Roser Park Ghost Hunt
Karen West's report:
Roser Park
--- --th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, Florida
05-17-01 6:30 P.M.
Report by Karen West
FACTS:
Home built - 1925
Built on a Tocobagan Indian Mound & Kitchen Midden
Two Story Home
Residents: Husband/Wife/ Daughter "Jeff" "Valerie" and "Sydney"
Moved in - 11/00
Residents originally from South Africa
OBSERVATIONS:
Did not observe any unusual odors. No unusual markings on walls, ceilings or floors
during the walk through. However, during the walk through, I experienced a feeling of energy in several locations. These locations were all in the middle of the home on both floors.
Located in this area on the first floor was a fireplace with its adjacent walls in the dining room and computer room. The EMF reader in these areas fluctuated from 25-50 on a 1-100 scale. In the computer room I experienced a fleeting moment of apprehension followed by goose bumps and hair standing on end on my arms. There is one digital (photo to right) and one 35MM picture that shows some markings in the dining room on the wall above a bookcase. These markings are not present on the video.
Located in this area on the second floor was a hall approximately 7' x 20' which had doors leading to four different rooms as well as leading to the stair landing. The feeling of energy in this area was intense and the EMF meter would fluctuate anywhere from 25 - 95 on a scale of 1-100. The EMF meter never dropped below 25 in this area no matter how many times I left and returned. I experienced goose bumps and hair standing on end on all extremities while in this area.
OCCUPANTS INPUT: According to Jeff the first paranormal experiences started in December. He would see things, someone, a person or a dark shadow out of the corner of his eye when he was working in the computer room. He would also hear footsteps upstairs and the closet door in the front spare room open and close - this would be when he was home alone in the evening. This front spare room is the same room that Jeff often felt he saw something and heard noises from at night when he got up to use the bathroom. He stated that he and his wife had experienced huge temperature fluctuations in their bedroom at night. It would get really hot then really cold.
Veronica has heard the footsteps upstairs when she has been home alone during the day. She has also experienced things falling in the kitchen, things not being where she left them in the kitchen and she frequently finds the refrigerator door open.
Sydney came to the parents in December and told them someone was here with them in the house. Sydney's original bedroom was the front spare room then she moved to the bigger room on the north side of the house. She didn't want to move to the big room at first, saying she was frightened of that room. Sydney is also very interested in the paranormal and reads books on paranormal and teen witches.
Both Jeff and Veronica have seen a spirit, very old according to Veronica, male according to Jeff, tour the house late at night. Usually around midnight, they see this figure go into the kitchen and then out of the kitchen and back upstairs. They have the distinct feeling that the spirit is taking a last tour of the house insuring all is secure before retiring.
RESIDENTS HISTORY: Jeff & Veronica have a family history of spirituality.
Jeff shared the following:
· Has seen ghosts several times
· Walked in sleep to the grave yard as a child
· Followed many paths in this life and past lives (religious paths)
· Has had Out Of Body experiences
· Believes in Reincarnation
Veronica shared the following:
· Father born with sack over head
· Father had premonitions
· Lady spirit w/o a head visited sister
· Brothers occasionally spoke in an unknown language
· Was visited by a dead Uncle
· Was attack by a spirit after playing a Quigi Board like game
· Had problems in previous house until Faadiel moved in & ordered the spirit out
· Has seen Ghosts
· Believes in Reincarnation
· Had a redundant dream for 11 years
IMPRESSION & CONCLUSION:
I did not sense any evil or dangerous situation during the investigation. I did however feel a tremendous amount of energy in the middle of the house on both floors. That is where I experienced the, goose bumps, hair raising and HIGH EMF readings. As to whether or not this energy is caused by a spirit or the proximity of the house, Indian Mounds, I can not say.
VIDEO & DIGITAL:
A video and 39 digital pictures were taken throughout the home. There was nothing visible on the video but there was something on two of the digital pictures (one included in this report and one included in Lee's report) and on two of the 35mm pictures.
Shelley's report:
While in the house I felt a lot of energy coming from the computer room and dining area. My hands were
burning up from the energy. The landing also had a tremendous amount of energy with a moving cold spot. In the upstairs, I caught sight of a moving area of color in the guest room. It moved from corner to
corner near the window. The energy seemed to be following us as we searched the house. The entity
seemed curious most of all, just making sure we were not there to cause trouble. I believe the entity is
protective of the family that resides in the house and seems content to live in the guest room.
