Tampa was recently named one of the 20 best places to celebrate Halloween in the US! If you're looking for some local spots for spooky szn, you've got to check out these haunted locations in Tampa Bay! I've been to a few of them and I've never seen ghosts...but if you have, I want to know about it! What would you add to the list? What spooky things have you seen in our area?
Many of the haunted spots in Tampa Bay area in the Ybor City area--Tampa's oldest neighborhood, founded in the late 1800s. The most haunted building in Ybor is (supposedly!) the Cuban Club. People have reported seeing a misty woman in a white dress, pianos that play themselves, and elevators moving on their own.
There are reports of a drunken ghost at the Olde Florida Brewing Company in Largo.
Some people claim to have seen the ghosts of a man in a tophat and a woman who appears to be in pain at the Old Tampa Book Company on North Tampa Street.
One of Tampa's most beautiful buildings is also one of the most haunted! Be sure to visit the Tampa Theatre downtown if you've never been! Employees there say the theatre's former projectionist still lives in the building and can be seen smoking cigarettes there...despite having died many years ago. There's also the ghost of Rosa, the theatre's original organist, who played there until her death at the age of 107!
Plant Hall at the University of Tampa was originally built as a hotel by Henry Plant in 1891. The building is currently used for student housing, and many students have reported seeing a "brown man" who some believe is the ghost of Plant himself. There are several reports of other ghosts on campus as well, and UT is considered one of the most haunted college campuses in the US.
Many people belive the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is haunted. It was famously hit by a freighter in 1980, causing the bridge to partially collapse, and send nearly 100 motorists into the Bay. Over the years, roughly 200 people have jumped from the bridge as well. I personally drive over the Skyway nearly every day and have never seen a ghost, but you never know!
The Don Cesar on St Pete Beach is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Thomas Rowe, who built the hotel in 1928 and famously died of a heart attack in the hotel's lobby.
The former Britton Theater in South Tampa is currently used as a church, but was originally built in the 1950s as a single-screen movie house, and people there have claimed to hear voices in empty rooms, as well as doors that lock and unlock on their own.
What's missing from this list? If you have a haunted place to add, let us know in the comments! And if you've got your own Tampa Bay ghost sighting, I'd love to hear about it!
[WFLA]
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images