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Ripley's at Castle Warden
St. Augustine, St. Johns County
HAUNTED
8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
OUT OF TEN
WHAT IT IS
The first permanent Ripley's museum, in a 1887 Moorish castle where two women died in a fire in 1944.
Castle Warden was a private mansion, then Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' hotel, then the site of a fire that killed two guests, then the first Believe It or Not! Odditorium, opened in 1950 with Robert Ripley's own collection. The building is arguably stranger than the exhibits: turrets, poured coquina concrete, and a staff who will tell you which staircase the women are seen on.
HOW IT SCORES
Rarity7/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory9/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair5/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment9/10
How far do they take the bit?
NEARBY
BEFORE YOU DRIVE
- ENTRY FEE
- $25
- HOURS
- Daily 9am–7pm
- BEST TIME
- Evening, for the haunted angle.
- HOW LONG
- 1–2 hours
- PARKING
- Paid lots nearby
- PAYMENT
- Cards accepted
- ACCESS
- Multiple floors, partial lift
COORDINATES
29.8956° N, 81.3139° W
19 San Marco Avenue, at the north end of the old city.
OPEN IN MAPS →DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.