Shelley
Sandy's report:
Roser Park Investigation May 17, 2001
History of house:
Built in 1920 and no records found before that by current residents though they will keep searching after given other avenues to try by Brandy. Other residents of the house included a woman who was in the Navy that lived there for 3 years though rarely home. After she left the house was abandoned, boarded up and occupied by vagrants. The tenants before Jeff & Veronica only stayed one month and according to Veronica refused to live upstairs on second floor. The laundry was the only sign of habitation and the rest was used for storage. According to Veronica the living room is built on top of a Native American kitchen mound. The entire area of Roser Park is built on Indian Mounds.
History of haunting:
Currents residents are a family of three: "Jeff" "Valerie" and "Sydney". Jeff and Veronica have both had paranormal experiences in the past and have both seen ghosts before. Both are very open to the paranormal and the spirits in the house. Jeff has had OBE, past life, and followed many paths with different religions in his life. Valerie's sensitivity runs strongly in her family. They've been in the home for 6 months and felt activity from the first month with Sydney being the first to realize something was in the house though Valerie had an idea. All three have witnessed/felt phenomena while alone or together including: dark shadows out the corner of the eye, footsteps upstairs when home alone day or night, doors opening and closing, frig door standing open, objects falling around the house such as the rods from unconstructed cd rack, small objects moved or not as they were left, master bedroom temperature changes of extreme hot/cold. F has seen a dark shadow of a man walk down the stairs and into the kitchen before returning by the same path on numerous occasions and always around midnight. The family feel this ghost is coming form the closet in the guest bedroom which has metal rings mounted along the wall. No idea what/why these are there. Sydney was reluctant to move in her current bedroom which is the purple room stating she felt uncomfortable. The family doesn't feel threatened but would like to know what's going on and confirm their thoughts on the haunting.
Observations:
Upon entering the house Lee felt the energy of an elderly woman in the office area near the fireplace. Major EMF spikes in office & dining room near the fireplace. Shelley's hands were hot to the touch in the dining room. Nothing on the tape that was left recording near the fireplace in the
office other than normal conversations of the people present in the home at the time. On the landing at the top of the staircase is a bench that overlooks the canal behind the house. I felt a warm tingling sensation on the front of my legs from just below the knees to the tops of my feet that I
could step in and out of. Cold spot felt by Shelley and I at the front left corner of the bench on the wall near the second set of steps to upper landing that leads to hall and bedrooms. Karen also got major EMF spikes on the little landing and the hair on her arms stood straight up. Major EMF
spikes in the doors to the bedrooms but not the bath. The spikes lasted until about 4 feet into the bedrooms before returning to normal. Lee felt orbs coming from the master bedroom closet while Shelley felt nothing. Shelley stated she saw swirls of color in the guest bedroom.
Conclusions:
There are 2 ghosts in the home; the male from upstairs and the elderly woman in the office. The male is protective and curious especially of Sydney, though he doesn't want to be a bother. I feel as if the male is making rounds at night, making sure everyone and everything is okay, and keeping an
eye on the house as well as the family. The family doesn't feel threatened which I think is making the ghosts comfortable, too. The fireplace and the little landing on the second floor leading to the hall/bedrooms is like a vortex/crossroads for activity in the house.
Sandy
.
As published in Bayside News, June 15, 2001.
By: Brandy Buchanan
Roser Park is the aged heart of St. Petersburg. It is a place that is both steeped in history and shrouded with mystery. Currently a historic district, the energies of ages-old Roser Park merge with new constructions, renovations, and families, setting up the contradictory conditions perfect for specters of the past to reveal themselves.
Originally, the land surrounding Booker Creek belonged to the first true Floridians: the Tocobagan Native American tribe. Though they had no metal, nor had they discovered the wheel, the Tocobagans lived off the land, they were well adapted to this region, surviving Florida in the time before the invention of air conditioning. Though a flourishing culture, the Tocobagans were quickly wiped out in the sixteenth century with diseases, warfare, and the cultural clashes introduced by the landing of the Europeans. They left behind little but their shell tools and mounds.
