Dare To Check Out These Spooky Places: Tampa's Haunted Venues

TAMPA, FL — Staged haunted houses during the Halloween season are one thing. But only the most intrepid dare venture to these notorious Tampa haunted sites where the spectral figures are real.

Tampa Theatre

Movie-goers enjoyed silent films featuring actors Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Buster Keaton when the Tampa Theatre at 711 N. Franklin St. opened in 1926. Today, the theater continues to be a popular venue for classic films for movie lovers - alive and dead.

According to locals, the 1926 Tampa Theatre at 711 N. Franklin St. is haunted by a number of spirits including Foster "Fink" Finley, the theater's first projectionist. Finley worked in the theater starting in the 1940s and reportedly died there from a heart attack in 1965.

He reportedly continues to roam the theater where he chain smokes. Theater-goers swear they can smell cigarette smoke in the theater where smoking has long been prohibited.

The ghost of Rosa Rio may also linger in the theater. The theater's Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ is a 1,400-pipe instrument installed to accompany silent films, and Rosa Rio was the organist who played it until she died in 2010 at the age of 107.

On nights when the public has gone, staff claim to hear Rosa playing the organ. She's also very protective of the antique instrument. A theater manager accidentally stepped back into the orchestra pit and was about the fall on top of the organ when Rosa diverted her fall so she wouldn't damage it.

Then there's the Lady in White who has been seen pacing backstage and the mysterious man who appears in seat 308.

Guests can check the stories for themselves during the Ghosts of the Tampa Theatre Tour. The 90-minute tour kicks off in the lobby and includes climbing stairs and extended periods of standing. Doors open 15 minutes before tour time.

Tours are scheduled:

• Saturday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m.
• Monday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m.
• Friday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m.

Tickets are $15.

Go beyond the stories and spend some time investigating Tampa Theatre’s supernatural claims for yourself. The 90-minute Late-Night, Lights-Off Paranormal Investigation Experience add-on allows a limited number of guests to stay after the evening ghost tours on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23 and 24, to review previously collected video, photo and audio evidence of Tampa Theatre’s spirit activity, use professional equipment and investigate alongside the researchers from Genesis Paranormal Services. Admission is limited to 25 participants.

The Paranormal Investigation Experience add-on is $25 for general admission and $20 for members. Click here.

Ybor City

No place in Tampa Bay can claim more hauntings than Ybor City.

Founded in 1885, the city was built on the backs of Cuban and Italian immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. Many ended up working for one of the city's cigar factories. And hundreds were killed in fires in the city's hastily constructed wood-frame buildings and during the yellow fever epidemic in the 1900s.

The largest fire in Tampa's history occurred on March 1, 1908, at 1914 12th Ave., according to Tampa Fire Rescue. The fire originated in the wood-shingled roof of a boarding house and quickly spread to more than 17 city blocks. An untold number of adults and children perished in the blaze. Store owners swear they can still hear the laughter of the fire's youngest victims.

During Prohibition, Ybor City became a notorious hangout for gangsters. Gambling czar Charles Wall used political connections to set up a bolita gambling racket in Ybor City during the 1920s and opened the lavish sporting parlor, the El Dorado Lounge, at 8th Avenue and 14th Street. It became a refuge for underworld figures and the scene of drive-by shootings at the hands of Wall's rival, Salvatore Trafficante Sr.

Additionally, the upper floors of the El Dorado were rumored to be the "largest house of ill-repute outside of New Orleans."

Between 1930 and 1959, Tampa witnessed more than 25 gangland killings, most of them in Ybor City. Among them, on Nov. 10, 1936, George "Saturday" Zarate, a drug trafficker for New York gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was gunned down in front of the El Dorado. A year later, Joe Vaglichi, whose brother was Al Capone's bodyguard, died in a hail of bullets from another passing car in front of the gaming parlor.

