Walk Apalachicola's most haunted locations. 13 stops, self-guided. 3 stops free. No guide, no schedule — just you and the dark.
Yellow fever, massacre, and forgotten graves make Apalachicola Florida's most haunted small town. In 1816, the U.S. Army fired a heated cannonball into Fort Gadsden's powder magazine, killing over 270 escaped slaves and Seminole allies in a single explosion — park rangers still hear children crying on the grounds. Dr. John Gorrie invented refrigeration here to save fever patients, then died penniless in 1855 after rivals stole his work; museum staff hear his ice machine running after hours despite being unplugged. At the Gibson Inn, a bride named Catherine hanged herself in Room 309 in 1929 after her groom fled town with another woman. She's still checking the window for him. Walk 13 free stops on this self-guided tour from the Coombs House Inn to the river docks, where phantom steamboats emerge from the fog and a murdered woman named Margaret Thornton still points toward the trees.
Some say that the spirits of those who once walked the streets of Apalachicola still linger here, bound to the land they loved. a resting place steepe...
You enter the grandest mansion in Apalachicola, built by lumber baron James Coombs in 1905. But beneath the oak floors and ornate moldings, tragedy li...
You stand before the Greek Revival mansion built in 1838, its white columns gleaming in the Florida sun. But walk to the back, to the servant quarters...
You enter the historic church that was shipped here from New York in pieces, reassembled in 1838 on hallowed ground that would soon run red with death...
You're in the 1838 home of merchant David Raney, preserved as a museum, but some things here refuse to be curated. During the Civil War, the house was...
You walk among the skeletal remains of Apalachicola's cotton warehouses, where millions of pounds of cotton—picked by enslaved hands—were stored befor...
You enter the museum honoring Dr. John Gorrie, who invented mechanical refrigeration to treat yellow fever patients. But his breakthrough was stolen, ...
You're strolling through lush botanical gardens, but you're walking on the dead. Before this was a garden, it was an overflow cemetery for yellow feve...
You enter the oldest cemetery in Apalachicola, where time and neglect have erased most headstones. Confederate soldiers, plague victims, shipwreck sur...
You're near the abandoned oyster processing plants that once defined Apalachicola's economy. Workers—many Black, poor, and exploited—shucked oysters i...
You stand on the grounds of Fort Gadsden, site of one of America's forgotten massacres. After the British abandoned this fort in 1815, it became a ref...
You're standing at the river docks where steamboats once brought cotton, gamblers, and death. Multiple steamboat explosions killed dozens—boilers over...
You enter the grand Gibson Inn, built in 1907, and immediately feel you're not alone. The third floor is where she waits—a bride named Catherine who c...
The Apalachicola ghost tour includes 13 documented haunted locations.
The first 3 stops are completely free — no account required. To unlock all 13 stops, a History Nearby premium subscription is $4.99/month or $49.99/year.
No. This is a self-guided walking tour. Each stop includes the address, a map pin, and the full haunting story. Walk at your own pace, start anytime, and take any route you like.
Plan for approximately 2.5 hours. This accounts for walking between stops and reading each haunting story. You can also split it across multiple evenings.
The most visited stop on our Apalachicola tour is Chestnut Street Cemetery of Early Apalachicola at 62 Avenue E, Apalachicola, Florida, 32320, dating back to 1970.
3 stops free in Apalachicola. No guide, no schedule — walk at your own pace after dark.
Last updated February 22, 2026. Researched by the History Nearby editorial team.