The Ghosts Of Fort Pierce, Florida

I have never thought of Fort Pierce, Florida as a hotbed of paranormal activity, but when doing a search on the internet for the date Fort Pierce's PP Cobb Building, seen in the photograph on the left, was built, I stumbled across a link promoting "Fort Pierce's #1 Rated Ghost Tour." This tour takes place every night at 8:00 P.M. and one of the buildings they visit is the PP Cobb Building. It was built in 1882 as a trading post, later turned into a grocery store and post office, and is said to be haunted. A man wanting revenge on P.P. Cobb for foreclosing on him wound up shooting his business partner instead. That business partner evidently haunts the building to this day.

Another haunted location in Fort Pierce is the Sunrise Theater, built in 1923 and renovated in 2006. Evidently that renovation stirred up a lot of spirits, and at night their whispers and banter can be heard, along with a phantom piano "permeating the night's tonal landscape." You would think that would interfere with the current performance going on, but what do I know? When I looked at the site a little more, it turns out this tour is run by a company called US Ghost Adventures, and they have ghost tours in over 100 cities, including right here in Stuart, Florida. In other words, it is a business, started and run to make a profit. Do they really believe in the tales they are telling? The cynic in me says no, but that's just me. 

I remember years ago the Denver Art Museum had a Halloween "Final Friday" event which featured an employee telling her experiences with ghosts, one of which took place when she was involved in a restoration project in an English castle. Her co-workers had her walk down a certain corridor, where she was confronted by a very angry female ghost (did she mention it might have been Anne Boleyn?), which all of them had evidently also encountered. Now her I believed. She might have been crazy, but I really think she believed that is what happened. In any case, a third place the Fort Pierce Ghost Tour takes you to is The Boston House, built in 1909 and seen in the photograph on the left. The "agonizing cry" from the spirit of a red-haired woman, pleading "Please help me find my son, Timmy" has tormented the occupants of this building for years. Once a law office, it will soon become a restaurant, and hopefully that red haired spirit will be the main floor show. I can hear it now: Bartender, I definitely need another, please.