Stranahan House

Built in 1901 by Fort Lauderdale founder Frank Stranahan and his wife Ivy, the Stranahan House is the city's oldest surviving structure and has served as a trading post, post office, and town hall before becoming a museum in 1984. On May 22, 1929, in poor health and deep in debt after the collapse of the Florida land boom, Frank drowned himself in the New River directly in front of the house; Ivy, following the custom of the time, stopped every clock in the house at the hour of his death. Staff and visitors have long reported apparitions and unexplained noises since, along with several other regular presences: a man in his 40s pacing the ground floor, a young man who approaches the front door and presses his face to the glass, and a young girl in a ruffled period dress looking sullenly out a window, alongside cold spots and a general sense of being watched throughout the house, especially late at night.