Fort East Martello Museum: The Most Haunted Place in Florida
Fort East Martello Museum in Key West is Florida’s Most Haunted Location.
Florida has no shortage of haunted hotspots. From the restless spirits said to linger in St. Augustine’s old jail to the dark energies haunting the Cuban Club in Ybor City, the Sunshine State glows with more than just tropical light. You’ll find phantom sailors in Pensacola, ghostly lovers in the old St. Augustine Lighthouse, and even lost spirits hiding in the swamps of the Everglades. Each of these sites could make a strong claim for being the most haunted place in Florida, and all of them are worth visiting.
But when it comes to choosing the most haunted place in the state, one location rises above the rest: Fort East Martello Museum in Key West.
Recognized Among America’s Most Haunted
USA Today regularly lists Fort East Martello Museum among America’s Most Haunted Destinations, and Thrillist named it the Creepiest Place in Florida. That’s a bold claim for a state filled with eerie landmarks, but once you set foot inside the brick walls of this Civil War–era fortress, you’ll understand why the fort continues to draw paranormal investigators, psychics, and skeptics from around the world.
Haunted by History
The criteria for what makes a place “most haunted” is subjective. Some count ghost sightings, others measure the heaviness in the air, and some go by sheer number of documented spirits. By the numbers, Fort East Martello has at least 42 documented ghosts. Some psychics believe the actual number is in the hundreds.
Built during the Civil War, the fort is believed to rest on ground once used as a burial site for the Calusa, one of Florida’s earliest native tribes. During the war, the fort is said to have served as a makeshift hospital, where many soldiers drew their final breaths from diseases like yellow fever. The museum’s collection itself is a catalogue of unusual deaths, including a refugee raft tied to a fatal voyage, a horse-drawn hearse, century-old gravestones, and even a fragment of Elena Hoyos’s tomb, the woman whose body was stolen from her grave by Key West’s infamous necromancer, Count von Cosel.
Home of Robert the Doll
And then there’s the artifact that seals Fort East Martello’s title as Florida’s Most Haunted Location: Robert the Doll — the world’s most haunted plaything.
Visitors report strange phenomena just by looking at him: camera malfunctions, sudden chills, and overwhelming waves of emotion. Hundreds of letters arrive each year from people begging Robert’s forgiveness for being disrespectful. His legend is so powerful that even skeptics leave the museum with goosebumps, and believers leave convinced they’ve encountered something beyond explanation.
While there is a slight chance you might see a ghost at any other haunted site in Florida, at Fort East Martello Museum, you’re guaranteed to see Robert the Doll 100% of the time.
Experience Florida’s Most Haunted Site for Yourself
To truly experience the fort’s haunted energy, book a nighttime VIP Paranormal Adventure through the Robert the Doll Experience Ghost Tour, the only after-hours tour that gives you hands-on access to the haunted artifacts and a chance to communicate directly with Robert himself.
You can reserve your spot at ghostkeywest.com.
Fort East Martello Museum isn’t just haunted, it’s the heart of Florida’s supernatural history.
David L. Sloan is the author of Ghosts of Key West and the founder of Key West’s Robert the Doll Experience. Sloan’s Ghost Key West partners with the Fort East Martello Museum to provide nighttime explorations into the paranormal.