Ybor City's former Don Vicente Hotel is considered one of the most haunted buildings in the United States, according to Haunted Rooms.. Built in 1895, the structure served as a hotel, a meeting house (El Bien Publico) and a medical clinic.

Jose Luis Avellena Jr. and his disembodied nurse are said to haunt the basement of the Don Vicente. There are also reports of a mad doctor who experimented on patients and then burned the bodies in the basement incinerator.

When the hotel was operating, Room 305, in particular, was a reported hot spot for paranormal activity. Guests reported seeing the apparition of a man at the foot of the bed. Other common hauntings in the Don Vicente included flickering lights, creaky footsteps, doors opening and closing and faucets turning on and off.

Another infamous haunted venue is the The Cuban Club. Built in 1917, it was named one of the most haunted buildings in the U.S. by the Travel Channel. The hauntings at the historic club are attributed to the ghosts of two people who died in the building during the 1920s. One is an actor who committed suicide on stage. The other is a board member who was murdered by a fellow board member during a heated argument.

Visitors have reported a piano playing by itself, the elevator moving up and down although no one pressed the button and entities walking the halls dressed in period clothing.

Explore these venues and many others with the Official Ybor City Ghost Tour. The tour runs on most nights in October from Oct. 10 to Oct. 31 (there are no tours Oct. 15 and 16). Tickets for the two-hour tour are $25 for adults and $10 for children 8-12. The tour is not open for children under 5 years old and children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. For times and reservations, click here.

Henry B. Plant Museum

The Henry B. Plant Museum with its distinctive Moorish minarets is now part of the University of Tampa. But from 1891 to 1933, it was a luxurious 511-room hotel that served as a grand winter resort for the rich and famous including Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, the Queen of England, Booker T. Washington and Stephen Crane.

Apparently, some of these guests refused to check out and continue to haunt the halls today.

People have reported hearing the disembodied voices of long-dead servants and the sounds of rolling dice in the hotel's former gambling casino. Students report an eerie feeling of being watched and doors opening and closing on their own.

The best-known specter is the entity known simply as "The Brown Man." He's described as a man wearing a brown suit with glowing red eyes. He appears and vanishes on staircases throughout Plant Hall.

There is also a phantom couple who have been seen dancing the night away in the hotel's former ballroom.

Visitors may catch a glimpse of these spirits when the museum at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. hosts when the museum hosts an Eerie Evening at the Tampa Bay Hotel Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 29-30 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Those attending will explore the museum by lantern and candlelight, hear true creepy tales of poisonings and unexplained deaths and learn about Victorian mourning and funerals customs.

Space is limited to 40 people per hour and masks are required for all guests. The event is intended for those age 16 years old and up.

Ticket prices are: $20 for museum members and $30 for not-yet-members. Click here.

Oaklawn Cemetery

The oldest public burial ground in downtown Tampa, Oaklawn Cemetery, is the final resting place of notable Tampa residents like cigar magnate Vicente Martinez-Ybor.

Located at the corner of Morgan and Harrison streets, the cemetery was founded in 1850.
Most notable about the cemetery, whites and slaves alike were buried there. It also contains the gravesites of pirates, Confederate soldiers, Second Seminole War soldiers and yellow fever victims. With that kind of history, hauntings are a given.

According to Deborah Frethem, author of Haunted Tampa: Spirits of the Bay (2014), among the spirits haunting the cemetery is a man named Charles Owen who was hanged in 1882 after he broke into the home of a wealthy Tampa family and attempted to rape the daughter.

According to Frethem, the shadow of a man hanging from a oose occasionally appears near Owen's grave at sunset.

History 6 Feet Under leads a tour titled "Oaklawn Cemetery: What Lies Beneath," as well as Haunted Tampa Ghost Walk and Spirits and Spirits Stroll tours.

Tour dates are Oct. 16, 23 and 30. Click here for reservations.

See related story: Ybor City Named Among America's Most Haunted: Take A Tour