Investigators:  John, Dee, Sandy, Tammie and Heather

Date:  March, 2010

This was one great opportunity for NEFLPI to investigate one of the most notoriously haunted locations in Northeast Florida.  If anyone spends time doing paranormal investigations in the area, they are sure to hear reports of personal experiences at Harry’s.  Many a patron has gone to the restrooms on the second floor and experienced the presence of the ghostly inhabitants.

The history of the location dates back to the early 1700s during the original Spanish occupation of St Augustine.  In these early days, the building was owned by the de Porras family who’s daughter Catalina would play a key role in future ghost stories.  The de Porras family owned the building until the 1760s at which time the control of St Augustine changed hands to the British. 

The family moved to Cuba and lived there for a number of years at which time the building remained vacant.  In 1784, control of St Augustine again changed back to Spain and many of the Spanish moved back.  The de Porras daughter, Catalina, and her husband negotiated with the governor to regain ownership in 1789.  Catalina loved the home since her childhood but sadly she died a few years after coming home.  It is believed that Catalina’s spirit is still present.

In 1887 a fire swept thru the bay front of St Augustine and burned the home to the ground.  A replica of the structure was built in 1888 based on the original and thru the years it has been a boarding house, apartments and restaurants.  Of the restaurants operating in the building, from 1993 to 1997 it operated, as Catalina’s to recognize one of its more memorable owners.  In 1997 the name was changed to Harry’s, which it remains today.

The history is interesting but what about the haunted guests?  Many of the stories focus around a woman being seen or heard on the second floor, specifically in the ladies restroom.  Some believe this inhabitant to be ghost of Catalina herself staying on in the home that she so loved. Another possibility is the spirit of a woman named Bridgette, that it is rumored to have died on the second floor during the fire of 1887. 

Many of the employees and patrons have reported personal experiences that vary from seeing a woman in white to smelling perfume.  One of the current owners told us that they would bring in fresh flowers on a regular basis and that would seem to make the ghost happy.

On the night of the investigation, we met late due to the working hours of the business.  We had access to the entire building, which included two floors of the restaurant and a third that had offices and storage.  We set up IR cameras on all three floors with one in the notorious second floor ladies restroom.  We performed our preliminary sweeps for EMF levels and temperatures and noted areas with high levels. 

We broke into groups with Dee and Sandy heading up to the second floor to begin with an EVP session in the ladies restroom.  John joined them and used the handheld camcorder for documenting evidence.  We would change up teams throughout the night investigating all three floors.  Not much was noticed as far as personal experiences until later in the night.

While Tammy and Heather were in the second floor ladies restroom, one of the lights unexplainably turned on while doing an EVP session. This was interesting since we had unscrewed the bulbs in the room since we could not find the light switch.  This may have been a case where the bulb was just at the point of making a connection or maybe it had some unseen help.

Another personal experience happened at the end of the night when John and Sandy were also in the ladies restroom.  Sandy felt something playing with her hair and expressed the feelings on video.  The most interesting thing is that a couple of minutes later, we caught two unexplained light orbs at the same spot.

Review of the audio and video recordings has resulted in some interesting finds.  We caught some unexplained lights and several Class A EVPs.  We are happy that Harry’s turned out to live up to its reputation for paranormal activity.

We appreciated the chance to investigate Harry’s and the staff could not have been more gracious.  If you’re traveling the St Augustine, do yourself a favor and stop by for some of their great food or to have a drink.  Harry’s is located in the midst of the historical area and very convenient.  While you are there, make sure to visit the second floor bathrooms and see if you can have your own ghostly experience.