Revisiting Old Haunts: Supernatural St. Pete

As the Northeast Journal’s 20th anniversary coincides with the September/October issue, it seems timely to look back at our area’s top haunted places. Some of these have been covered in the hallowed pages of prior NEJ issues, but we threw in a few extra – just for boo…

Perhaps the best-known haunted spot is one with its own big anniversary next year: St. Pete’s Pink Lady, the Vinoy Hotel. It was built by Aymer Vinoy Laughner, a wealthy businessman from Pennsylvania, at the urging of his party guests. He bought the land for $170,000, hired now-famous architect Henry Taylor (we will see him again in this article), and worked to finish the 375-room hotel in 10 months so that it could open on New Year’s Eve 1925. Its famous pink paint was custom mixed and is named after the hotel.

Room 521 is the haunted hotspot and was investigated in 2008 by the television show Ghost Hunters. I was able to stay the night in this room a few years ago. Initially, I thought that much of the reported activity was imagined, thanks to the show. But I was made a believer when I picked up mysterious sounds of movement on a recording device while I was out of the room. I was kept awake that night by what felt like a presence walking next to the bed. A pair of ladies on one of my ghost tours told me about their stay in that room; whenever they turned off the lights, the closet door would mysteriously open by itself. 

A lady in white is also supposed to haunt the hotel, though her identity remains a bit of a mystery. Some believe she is a maid from the 1920s who was the only witness to a nationally watched murder case. She disappeared when she was gifted a one-way ticket to Europe, but others say that she vanished for more nefarious reasons. 

There are other reports: A group of psychics I once took on walking ghost tour mentioned that a giant paranormal party was happening on the rooftop. A mysterious figure is sometimes seen looking out of the tower at night. The times that I have visited, I was asked to walk through one of the smaller ballrooms where jazz bands used to play. Allegedly, mysterious music from bygone eras can still be heard drifting through the air.  

Another favorite location is the now-closed Haslam’s Bookstore. My SPIRITS team was lucky to have a series of investigations there in the early 2000s. Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road and the father of the beat generation, is said to haunt the store. Kerouac lived his last years in St. Petersburg where he would do rounds at the bars, including the Flamingo, and then head over to Halsam’s to check on his book sales. He rarely had much of a bank balance and so the author would sneak his books to eye-level shelves when employees were not looking. Jack’s life ended at St. Anthony’s Hospital in 1969, his death possibly hastened by a bar fight.

Patrons reported seeing Jack’s torso walking through the bookstore after he died. Novels would mysteriously fall off the bookshelves in the area where he most favored putting his books. The store cats followed an invisible presence, and several people were tapped on their shoulders by unseen hands. At least one employee was shelving books after the store closed and heard a man say, “Hey, how are you doing?” Surprised, he turned to find himself utterly alone in the locked bookstore.

My paranormal investigations of Haslam’s have netted a few things. The first was a mist image captured on 35 mm black-and-white film. The building did not have diffusers nor was smoking allowed. The image won second place in a ghost photography contest for its authenticity. 

Sensitives on the investigation, several whom had not heard of the writer, described a salt-and-pepper-haired gentleman watching us with bemusement and curiosity. Was it Jack? Or perhaps another disgruntled author?

The third most covered location is Comfort Station 1 near the Pier. (The Pier was believed by some to be the site of alien landings in the 1970s, though perhaps it was a laser-light display around the inverted pyramid that put them in mind of a flying saucer.) Comfort Station 1, a public restroom, was also designed by the Vinoy’s architect, Henry Taylor. Some believe that he was into mystical numerology and that the building was styled for magical purposes. Historically, he was hired to design the bathroom and wanted to use an octagonal neo-Romanesque design he would later replicate with the construction of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

A mysterious woman in black patent-leather shoes is sometimes reported to manifest in the women’s restroom – often in the stall adjacent to the user, usually as just her feet – and hosts a conversation with whomever is in there. Yet, when the living woman emerges from the stall, she finds herself alone.

Other ghostly events reported include disembodied singing, a woman appearing in the reflection of a mirror, and even a head in a toilet. Though no formal investigation has been conducted, I’ve gone in with an EMF meter and tried to find evidence of a haunting. Much to my disappointment, no activity or conversations – with disembodied heads, feet, or otherwise – occurred. 

Finally, the Roser Park neighborhood has garnered a few unique results. In several homes, the SPIRITS team has witnessed lights turning off by themselves and equipment activating by unseen hands, but the area is best known for its “Mini Lights” urban legend. The most popular story involves a woman named Minnie who hosted a boarding house near one of the neighborhood bridges. She often rented rooms to anyone who wanted one, including circus people who settled in the area for winter (for the curious, look up the history of Gibsonton). 

According to legend, two of Minnie’s renters were little people who were very loyal to the lady of the manor. However, the rest of the neighborhood was unhappy with Minnie’s boarding house. They often approached her with threats to tear down the place, but her loyal little people, brandishing baseball bats, chased naysayers from the property. When one night the boarding house burned down, some suspected an unhappy neighbor. After that, the property was haunted by the spirits of Minnie’s defenders. Allegedly, if you call for Minnie three times, their ghosts show up as two small spirit orbs that chase strangers from the land.  

Others haunts worth mentioning include Mirror Lake, where the ghost of a lady in white is said to appear; the St. Petersburg Museum of History, which may have the ghost of a mummy and former proprietors keeping an eye on the establishment; the lady in red at the Palladium; and the dancing couple at the Coliseum. Huggins-Stengel field at Crescent Lake Park is said to host the ghosts of Babe Ruth and other famous baseball players from the 1920s. Even the Florida CraftArt/ArtLofts building, once the home to the Rutland’s Department Store, may still have a spectral security guard on duty. He seems happy with the creative endeavors of the artists, they say, and works to keep everyone safe. We are also the paranormal team that investigated Northeast restaurant SESH and, instead of a wronged artist, discovered the ghost of waitress from the time when it was a French restaurant. 

Regardless of what readers may believe about ghosts, their stories help to keep the history – and intrigue – of the ‘Burg alive today. For those who want to learn more about local ghostly phenomena, check the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg website for tours and more at spiritsofstpete.com. Haunted History tours are also available through the St. Petersburg Museum of History at spmoh.com. Happy Haunting!