological find.

As you walk a little farther, you’ll come to the Huguenot Cemetery, one of St. Augustine’s original public burial grounds, named in honor of the French adventurer-explorers who some believe may have been the first Europeans to walk the beaches of St. Augustine, years before the Spaniards. This cemetery has served as the main graveyard for French immigrants and other Protestants for many years, picturesquely sitting across from the original 1718 city gates, where the little spirit named Elizabeth is said to dance and greet passersby. Once inside the city gates, you’ll find the Spanish Quarter Village, a quaint look into St. Augustine’s robust past. The museum consists of authentic artifacts from the original buildings along with working gardens and is complete with costumed reenactors and historical interpreters who explain how daily life took place in ancient St.

Reviews for Haunted Inns, Pubs and Eateries of St. Augustine

[tricia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lots of history for the nicer B&Bs in this famous town. Fun to read the stories along with his investigation.