St. Augustine, Florida - Part Ten

If you believe what the tour guides on the popular ghost tours of St. Augustine tell you, then this is a photograph of the ghosts of Castle Warden.

Ghost tours are big business in the nation's oldest city. There is a ghost train, a ghost trolley, a walking tour, a "haunted pub" tour and a variety of other chances to explore the supernatural side of St. Augustine.

I will say that I have my doubts about whether a ghost could be found anywhere near a crowd of noisy tourists, but the guides encourage groups to snap photographs and see if they catch anything unusual. These "orbs" showed up in a photograph taken in Castle Warden, the home of Ripley's Believe It or Not! The castle is one of the stops on the "Ghost Train" tour offered by Ripley's.

Although some believe these are caused by spiritual activity, I suspect they more likely are nothing more than light effects caused by cameras flashing in a dark place. But, because many believe they are representative of something supernatural, people are often quite thrilled by the chance to snap a photo in which something a little unusual shows up.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, ghost stories are an important part of Southern heritage because they remind us of the days before radio and television when people occupied their evenings by sitting around the fireplace and telling stories for entertainment. Many of the stories have at least some basis in truth, although quite often the current story bears little resemblance to the original event.

Because it has been an occupied city for more than 440 years, St. Augustine has more than its share of ghost stories.

You can learn more about some of these stories and more about the history of the old city itself by visiting http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ and looking for the St. Augustine heading.

St. Augustine, Florida - Part Nine

Continuing our look at the historic city of St. Augustine, Florida, this is Castle Warden. One of the most popular attractions in the old city, it is the home of the nation's first Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum.

The unusual Moorish Revival castle was built in 1887 as a winter home by William G. Warden, a business partner of John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler. Prominent in business and community affairs in St. Augustine, Warden's castle became a hub of winter activity in the city and remained in the hands of his family until the 1930s.

It was remodeled in 1941 and converted into a grand hotel that hosted many prominent visitors. Famed novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her husband, owner of the hotel, kept a penthouse apartment on the top floor. She is famed for contributions to Florida literature that included The Yearling, Cross Creek and South Moon Under. (Read comments to see more about this).

Another prominent visitor to the hotel was the famed newspaper writer Robert S. Ripley, noted for his popular Believe It or Not! items that featured unusual facts and ran in newspapers around the world. Ripley tried to buy the castle, but was turned down.

After his death in 1949, however, his estate managed to obtain title to the landmark and the nation's first Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum opened here in 1950, giving the castle an usual role in American pop culture.

To read more about St. Augustine and Castle Warden, please visit http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ and look for the St. Augustine heading.