HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
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Built in 1911 with a gallows on the third floor, this Neo-classical courthouse hosted the last hanging in Escambia County in 1920 and now houses the Pensacola Little Theatre.
400 S Jefferson St, Pensacola, FL 32502
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by production; see pensacolalittletheatre.com for current schedule and pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Renovated historic building; accessible main entrance. Contact theatre for specific accommodation details.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1911 · Designed by architect Rudolph Benz; constructed 1911–1912 as Escambia County Court of Record Building · Contained built-in third-floor gallows; last execution July 31, 1920 (Hosea Poole) · Operated as courthouse and jail until 1978; transferred to Pensacola Little Theatre 1988 · Home to Pensacola Little Theatre (est. 1936), the longest continuously operating theatre in the southeastern US
Architect Rudolph Benz, working out of Alabama, designed the Escambia County Court of Record Building in the Neo-classical style. The three-story structure was completed in January 1912 at a cost of $180,000 and immediately began its dual function as courthouse and detention facility. The design incorporated a built-in execution apparatus on the third floor: a rope held by an iron ring in the ceiling of the judge's chambers, with a trapdoor in the execution room floor. It was a structural admission that the county expected to use it.
The final time the gallows were used was July 31, 1920, when Hosea Poole was hanged for killing his brother. The circumstances of the killing were debated locally — possible triggers ranged from a disputed bicycle and pair of shoes to a woman named Isabella Koops — but the verdict and execution were not. Poole was the last person executed in the facility, though it remained in operation as a jail until 1955 when a new jail opened on Leonard Street.
The building functioned until 1978, when its functions transferred to the new M.C. Blanchard Judicial Building. The county deeded the property to Pensacola Little Theatre in 1988. The theatre, founded in 1936 and claiming the distinction of being the longest continuously operating theatre in the southeastern United States, renovated the building in three phases between 1989 and January 1996. It is now known as the Clark Family Cultural Center.
Sources
The Pensacola Cultural Center's paranormal reputation draws directly from its documented execution history. The male entity reported by staff is sometimes identified as Hosea Poole — the last man hanged in the building on July 31, 1920 — though the Southern Spirit Guide notes that 'there is little evidence, other than coincidence, to solidly identify the spirit as Poole's.'
The most specific account involves a staff member working alone in the building. She heard the elevator activate after hours, then watched from her office doorway as the shadow of a male figure moved past without responding to her call. Investigation of the hallway found no one.
Witnesses in the auditorium have reported a gaunt man in a worn suit seated among the empty chairs, only to have him appear simultaneously or subsequently in a seat across the house. Whether this represents a single sighting with unreliable recall or multiple independent reports is not established.
A second, behaviorally distinct presence — a young girl believed to be from the 1920s or 1930s — has been heard giggling and observed skipping through the corridors, peering around corners. Her connection to the building's history as a detention facility is not explained in the sources.
Notable Entities
Pensacola Little Theatre, founded 1936, presents a full season of productions in the former Escambia County Court of Record Building. The building's history — courthouse, jail, gallows — is not formally interpreted for theatre audiences, but the structure's dark past is documented and well known to the company.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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