Florida's oldest continuously operating courthouse, built 1890, where a third-floor apparition and a candle-carrying woman are reported by staff and visitors
2 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee, FL 34741
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public building; exterior accessible at all times. Ghost tours of downtown Kissimmee that include the courthouse are bookable through Main Street Ghost Tours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic brick building; ground floor accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1890 · Florida's Oldest Continuously Operating Courthouse · National Register of Historic Places · Romanesque Revival Architecture · Osceola County Founding
Osceola County was formed in 1887 through a partition of Orange and Brevard counties. The county purchased property from the D.B. Stewart family in 1888 for $2,205.32 and commissioned a courthouse from local architect F.C. Johnson. The completed building — a three-story T-shaped structure in common-bond brick Romanesque Revival — received its final construction payment in July 1909, though records indicate the main structure was in use well before that date.
The courthouse's distinguishing claim is continuity: no other Florida courthouse has operated for its original judicial purpose without interruption for as long. The third-floor courtroom remains in active use today. The building's case load across more than 130 years has ranged from minor property disputes and moonshine violations to high-profile criminal matters. An oak tree on the courthouse grounds was historically associated with public executions.
The National Register of Historic Places designated the building on August 16, 1977 (reference number 77000406). The structure is one of only four remaining Romanesque Revival courthouses in Florida. Main Street Ghost Tours in Kissimmee includes the courthouse on their downtown walking tours.
Sources
The courthouse's paranormal lore clusters around two documented presences, both described by staff and visitors over many years. The first is a former county employee, seen walking a continuous circuit of the third floor during off-hours — footsteps heard when the floor is otherwise empty, a figure reported near the old courtroom. The specific identity has not been established in any source consulted.
The second figure is more elaborated in local tradition. A woman is seen holding a lit candle, moving through the building's older sections. The associated narrative connects her to one of the courthouse's criminal proceedings: she is said to have testified in a significant case and was found dead from poisoning approximately one year after the trial concluded. The implication — that she was silenced for what she knew — has never been substantiated in the documentary record, and no specific case or date has been publicly confirmed. The description matches a category of courthouse ghost lore common to 19th-century Southern buildings.
Additional phenomena reported by visitors and staff include unexplained footsteps, unattributed voices, flickering lights, and objects displaced from their positions. The building is a regular stop on Main Street Ghost Tours of downtown Kissimmee.
Notable Entities
The 1890 Romanesque Revival courthouse remains in active judicial use, making it the oldest continuously operating courthouse in Florida. The third-floor courtroom is still used for proceedings. Visitors can view the exterior and public areas during business hours; the oak tree on the front lawn is historically noted as the site of public executions.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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