Est. 1935 · WPA / New Deal Architecture · Pinellas County History · National Register of Historic Places · 1921 Hurricane
The first Gulfport Casino opened officially in January 1906 at the end of an 800-foot pier extending into Boca Ciega Bay. Owned privately by the Gulf Casino Company, the two-story wood-frame structure housed a dance floor on the upper level, a post office, soda fountain, and souvenir shop at pier level, and connected electric trolley passengers directly to steamboats bound for Pass-a-Grille Beach. Historians later called it the 'heart and hub' of Gulfport, and the founding fathers of the town held the meeting there that led to Gulfport's incorporation in 1910.
The October 1921 hurricane — described by local accounts as the worst to strike the region since the 1848 storm — reduced the structure to scattered debris on the beach. A replacement casino opened in 1924 during the Florida land boom, but this second structure was built quickly and lacked structural integrity. It too was soon replaced.
The current building, the third on the site, was funded as a New Deal public works project and designed by architect Frank Showerman. Its dedication ceremony took place December 1, 1935. The 10,000-square-foot structure features a solid maple dance floor, a bandshell stage, chandeliers, and a bar. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, the ballroom continues to operate as a city-owned venue, hosting weekly swing, ballroom, salsa, and tango lessons at $7 per person.
Sources
- https://stpetecatalyst.com/vintage-pinellas-the-gulfport-casino/
- https://mygulfport.us/recreation/casino/casino-history/
- https://thegabber.com/90-years-of-the-the-gulfport-casinos-hurricane-resilience/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulfport_Casino
Spectral figures near waterlineDancing apparitionWarm air anomalyUnexplained presence
The haunting tradition at the Gulfport Casino attaches itself specifically to the patch of open water where the original 1906 pier structure once stood — the building that the 1921 hurricane destroyed. Paranormal accounts collected by Tampa Bay investigators describe spectral figures appearing near the waterline late at night, on moonless nights, in the area that once extended into the bay.
The most distinctive report is of a dancing figure seen on the water looking in the direction of the Don CeSar hotel down the shoreline. This image — a figure in motion, viewed from the ballroom's waterside — connects the current building to the older structure that preceded it, as though a dancer from the 1906-era hall never stopped.
During a documented paranormal tour, several participants described a 'hovering ball of warm air' at seated-head height on the left side of the first floor, as if someone unseen occupied a chair. The City of Gulfport, which owns and operates the building, does not promote a haunted identity for the venue; the ghost lore circulates through local paranormal and ghost tour channels rather than official city materials.
The 1921 hurricane did cause significant casualties across Pinellas County, though specific death counts tied to the casino pier have not been confirmed in historical records reviewed.
