World’s Largest Ghost Hunt Comes To St. Pete Museum Of History

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The paranormal investigative organization the Spirits of St. Petersburg, which has been around for 25 years, takes over the St. Petersburg Museum of History Saturday, 7 p.m., for the World’s Largest Ghost Hunt.

This sixth annual event in St. Petersburg coincides with ghost hunts organized around the world to celebrate National Ghost Hunting Day.

“The premise behind it is to raise awareness of historic sites and buildings,” Brandy Stark, the group’s founder, told Patch. “People equate the supernatural with something that's very, very frightening and it really doesn't have to be.”

In the past, the event has been held at the Suntan Art Center, the Art Lofts and even a self-guided tour outdoors at Mirror Lake during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stark has long dreamed of hosting the tour at the history museum, which is more than 100 years old. And now she has the chance, after years of speaking at the museum each fall.

“It’s been on my agenda for a very, very long time,” she said.

Attendees will have the chance to do their own ghost hunting in small groups. The Spirits of St. Petersburg uses a spirit portal, a handmade device that attaches to a spirit box to clarify any contact from the spirit world, she said. “It takes out the background noise and clarifies what’s being said. Ghosts communicate through radio waves.”

There are plenty of questions about how haunted the museum is — including whether it’s haunted by its founder, Mary Wheeler, herself — Stark added.

“There was an incident, I think during Hurricane Irma, and all staff was called in to batten down the hatches, including some of their family,” she said. “Possibly even the founder of the museum, herself, wanted to keep an eye on things. One of the younger folks, in her teens, said she saw a lady dressed all in white in the back and she vanished. Later, she walked past a photo of Mary Wheeler and said, ‘That’s the woman there.’”

The organization is always collaborating with the Roser Park Historic District to offer ghost tours of homes during the neighborhood’s Oct. 21 Halloween block party.

“We’ll get through the whole neighborhood with any luck,” Stark said. “It’s a chance to focus on an area and to really root into that history.”