The 1915 Classical Revival courthouse that hosted Lee County's first death-penalty trials, now a ghost tour landmark where witnesses describe figures in the upper windows
2120 Main St, Fort Myers, FL 33901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Building is a public government office building. Exterior viewing free. Access through ghost tour approximately $25-30 per person.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Fort Myers public sidewalk; building exterior viewable from street
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1915 · National Register of Historic Places · Classical Revival Architecture · First Lee County Death-Penalty Trials · County Seat 1915-1984
Francis J. Kennard designed the Lee County Courthouse in the Classical Revival mode fashionable for civic buildings in the early twentieth century. The cornerstone was laid on April 13, 1915, and the building opened to serve a county that had been incorporated only in 1887 and was rapidly growing through the Florida land boom of the teens and twenties.
The buff-brick exterior, fluted Doric columns at the main entrance, and the building's position on Main Street established it as the most prominent civic structure in Fort Myers for nearly seven decades. The courthouse housed all county governmental functions through that period. Among the proceedings conducted there were the first death-penalty trials in Lee County's history — a distinction that ghost-tour guides use to anchor the building's paranormal reputation to specific documented legal events.
The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 16, 1989 (NRHP reference 89000196). It continued in active government use after NRHP listing and today houses the offices of the Lee County Board of Commissioners and state legislative representatives. A banyan tree planted decades ago at the building's front has grown to significant size and is itself a local landmark.
Sources
The paranormal reputation of the Old Lee County Courthouse rests on its documented legal history. Ghost-tour operators and regional paranormal writers identify two specific individuals: Jasper Edwards and Andrew Chancey, named in the lore as defendants convicted in Lee County's first death-penalty proceedings and executed. These names appear consistently across multiple Fort Myers ghost-tour itineraries and regional haunted-history publications.
The reports are visual: witnesses describe shadowy figures in the upper-floor windows of the building, visible from the street or the plaza in front. The figures are attributed in the tour literature to Edwards and Chancey. Unlike many courthouse ghost stories, the Fort Myers accounts are tied to named individuals with documented legal proceedings rather than anonymous presences.
The courthouse features on multiple competing Fort Myers ghost-tour circuits — US Ghost Adventures and others — and is described in several independent reviews as one of the most consistent locations for reported sightings along the downtown walking route. The building's continued active use as a county government office means after-hours interior access is not available to the public.
Notable Entities
The Old Lee County Courthouse at 2120 Main Street is visible from the public sidewalk. The Classical Revival building retains its 1915 buff-brick facade, fluted Doric columns at the main entrance, and the upper-floor windows where shadowy figures have been reported by passing visitors and tour participants.
The courthouse is a featured stop on the US Ghost Adventures Fort Myers walking tour, which covers the paranormal history of the downtown riverfront corridor. The tour incorporates the stories of Jasper Edwards and Andrew Chancey. Books nightly year-round through the tour operator.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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