The Story Behind This Haunted Saloon In Florida Is Truly Creepy
Are you looking for a creepy place to spend Halloween? Not just a haunted house attraction, but a real haunted place with real ghost stories?
It's not often that you come across a place with a story as interesting or as creepy as the history of Captain Tony's Saloon in Key West. In the 1850s, the building was an ice house that doubled as Key West's first morgue.
One of the first things you will notice is the large tree growing right through the building. The story goes that this "Hanging Tree" was used to execute 17 people, 16 pirates and one woman.
She was hanged for murdering her family, and she's called the "lady in blue," because of the dress she wore and because of the color of her skin when she died. Her restless spirit still haunts the saloon.
According to legend, after a huge hurricane in 1865, an unidentified body was found outside the bar, so a wall was built around it with holy water placed inside. During a large expansion in the '80s, this wall became part of the saloon, and another unnerving discovery was made.
There are plenty of reasons to visit Captain Tony's Saloon besides its creepy history. Many famous people have sat at this bar, from Jimmy Buffet to Truman Capote.
Ernest Hemingway was a regular back in the 1930s, when this was the home of the original Sloppy Joe's, that moved around the corner the owner had a dispute with the landlord. This space has also been used as a telegraph station, cigar factory, and several speakeasies.
