HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Victorian-era bar fixtures shipped from 1840s London to Delray Beach in 1996 — and according to staff, the ghost of Bertha Starkey came with them
804 E Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach, FL 33483
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Pub bar and food menu at standard Atlantic Avenue prices. Verify current operating status before visiting.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level pub interior with Victorian bar fixtures
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1996 · Victorian-Era London Pub Fixtures (1840s) · Travel Channel Florida's Most Haunted Pub (2004) · Delray Beach Atlantic Avenue Landmark
The fixtures that make the Blue Anchor distinctive predate the state of Florida as a business address by several decades. The bar, back bar, decorative woodwork, and Victorian facade were built in London in the 1840s — the era of the Illustrated London News and Jack the Ripper — at a pub reportedly located near Fleet Street. The original London pub is where, according to the establishment's founding legend, a woman named Bertha Starkey was murdered by her husband after he discovered her with another man.
At some point in the twentieth century, the London fixtures were dismantled and shipped to the United States, first to New York City. In 1996, they were purchased, relocated to Delray Beach, and installed at 804 East Atlantic Avenue, where they became the Blue Anchor British Pub. Former co-owner Lee Harrison described the opening of the Delray location as bringing Bertha's presence along with the woodwork: heavy kitchen pots lifting off large hooks, candles extinguishing and re-igniting without explanation, footsteps and wailing sounds after closing.
The Travel Channel aired a special in 2004 naming the Blue Anchor Florida's Most Haunted Pub. Staff established a nightly ritual of ringing a ship's bell — believed to minimize Bertha's activity — that became part of the pub's public identity. Paranormal disturbances were said to concentrate around 10 p.m., which owners identified as the approximate time of Bertha's murder in the original London pub.
The pub operated for nearly three decades as a downtown Delray Beach fixture. By late 2025, the establishment began accumulating health department violations and multiple forced closures. In February 2026, the property owner filed for eviction citing over $70,000 in unpaid rent. On March 4, 2026, the pub was reported padlocked. The operating company, Luv Shak Hospitality Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 23, 2026. As of this writing, the pub's future under current or new ownership is unresolved.
Sources
The Bertha Starkey narrative is the Blue Anchor's primary ghost claim, and it is unusual in paranormal pub lore for being explicitly tied to a physical object — the Victorian bar fixtures themselves — rather than to the building or land.
According to co-owners and staff who have described the haunting, Bertha's presence came to Delray Beach packaged inside the dismantled woodwork. The disturbances do not draw on any local history at 804 East Atlantic Avenue but are imported wholesale from the London origin story. This makes independent verification of the underlying claim — that a woman named Bertha Starkey was murdered in that specific London pub in the 1840s — difficult. The name does not appear in the historical newspaper databases we searched, and the murder is documented only in the pub's own promotional material.
The reported phenomena at the Delray location are specific: heavy kitchen pots lifting off meat-cleaver-sized hooks; candles at tables extinguishing themselves and re-igniting seconds later; footsteps and wailing sounds after closing; disturbances concentrating around 10 p.m. Former owner Lee Harrison cited these as personally witnessed events. The ship's bell ringing at closing time — described as a nightly ritual to minimize Bertha's activity — was a consistent feature of the pub's identity throughout its operation.
The Travel Channel's 2004 designation as Florida's Most Haunted Pub brought national attention and remains the highest-profile media documentation of the claim.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Drink at the bar where Bertha Starkey reportedly still holds court. The pub's fixtures — bar, back bar, and decorative woodwork — were built in London in the 1840s, dismantled, shipped to New York, then relocated to Delray Beach in 1996. Staff ring a ship's bell nightly, a ritual established by former owners to keep Bertha calm.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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