THIS HISTORIC, haunted Inn was constructed of coquina rock, from Anastasia Island, in 1791 for Spaniard Gaspar Garcia. It had a series of six more owners between the Garcia family and Thomas Henry Dummett, who purchased the home in 1838. After Dummett's death his daughters Anna and Sarah turned it into a boarding house known as the Dummett House. Sarah married Major Hardee, and after ownership was transferred to the Major it was know as the Dummett-Hardee House. Information about what went on in the house between that time and 1888 is scarce, though it is rumored that Confederate spies used it as a base of operation during the Civil War. It was acquired by a new owner in 1888 who remodeled the house, adding a third floor (one of the workmen is thought to have found a bag of dubloons when he was working on a fireplace!)
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ST. FRANCIS INN, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA Over 200 years of history and a bit of mystery--who is the restless spirit that haunts room 3-A?
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Later owners of the house, the Grahams, installed central heating in 1925 and added bathrooms in each room. The owners that came after the Grahams all operated the building as a guest house, and in 1948 it was given the name St. Francis Inn. There is a small St. Francis statue overlooking a fish pond in the quaint courtyard. Haunting activity takes place all over inside the St. Francis Inn, though the most haunted room seems to be 3-A. Odd phenomena is common--lights and TV's turning off and on, people's belongings are moved or thrown on the floor, and there are a lot of "whispering" sounds and moans. People have even seen apparitions--one is a black girl and she is thought to be a maid from long ago. It is said that a soldier killed himself in a room up on the third floor.
If you get a chance to visit St. Augustine, Florida try to schedule a stay at the St. Francis Inn!
