Lake Worth Playhouse

Brothers Clarence and Lucien Oakley built this movie palace and vaudeville house in 1924, installing a $10,000 Wurlitzer pipe organ; the 1928 hurricane that struck South Florida destroyed much of the theater, and the Oakleys rebuilt it in the Streamline Moderne style still seen today, reopening in 1929. The Great Depression ruined them financially, and on June 30, 1931, Lucien shot himself in the head in one of the building's bedrooms; almost exactly a year later, on June 29, 1932, Clarence died of a heart attack in the same house. Staff describe Lucien as the playhouse's most devoted spirit, seeming to look out for the people now caring for the building he built — his ghost has been reported in mirrors, his handprints found on walls, and his footsteps heard along the empty catwalk. At least four other spirits are said to share the building with him, including his brother Clarence, an actress, a crew member, and a dog.