Est. 1895 · Built in the 1890s for William Hazard Northup (1848–1925), ship captain, Mayor of Pensacola 1897–1898, and later Collector of Customs and Postmaster · Queen Anne Victorian design; one of the better-preserved examples of Pensacola's late-19th-century residential architecture · Operates as a bed and breakfast; hosts ticketed paranormal investigation events
William Hazard Northup was born January 28, 1848, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and ran away to sea as a young man, captaining a coastwise schooner by the age of 21. He relocated to Pensacola in the early 1870s and built a livery and undertaking business there. His civic career followed: as a Republican, he was elected Mayor of Pensacola in 1897 and served through 1898, then in 1907 received an appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt as Collector of Customs at the Port of Pensacola. President William Howard Taft later appointed him Postmaster.
The house Northup built on West Gregory Street in the 1890s was designed in the Queen Anne Victorian style, with gleaming hardwood floors and paneling, ornate chandeliers, and a shady lot positioned close enough to the waterfront that Northup could keep an eye on his business interests from home. It became a gathering place for the city's leading families during the 1890s and early 1900s.
Northup died February 5, 1925 in Pensacola. The house was eventually restored and converted into a bed and breakfast, and today it operates as one of the more historically grounded examples of Pensacola's Victorian-era residential architecture. Ghost investigation events hosted by Second Sight Paranormal have been held on-site.
Sources
- https://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/William_Hazard_Northup
- https://pointesouth.com/2024/10/31/7-historic-pensacola-haunted-history/
- https://www.pensacolavictorian.com
Classical music playing with no identifiable sourceChildren's laughter from empty rooms or hallwaysApparition of a woman in a Victorian nightgown in common areasSmell of cooking breakfast before the kitchen opens
The paranormal reports at the Pensacola Victorian B&B center on sensory experiences rather than dramatic apparitions. The most frequently reported is unexplained music — classical pieces audible in rooms where no radio or device is playing, stopping when guests investigate and resuming when they leave. Closely related is the sound of children giggling, heard from upstairs rooms or hallways with no children present in the inn.
The most visually specific account involves a figure described as a woman in a Victorian nightgown, seen moving through the downstairs common areas. The sighting has been reported by multiple guests independently and appears in accounts by both paranormal investigators and ordinary overnight visitors.
A fourth phenomenon — the smell of breakfast cooking, including coffee and eggs, noticeable before the kitchen is in use — has been reported often enough to be cited in tourism write-ups of the property. The source of these reports has not been identified through investigation.