Fast forward time to just after the turn of the 20th century. Charles Martin Roser, a wealthy man, had just sold his unique cookie recipe, the Fig Newton, and his factory to Nabisco. In 1911, he and his wife Ruth moved into the area where his parents, John and Caroline Roser, already lived: St. Petersburg. Enthralled with the land, Charles immediately began to buy property along Booker Creek, and built a total of 80 houses between 1911 and 1921.
Roser was one of the first substantial contributors to St. Petersburg. He had 6th Street S. to Central Ave. paved in order to allow traffic to come into his new development. He built and furnished the first nurses' residence for Mound Park Hospital (now Bayfront Medical Center) and helped to establish Mercy Hospital, St. Petersburg's first hospital for African Americans. He donated land for the Roser Park Elementary School, originally located at Sixth Street and Ninth Avenue South (now a parking lot for All Children's Hospital).
Yet, for all that, Roser's dream ended, like many other men's' dreams, during the Great Depression when he had to sell his home for taxes. The house was later demolished. Still, he had created his own legacy in St. Petersburg, one that was destined to remain in tact for the next 60 years.
Which is where the S.P.I.R.I.T.S. team arrives on the scene.
We were called in to examine one residence in this area: a two-story house built shortly before 1920, a grand old place sitting atop the Tocobagan kitchen mound overlooking Booker Creek. In its long past, it had housed a number of residents including an enlisted woman, who was rarely home and a rather odd family who resided only on the first floor of the house. For a time it stood boarded up and vacated and became the home to several vagrant people before it was reopened and restored. In the next chapter of its existence, the house is the home of a family of three, "Jeff", "Valerie", and their 10-year-old daughter "Sydney".
Since moving into the house 8 months ago, "Jeff" has sensed a male presence walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, then back up the stairs late at night. Valerie, who often works at home, hears footsteps on the second floor when she is alone at home. She has also noticed that things she sets down in the kitchen appear to be relocated when she returns to fetch them. Both parents experienced temperature fluctuations in their bedroom, particularly at night, in which the temperatures fluctuate from being very warm to quite cool. Even their daughter, Sydney, has had some experiences. She was the first to sense the presence and alert her parents to it, especially when it liked to open the closet door in the guest bedroom when no one was looking.
This was a most unusual ghost hunt, which proved to be rather enigmatic. Despite the total team's agreement that there was something in the house very little registered upon tape, video recorder, or film!
Yet, the sensations were quite often immediate: shortly after entering the residence, one of the more sensitive S.P.I.R.I.T.S. members sensed the presence of an old woman in the computer room located downstairs. He did not feel that the ghost was happy or unhappy, merely confused.
Moving through the house to the stairwell, several members reported feeling cold spots and goosebumps as they climbed. As the team moved to the second floor, our EMF (electromagnetic field) meters registered high levels of energy in a doorway-lined hallway coming off the stairs. Four doorways face each other in a cross-like pattern, leading to a guestroom, the master bedroom, the daughter's room, and to a bathroom. The readings remained consistent in the hallway itself, yet ended several steps inside each doorway. Only the bathroom held no energy inside (perhaps, as ghosts have no corporeal bodies they no longer need to use it!) Inside the guestroom, another member sensed moving energy, moving from one corner to the other, which she thought, was a male presence.
Lastly, the area of the fireplace held great EMF energy. Could it be that the house, built on or near the Kitchen Mounds of the Tocobagan tribe, channels energy through what might be considered the hearth of the home?
"This was the strongest energy level I have experienced to date," Lee said. "This high energy level may be from one or more of the occupants, past residue from prior occupants, or may emanate from the Indian mounds which surround the home."
It appears that, for now, Roser Park is unwilling to divulge its secrets to outsiders. Only time and repeated investigations may help solve the mystery of the miscellaneous tenants that reside inside.
Here are the reports from attending S.P.I.R.I.T.S. team members:
Roser Park
05-17-01 6:30 P.M.
Report by Lee West
FACTS:
Home built - 1925
Built on a Tocobagan Indian Mound & Kitchen Midden
Two Story Home
Residents: Husband/Wife/ Daughter - "Jeff"/"Valerie"/"Sydney"
Moved in - 11/00
Residents originally from South Africa
OBSERVATIONS:
Did not observe any unusual odors. No unusual markings on walls, ceilings or floors
during the walk through. However, I did sense a presence in the first floor computer room and during the initial walk through I was amazed by the strong force in the center hall area of the second floor.
