Haunted history: St. Petersburg house turns into museum of local lore

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A local professor transformed a 1939 house into the Museum of Haunted History on First Avenue North to showcase regional ghost stories and preserve historic Tampa Bay lore.

Historic St. Petersburg home transformed

What we know:

A parked hearse outside provides the only exterior hint of the unusual collection inside the First Avenue North property. Founder Brandy Stark opened the location to teach visitors about regional urban legends and supernatural folklore.

Stark, a local paranormal investigator and professor, filled the rooms with historic artifacts, including an antique wedding dress named Irene and a painting by late local artist Thomas "Thom" Street. His wife donated a nude art piece from Street to the collection following rumors that Street's spirit haunted his local murals.

Haunted doll room and spirits

Local perspective:

The historic building itself houses two reported spirit presences named William and Edna. Stark reported that the scent of 1950s floral-scented talcum powder frequently lingers in a specific closet where Edna is believed to spend time.

Visitors carrying electromagnetic field detection meters can also walk through a designated doll display space as well as other parts of the museum. Stark noted that all the figures in the room are positive and friendly spirits.

Overnight investigations planned for visitors

What we don't know:

Stark has not announced the official date for the full grand opening, which remains planned for February. Details of what overnight investigations will cost or when bookings will officially go live have not been released yet.

The building currently welcomes guests on Fridays and Saturdays, from 6pm to 9pm or by request. In December, the museum will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 9pm.  Stark plans to allow guests to conduct respectful overnight paranormal investigations as the collection expands with artifacts from across the region.

Preserving Tampa Bay cultural history

What they're saying:

"It's a form of education. It's a form of learning. You don't have to believe in ghosts to study haunted history, because again, it's the lore and the legends. And we're talking about historical people," Stark said.

Stark explained that the space allows her to connect guests with local architectural landmarks and community history.

"I can talk about the history of the Palladium and how cool it was and how it transformed or St. Nicholas Church. Or in fact, some of the pieces of furniture that have come in have been from a local investigation in Pinellas Point," Stark said.

Preserving local architecture and legends

The backstory:

Stark acquired the 1939 property to safeguard older regional architecture while housing oddities from Pinellas County and surrounding communities. Pieces in the collection range from neighborhood investigation finds to donated historic furniture.

"This is an item that I got from St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Tarpon Springs where they had weeping icons in the 1970s where on December 5 it began to weep on its own," said Stark.

Stark said she has recently received requests for paranormal investigations. "I have been getting some emails, and I have to say wait until after Halloween. For this year, we got the Cordova, the Jack Kerouac house. We investigated FloridaRAMA of all places, a 1953 building that does appear to have some ghosts in it, the Crest building, and there's a whole cadre more that we are getting ready for," said Stark. "So, it's been really exciting. This whole year has been exciting."

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX13’s Briona Arradondo from Museum of Haunted History founder Brandy Stark, who provided an on-site walkthrough and interview, of the museum on First Avenue North in St. Petersburg.