An 1907 Dade County pine house built with salvaged ship timber, now haunted by the young woman who died within it during a 1920s fever epidemic
231 SW 2nd Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission to Old Fort Lauderdale Village campus; check historicalfortlauderdale.org for current pricing
Access
Limited Access
Historic wood-frame structure with original floors; second floor accessible by original staircase only
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1907 · National Register of Historic Places · Dade County pine construction with salvaged ship timber · Part of Old Fort Lauderdale Village museum campus · Built by Fort Lauderdale's first contractor
The King-Cromartie House dates to 1907, when Edwin T. King — Fort Lauderdale's first contractor, responsible for building the New River Inn two years earlier — constructed a two-story family home using milled Dade County pine. The floor joists were salvaged from ship timber, a practical solution in early South Florida where local lumber supplies were scarce and salvaged maritime wood was readily available.
The house passed within the King family, and sometime in the 1920s Louise King Cromartie died inside it, believed to have been claimed by a fever epidemic. The Broward County region experienced sporadic outbreaks of typhoid and other febrile illnesses during this period as drainage and water infrastructure in the newly developed Everglades flatlands remained incomplete. The exact date of her death has not been confirmed in available historical records, and the nature of the fever is documented in family oral tradition rather than formal records.
The structure remained at its original downtown location for more than six decades. In 1971, as Fort Lauderdale's urban core redeveloped, the house was relocated to Moffat Avenue within the Old Fort Lauderdale Village museum campus, where it now sits adjacent to the 1905 New River Inn. The Fort Lauderdale Historical Society manages both structures as part of a campus that includes a recreated 1908 hotel room and regional history exhibits. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the historic district.
Sources
The ghost narrative attached to the King-Cromartie House focuses on the second floor, specifically the bedroom where Louise King Cromartie is said to have died. Regional paranormal accounts describe a translucent figure in period clothing visible at the upper-story window — an image that has become the house's signature claim in Fort Lauderdale ghost tour literature.
Visitors and guides also report hearing what sounds like children playing on the interior staircase and near the second-floor landing during quiet periods, though no historical record of child deaths in the house has been identified. The sounds may reflect the house's history as a family residence occupied across multiple generations, where the normal sounds of a two-story wooden structure under humidity and temperature change — the creaking floors, the settling Dade County pine — carry unusual acoustic properties.
The house sits within the Old Fort Lauderdale Village campus alongside the New River Inn, and ghost tour operators treat both structures as connected stops. The King-Cromartie House attracts more specific paranormal claims than the Inn; the named ghost (Louise) and the window apparition give the location a particularity that sustains its position on regional ghost tour circuits. No formal paranormal programming is offered by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society.
Notable Entities
The King-Cromartie House is part of the Old Fort Lauderdale Village museum campus managed by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, adjacent to the New River Inn. Docent-led and self-guided tours of the campus cover both structures. The house was relocated from its original downtown site in 1971 and restored to its 1920s appearance.
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