Getting to Know Eustis, Part I
As most of you know, we moved to a new town during the beginning of the year. Now that we’re finally settling in to our new home here in Eustis, Florida, we thought it was time to become acquainted with the town. There are many ways that we could achieve this, but for us, the best always seems to be through history, so we headed over to the Florida Memory Project and took a peek at some of the older photographs they have online. We found some we loved and set out to recreate them. Here’s what we ended up with.
Now that we’ve had a chance to see some of the amazing architecture that Eustis has to offer, we’re eager to explore the stories behind the buildings. Stay tuned for a continuation of this post as we learn about some of the more colorful residents to have lived in this beautiful town. And if you know of a wonderful location here that we should explore, by all means let us know!
Downtown Fort Pierce Haunted History Tour
Last night, we had the pleasure of hosting a fundraising event. We conducted tours of the downtown area, with all proceeds going to help defray costs of the upcoming trip to the State History Fair for the students at Fort Pierce Westwood High School who won at district competition. We really enjoyed the chance to showcase some of the more unique aspects of Fort Pierce’s history, and loved getting to spend time with so many local residents. We managed to have some photographs taken (thanks to Stacy Reckard for manning the camera!) during the final tour. Hope you enjoy them!
“The GRIM Society Haunted History Tour in downtown Fort Pierce, April 14, 2012. This event was a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to help pay for students from Westwood High School to attend the State History Fair competition.”
From The GRIM Society Haunted History Tour, posted by on 4/15/2012 (20 items)
Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher
The Fair and Our Favorite Ride!
The whole family visited our county fair last night. We had a blast!
When I was a kids, it was an annual tradition to go at least once. I was never much interested in the rides, but my favorite part has always been the food. Things haven’t changed much as an adult.


But what good paranormal investigator can past up an obvious chance to do a little investigating while spending time with the family?

I am excited to report frequent activity of screaming banshees, animated skeletons and moaning zombies.
Upcoming investigations
Research, research, research! That is what we have been up to lately. Well, and recovering from the plague that has bounced around the house.
We have a few investigations on tap in the next couple of months that we are very excited about.One of the locations is a place we have been trying to get into for years now.
We will update with results as soon as we get the ok from the clients.
Demons, Exorcism, the Catholic Church and….The Discovery Channel?
I recently read an article on a major news outlet that discussed the upcoming series on The Discovery Channel. The Exorcist Files will use re-enactments to discuss cases of possession. We have all seen plenty of shows like this, but this one was actually granted access to the Vatican’s case file. They will also be interviewing the church’s top exorcist.
The producers ultimate goal is to accompany religious officials on an actual exorcism. This is a huge change for the Catholic Church-not too long ago they denied the existence of the Exorcism Ritual and that there were priest trained to perform it.
I am very curious to see if they deal with all “hauntings” as demonic or do they make a distinction.
Discovery, Catholic Church behind exorcism seriesSt. Bernard de Clairvaux
Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of visiting St. Bernard de Clairvaux Spanish Mission. It is an amazing place that offers a really unique look at history. The Monastery was built in Sacramenia, Segovia, Spain between 1133 and 1144. It was dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Mother and named “Monastery of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels,” then later renamed in honor of Bernard of Clairvaux, a famous Cistercian Monk. The Cistercian Monks occupied the monastery for nearly 700 years before the Cloister was seized, sold and converted into a stable and granary in the mid 1830s. That is where the story gets really interesting.
William Randolph Hearst, a famous American businessman, purchased the Cloisters and outer buildings in 1925. He had workers dismantle the structures, packing each stone in hay inside one of 11,00 wooden crates, intending to ship the entire Monastery home to the United States. The process would have been a smooth one, had the stones themselves been numbered in some way, but instead, the workers labeled the boxes. Enter the US Department of Agriculture, who realized that there was an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in Segovia and, afraid that the crates would spread the illness in the US, they quarantined the shipment. During the quarantine, they broke open the crates and burned the hay, which was a possible carrier of the disease. Then they put the stones back- without ensuring they went into the correct crates.
Hearst suffered financial losses right at the time that the crates were released, forcing the entire Monastery to go up for auction in its disassembled form. The stones remained in a warehouse for 26 years before W. Edgemon and R. Moss purchased them. It was 1953, and they decided the Monatery would make a great tourist attraction. It took 19 months and 1.5 million dollars to put the pieces back together; the process was time consuming and there are still stones left over.
I highly recommend a side trip to the Monastery if you’re ever in the area. The story is fascinating and the scenery beautiful, so don’t miss it if you ever get the opportunity!
Do you have a great ghost story?
The GRIM Society is putting together a collection of great stories of ghosts and other paranormal activity. If you have a ghost story that occured along the Treasure Coast, we’d love to hear it!
If you decided to send in a story, be sure to include as much information as possible- the location, date and number of people involved, etc.
You can email your story to thegrimsociety @ gmail.com (without spaces). We can’t wait to read them!
100 year old train disaster leads to another tragedy.
Our group is comprised of mostly family and friends. For that reason, safety is always our primary concern. No investigation is worth risking injury or death, and this applies to both strangers and our own group.
I just read an article about a group of hunters and enthusiasts waiting on a railroad bridge for the return of a spectral locomotive. Well, the tragedy occurred when an all too real one came down the rolling down the tracks.
‘Ghost train’ hunter killed by train in North Carolina
Please remember to use good judgment. Nothing is worth the risk of becoming a ghost yourself.
Ghost story used to reveal the truth.
Kudos to these researchers for doing the hard work.
Sometimes a ghost story can be used to start an investigation that leads to a injustice being corrected. Hopefully, this will cause the record to be set right for these people and their families.
We spend countless hours doing research, digging through microfiche, squinting at census records and bouncing ideas off each other. Often, we uncover information that completely unravels the urban legend or debunks a ghost story, but it usually opens up doors to a more interesting story. Like they say “Truth is stranger than fiction”.





































