The Old Jail
St Augustine, Florida
 11/11/05
The Old Jail St Augustine,

History:

The old jail was completed in 1891 and held prisoners for over 60 years. The old jail held up to 72 men and women with living quarters for the jailer and his family. It was built by Henry Flagler to resemble a fine hotel.

It is one of the very few surviving 19th century incarceration facilities in the state and is the oldest government building in St. Johns County.
Duration - 10:30pm-12:45am
Present - Scott, Sprout, Toni and Lori, with guests Jail manager Savannah and employee Lee. Also Chris from Ancient city tours.
Meter Readings
EMF - .00mg to 3.mg
Tools -4 IR cameras
2 Hi-8 video cameras
digital cameras
gauss meter
audio recorders

History of Haunting:

* So many different types of activity have been reported by staff and tour attendees that we will try to list as many as possible.
The most prevalent phenomenon is the strange smells. This is a list of what we and others have witnessed. The smell of urine is the most common, maybe because from 1891 to 1914, the only bathroom the inmates had was a bucket in the cells so at one point that smell filled the building.
Also smells of feces, roses, vomit, unwashed bodies, tallow candles and farts.
* Cell doors opening or slamming shut.
* Two staff members were outside the jail closing down for the night when they heard a banging sound. They looked toward the museum and saw a person hitting what used to be a glass-enclosed exhibit near the front entrance. They thought they had locked a tourist inside. As they approached the glass the person disappeared through the locked steel door.
* A staff member felt as if a unseen hand tried to push him on the stairs.
* Unexplained sounds from locations through out the jail.
* Strange light anomalies that can't be explained.
* A spirit of a woman in a dress has been seen walking on the outside of the building a couple of times.
Personal Experiences:
* Following is what we witnessed with just our senses mainly with our sense of smell. Toni and Scott smelled human waste at the bottom of the stairs with a EMF reading 2.5mg to 3mg. This was the only fluctuation of EMF the whole night.
* The smell of vomit occurred on the stairs and upstairs in the men’s cell area.
* Upstairs in the men’s cell area was the smell of crayons, which could have actually been a type of bovine or tallow candle wax that was used in the past.
* The smell of urine was also at the bottom of the stairs.
* Our base area was in a small storage area at the bottom of the stairs and while we were tearing down equipment the whole room was engulfed with the scent of roses. This room at times also seemed colder.
Evidence:
* At 11:24 pm, Sprout witnessed 2 men speaking in what sounded like Spanish on the walkie talkies while sitting at the base. After reviewing the video/audio, it was found that Scott was using the dowsing rods in the upstairs men’s cell area at the same time. Scott was addressing each cell separately with questions and when he got to the last cell on the left the answers from the spirits were coming through the walkie talkies. Scott asks “Are there any spirits in the cell directly in front of me?” and the Spirit responds with “Died in bed”. Scott then removes the walkie talkie from his waist and sets it on the table. He asks the same question again with a response from the Spirit saying “There’s one more”.

Scott will be addressing 2 different cells in this video. When he speaks to the second cell and the flashlight goes in front of the camera you’ll hear the first EVP. Second one is heard after he asks the question again.
Click on the photo to see video and the hear EVP’s.
Died In Bed
* 12:04 In the kitchen we recorded what sounds to be a foreign speaking woman possibly Spanish, saying “ Marie”.
Click on location photo to hear.
   Jail Kitchen
* 12:21 Scott, Toni and Sprout were in the upstairs men’s cells. Scott entered the shower area and became quite nauseous. We quickly removed ourselves from the area and ended up at the top of the stairs. Toni said to Scott “ Ya had to let him out of the cell didn’t ya Scott” Scott said “ Ya I did didn’t I” Toni said “ Ya did” EVP of spirit “ Me out ” Toni said “ Send him back
Click on location photo to hear.
   Jail Stairs
* 12:24am There is a EVP we found in the upstairs men’s cell area. Scott was investigating he had the name Jacob Leach come to mind.
At 11:06pm we hear a man whisper “Jacob”. This was not found until we reviewed our evidence at home. We were going to try and research any prisoner logs that may still exist to come up with this name, but found out there had been a fire years ago and all was lost.
Click on location photo to hear.
  Jail Mens
* Toni got this EVP on her digital recorder in the hallway between the women’s cells and solitary confinement. It sounds like someone saying "Help".
Click on location photo to hear.
  Jail Womens