Upon entering the home I had a strong attraction to the computer room area which is adjacent to the living and dinning room areas. I sensed a presence of what I believe to be an elderly lady in front of the windows. She seemed to be looking out over the cannel that runs directly behind the home. She did not appear to be happy but at the same time she was not unhappy or a threat to the home or occupants. She seemed to be somewhat confused. I believe that she may have some connection to the young girl that is living in the home. Maybe a guardian or a protector spirit. I am not sure if she was there prior to the young girl moving into the home or if the spirit is with this child.
The arrow in the photo indicates the area where the presence was located. There is a darkened area on the photo directly in front of the window, which could not be explained.
Located on the second floor was a hall approximately 7' x 20' which had doors leading to four different rooms as well as leading to the stair landing. Karen measured the EMF in this area with fluctuations anywhere from 25 - 95 on a scale of 1-100. The EMF meter never dropped below 25 in this area no matter how many times she left and returned. No homes investigated prior to this have had such a high continuous EMF reading. At each entry door there was an intense energy field but as soon as I entered a room this feeling would decrease. The field appeared to be located only at each entry door. When standing at the entry door for the larger bedroom, which is the young girl's bedroom, I had such an intense feeling of energy that my hair would stand on my neck and I had goose bumps over my body. The energy field had an euphoria effect on me and I found myself wanting to stay in the field.
The stairway also had some type of energy and several members of the team, including myself, sensed moving cold spots. I had another feeling of some type of presence, can not explain what, on the stairway landing between the first and second floor. This area also seemed to have the same energy field as the second floor but not as intense.
OCCUPANTS INPUT: See Karen's report.
IMPRESSION & CONCLUSION:
I did not sense any evil or dangerous situation during the investigation. I believe there is more than one presence in the home. The strongest being on the second floor. There was a tremendous amount of energy in the middle of the house on both floors but by far the energy level on the second floor was the most intense.
I believe all of the occupants of the home, especially the young girl are in tune with the presence(s).
This was the strongest energy level I have experienced to-date. This high energy level maybe from one or more of the occupants, past residue from prior occupants or from the Indian mounds which surrounds the home in the Roser Park area.
Brandy's Notes (Most of my report is merged with the article above):
Brandy's report
This home is strange. It has larger areas of EMF readings but we were unable to get ghosts to develop on film.
My sensations came on the landing with the stairwell. Felt as if something brushed against my leg, goose bumps.
My inclination is that it may be the spirit of an animal that also is in the house, for some reason I think a "Cat".
The fireplace has more activity. My thought: if this house was built on Tocobagan mounds, particularly the kitchen mound, then wouldn't it make sense for an attraction in energy to take place in both the kitchen (which is one level of high energy) and the fireplace (the "heart" or "Hearth" of the home)?
The spirits may be attracted to Sydney because of her youth. Some ghosts like children, and guard them, which is what I think is happening here.
Interesting family history.
Note: would background affect how they believe in ghosts? The parents are both from a foreign country, where, perhaps, the people are more open to the supernatural? Could they be affected by energies contained in the house because they are more open to it?
Roser Park has a strange history as it is. Very strong energies come from the area. Would like to check out the cemetery.
This e-mail came after we did the ghost hunt. One of the owners of the house put in another occurrence. I thought it might be nice to have a few things from first hand experience included.
Hi there,
Yes I would like to see the report - yesterday I went to the dentist and was not feeling very well so I came home and got into bed - I was just lying there with the door open and from about 9.30 I could see shadows on the wall in the passage, as if someone was walking up and down. My husband came upstairs at about 11.30 and said that he had just seen something downstairs. I think I had a concerned visitor...
(In response to various questions on some of the photos):
There is no stain on the carpet. I personally have never patched the wall, I just painted it - and as far as I can remember there was not any patch before I painted.
The shadows are there, on the landing but I have not seen any forming a face. Does this help?
Regards,
--V
Reported phenomena addendum: 3-12-09
Recently reported from eye witness accounts --
*Watching hair curlers roll across a room unassisted upstairs.
*Hearing doors slamming in areas where no one was present.
*While alone with her daughter, who was upstairs, resident was preparing a lunch of beans and franks. Put the can on the counter and went in to use the restroom. When she returned the can was gone. She thought that her daughter might have taken them and went upstairs to find that the child, who was in the bathtub, had not left the area and had no idea what she was talking about. Never did find out what happened to the missing can of food.
