THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Kingsley Plantation is associated with the legend of “Old Red Eyes,” a sinister apparition said to appear as glowing red eyes watching from the surrounding woods. Sightings of the mysterious figure have been reported for decades, and local folklore sometimes connects the spirit to the plantation's history of slavery and violence.
According to local legend, an angry red-eyed ghost lurks here, a remnant of the area’s past. The plantation was built in 1813 by Zephaniah Kingsley and grew cotton, sugar cane, citrus and corn. Kingsley had 60 African slaves, one of whom, named Ana, he took for a wife. Kingley moved his plantation to Haiti in 1837, but something stayed behind. Folks say it is the ghost of an evil slave who was hanged by the other slaves for harshly abusing and even killing some of the female slaves. Now the terrifying mist or apparition with red eyes roams the grounds. Also seen is the ghost of a woman in a white dress, believed to be Ana Kingsley. A child’s ghostly screams also are said to come from the well, where a child once drowned.