Demise of a Historic Jacksonville Gem
Published by Tony Ringler in Haunted Places · 3 March 2022
Now, the kids weren’t the only ones around.
Just a little backstory here. There was one place in the house that I always felt uneasy around. It was at the top of a set of concrete stairs adjacent to a window overlooking the west bound side of the road. This vantage point would have allowed anyone standing here the ability to see any intruders coming from the west. When Misty and I met, one of the very first things I asked her was about that corner at the top of the stairs. She kind of chuckled and smiled and said “Well yeah, that’s where Rosa watches and waits”… WAITS? FOR WHAT?.... There were dated stories that she was at the window when a stage coach ran over her daughter and killed her. Maybe this was Elizabeth? We never knew for sure. What Misty was able to find out from Rosa was her name and SHE was the alpha of this house. It seems she was also the “Madame” of the home when it was a “house of ill repute” They called them bordellos then. Today it would be known as a cat house, bunny ranch, or whatever you wish to call it… (sidetracked, sorry). Even after the building was sold in 2018, Rosa resided there and was NOT happy about the renovations to her house. I will explain that later.
The final spirit that made themselves known to us, was that of an elderly gentleman that was really just pissed off at the world. We never got any sense of him inside the house, but he was everywhere outside in the woods. I have no spiritual powers or “third eye”, so I can only go on what I feel. I knew something was right next to me, but didn’t know who or what until Misty saw him. He stayed with me most of the time, hiking along the attraction as I checked on everyone and pretended to be a manager. There was always a cold chill on my right side, even when it was 95 degrees. Misty informed me that this was him.
There were other numerous spirits that would frequent the place, but none as predominant as the ones I have explained so far. In my years among them, I only got the sense of one entity that may or may not have been quite as harmless as the rest. Everyone felt uneasy in the bedroom in the middle of the house on the second floor. This room was exactly in the middle so it had no windows and doors on opposing walls. It would be here that I would see my first shadow person and was very uneasy when I saw it. He (I assumed it was a he) looked like a black fog in the shape of a man, very jagged edges and when I looked at what I thought was the face, I saw 2 pin point red, maybe yellow (I’m colorblind), lights pointing back at me. Maybe these were eyes, either way it was enough to just really give me a sinking feeling all the way to the bone. I never saw this again. I sometimes doubt what I saw, but Misty said my reaction was too genuine to have not been legitimate.
I have been told that I am our team’s biggest skeptic. I see our members using the dowsing rods with success in soliciting responces and have actually had questions of my own answered. I’ve heard EVP’s and voices with my own ears, but something inside me still says, "what is it really?" Maybe it’s due to my engineering background. My 9 to 5 job is in Civil Engineering and I have been in this field since 1985 and at the same firm since 1998. This is where my later encounter with Rosa comes into play.
Once my friends sold the property, it was bought by a developer who would turn it into a reception hall of sort. I just happened to end up getting the contract to be their engineer of record, thanks to the previous owners. Once the developers’ carpenters began to renovate, things began to happen. The new owners were aware of my history with the property and my hobby of paranormal investigation and asked if I would come out and talk to them and the contractors. I immediately called our team and told them this may be our last chance to go in here. Misty, myself and a couple others made it to the site the next afternoon. The contractor’s on-site were told, “Go ahead, tell them”. I just kinda smiled and looked at Misty, because we had a pretty good idea what was coming. The man began to speak and his voice cracked the entire time he was trying to explain what had happened. It seems that he was on-site alone with all the doors and windows open, radio blasting, just working his butt off. According to him, every door and window in the house slammed shut. The man told us he didn’t quit running until he got down the road to the convenience store. Slamming doors was not an odd occurrence here and you can see some video of this happening in the daylight with the previous owner asking “Ghosty” to do it again.
I could write quite a bit more on this place and what I have witnessed here, but it would just go on forever. I’m hoping that some of the other 10 members of our team will contribute to this blog as I know we all have numerous events to share.