THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Captain Tony's Saloon is considered one of Key West's most haunted establishments. The building once served as a morgue and is associated with the famous hanging tree that still stands inside the bar. Patrons and employees have reported apparitions, disembodied voices, and unexplained touches from unseen spirits.
Said to be the oldest saloon in Florida, the establishment is home to a tree that grows through the middle of the chamber. It is said to be the tree from which executions were carried out; 75 unfortunate folks were said to have been hanged from it. The apparition of one of them, a woman in a bloody blue nightgown, has been seen at the saloon. The pool room, always cooler than anywhere else in the place, is said to be haunted. Locals will tell you the building served as an icehouse and morgue in pre-electricity days, and folks who didn’t arrive alive at the port of Key West were buried — you guessed it — right where the pool room stands today. Another point of interest are two tombstones inside the bar. One reads “Elvira, daughter of Joseph and Susannah Edmunds died Dec. 21, 1822 Age: 19 years 8 months and 21 days.” The other is the tombstone of Reba Sawyer, said to have had a longtime affair with a married man. They would meet in secret at the bar, but years after Reba’s death, her husband discovered the details of the secret affair. He was mad enough to pluck Reba’s tombstone from the cemetery and deposit it angrily on the sidewalk in front of the bar. Captain Tony brought it inside where it rests in peace. The woman’s restroom is also said to be haunted, and on a lighter note, a fish is said to bring good luck. Throw a quarter into the mouth of the huge grouper above the sign outside, and it is said good luck will follow you until you leave the island.