Welcome To Old City Ghosts
America’s Oldest City Becomes Its Most Haunted After Centuries of Heartache and Tragedy
St. Augustine is a city long haunted, even before European settlers laid the foundation of what would be the oldest city in the United States. With all its post-colonial hardship. memories of mass graves for children under the age of seven, and bank managers jumping out windows, Old City only became spookier…and more haunted.
For a carnival-filled adventure full of bone-chilling ghost stories, gruesome encounters, and horrifying accounts of true events, sign up for the Old City Ghosts tour tonight. Walk in the very place where the United States was born, where dreams died, and nightmares came alive to discover what remnants of disturbing history our bloody ambitions left behind.
WHAT WILL I SEE?
Pirates, Pillagers, Plagues, and Pain: Experience Florida’s Most Ancient, Terrifying, and Haunted Town
Visit this Conquistador period landmark and see the darkened underbelly of one America’s oldest and most haunted cities. Travel with us through some of the most frightful of Florida historic spots, and experience the hauntings at places that have been featured in dozens of ghost-filled documentaries and research papers.
You will explore neighborhoods that have heard the clanking of chains, the volley of pirate cannon fire, and the howls of five-year-old boys, like James Morgan, swept up by tragedy. Get a glimpse of some of the restless dead that prowl some of its most iconic tourist landmarks, like Randolph of the Casa de Sueños or the small child–some say demon– whose inhuman screech has terrified dozens of tourists who venture into The Fiesta Mall.
The Matanzas Hotel, now the Casablanca Inn, served as both a boarding house as well as an off-the-books bootlegging operation during the Prohibition Era. Behind its walls, its madame ran an illicit goldmine that flooded the streets with all manner of contraband and narcotics. Nothing was off the table as long as it brought in the cheese. Her spirit was full of ambition and a lust for power seldom seen, and so she committed all types of hideous amoral crimes.
To this day, what remains of her corrupt soul, continues to protect her fiefdom. Join an Old City Ghosts tour and this will be just one of the many apparitions and ghosts you will encounter that menace the Oldest and Most Haunted City in the country.
A bloodied history built on the backs of long ancient bones.
Years before Plaza de la Constitution served as both a slave auctioning ground, as well as a vibrant public venue to hang and quarter pirates, the area known as the “Hippo” had seen its fair share of tragedies. Something vile and sinister already called the Matanza Bay Colony its home.
The region was an ancient Indian burial ground, a place both holy and sacrilegious for the natives.
Thousands upon thousands of human remains plagued most of the now cobbled-stone streets. Rotting bodies, most maimed and injured during the many tribal wars, swamped the area. The natives were wary of the area and the restless dead that were already haunting the area from beyond the veil. Most would not venture into it after dark.
However, when the Spaniards arrived, they balked at the superstitious nonsense. laughed at all the pagan clap-trap, and proceeded to erect stone forts, memorials, buildings, and even the legendary Spanish Military Hospital over the sacrosanct burial grounds. To the dismay of the natives, they desecrated an already supernatural spot and sneered at its predators.
Embark on a spine-tingling Old City Ghosts tour to find out how the ghosts and the darkness stirred with indignation and cursed them and their ancestors to be haunted for the rest of time.
Some of the buildings, now mostly replicas of the original, are quite literally built over native burial grounds. Experts have found untold remains underneath their capstones and foundations.
On this ghost tour of St. Augustine, you will hear and perhaps even witness the ragged remains of ghosts that call the city their own. The stories of the Waiting Bride, of the boy ghost that tricked a brother to murder his sister, of the thing that calls the Spanish Military Hospital its hunting ground– these tales will be told in all their gory glory, and the apparitions who are cast as the main characters will all wait to be encountered. That they are the stuff of legends makes them no less real or terrifying.
WHY IS ST. AUGUSTINE SO HAUNTED?
Fog and Futility of War, Endless Battles and Blood, and History of Endless Conquest and Conquistadors
When Europeans first landed on the coast of Florida, their intentions were laid bare almost immediately — they came for the thrill of the conquest and spoils of war. Hundreds upon hundreds of natives and European refugees – seeking asylum in the new world from religious persecution – were brought to the sword. Each inch of land was claimed through the sharp end of a dagger.
The area’s first geographical landmark was called “Matanza Bay” – which is translated to “Carnage” Bay – and you can imagine why. As the years plowed on, the bloodshed only deepened. New players came for their pound of flesh, such as English pirates like Robert Searle and other cutthroat criminals from deep in the south, and even the likes of El Draque himself, as the Spanish called him, the legendary privateer and pirate hunter– Sir. Francis Drake. Muskets became a daily fashion garment, and the city was constantly leveled by fire while pillage and mayhem rained yearly.
Sieges evolved and what were once skirmishes against hoodlums and invaded armies, became close-quarter combats between brothers during the Civil War. And the town continued on, bathing in all the gore. After the Civil War, the Seminole Wars entered the lime-light and Florida was plunged into yet more bloodshed — and St. Augustine served as its ringmaster.
On the masoned jail cells of its Fort hundreds of captured slaves languished and on the parapets of the Castillo de San Marcos, Geronimo’s family and his valiant crew of natives cried for the land that was taken from them, and the freedom they now hungered for.
St. Augustine is a land filled with historical wrongdoings and the crimes that made the US what it is today. The earth it now sits in has been mired in hardship, and an untold army of ghosts demand retribution for their pains. St. Augustine is haunted because it is where the real cost and consequences of history and the original American Dream can be viewed firsthand.
What’s so special about the St. Augustine Ghost tour?
A Once-in-a-lifetime experience — An adventure you’ll cherish ‘till the end.
Come with expert local guides, as we walk through moonlit cobblestone streets, and stand under the wooden and brick buildings that once housed the likes of Sir Francis Drake, Geronimo’s Family, famous Chicago mobsters, and even the man who opened Florida to the masses, railroad tycoon Henry Flagler.
You will hear, see, and feel something otherworldly, unforgettable, and frightening. Encounter the ghosts and poltergeists, and other unexplained energy and events that cling to St. Augustine with an iron grip even after their expiration date.
Each stop has its own take on what it means to be haunted. No two are the same. From Conquistador battles to the wild shrieks of men and women betrayed by that epoch’s medical science. Get ready to feel your skin crawl and for a bout of sleepless nights.
See a different, darker side of a Historic destination
Our St. Augustine Ghost Tour is a historical thrill ride — An adventure you’ll cherish until it’s your turn to enter a ghost tour as the main attraction. One whose main purpose is to incite and spark your imagination. A terrifying ride into the hallowed alcoves of this conquistador outpost meant to incite, entertain and even educate.
On these now festive tourists filled streets lie some of Florida’s most legendary locations. An adventure ending in one of the Hippo’s most haunted hot spots is a maelstrom of spirits that demands your attention.
Be Part of A Growing Ghostly Community
Journey with us through St. Augustine’s haunted past — a past visually exposed in every corner. Explore one of our nation’s oldest locations. Book this once-in-a-lifetime experience, and be part of a growing community of investigators of the afterlife and of those who hunt ghosts.
If you’d like to walk the haunted streets of St. Augustine and see the Old City under a new light, book your tour with US Ghost Adventures today.
Experience the unexplained — many of our guests bear witness to the unknown. Become one of them tonight.
* This is a walking tour and we do not enter privately-owned buildings or private property *