Est. 1891 · Home of Charles Rheinauer, Ocala mayor 1906 and community founder · Contributing structure, Ocala Historic District — National Register of Historic Places · 47-year Rheinauer family residency (1895–1942)
Charles Rheinauer was born March 5, 1846, in Germany, the son of a Jewish cantor. He immigrated to Georgia and then Alabama, where he married Emma Hohenberg on June 5, 1890. The couple moved to Ocala, where Charles and his brother Maurice established Rheinauer and Brothers, a retail dry goods business that grew into one of the region's more prominent commercial enterprises.
The Queen Anne Victorian home at what is now 828 E. Fort King Street was constructed in 1891 and the Rheinauers moved in around 1895. Charles's civic footprint expanded in the following decades: he served as Vice-President of Ocala Iron and Machine Works, founded the Ocala Board of Trade and Merchants National Bank, presided over the Hebrew Society of Ocala, and in 1906 became the second Jewish person to serve as mayor of Ocala. He also collaborated with Cuban independence leader José Martí on La Criolla Cigar Company — an unusual civic and commercial connection for a small Florida city.
Charles Rheinauer died on May 18, 1925, at age 79, in the house. Emma survived nearly 17 years longer, dying on May 7, 1942. After her death the property passed through various private and commercial uses before conversion to a bed and breakfast. The building is a contributing structure in the Ocala Historic District, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places. Recent ownership has undertaken extensive renovation, and the inn currently operates four suites.
Sources
- https://sevensistersinn.org/history/
- https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/local/taps-investigates-ocala-inn-on-tonight-s-ghost-hunters/article_5a1f2025-886f-5594-8f96-0628c277a5b7.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocala,_Florida
- https://paranormaltraveler.com/1321/seven-sisters-inn-a-haunted-victorian-mansion-in-ocala-florida/
Apparitions in Victorian dressObjects moving between roomsFootsteps when aloneSense of being watched
The ghost accounts at the Seven Sisters Inn center on its most prominent former residents. Charles and Emma Rheinauer — who lived in the house for nearly five decades — are the most frequently described presences: visitors and staff report seeing a couple in Victorian-era clothing in what was once the building's ballroom, occasionally dancing. The building's own lore puts the total count of spirits at seven, giving the inn its name, though specific identities beyond the Rheinauers are not well documented in independent sources.
On October 1, 2008, the SyFy Channel aired an episode of Ghost Hunters titled 'The Ghosts of the Sunshine State' featuring a TAPS investigation of the inn. Investigators reported that a shoe left on the stairs appeared later in a room they had not entered, and documented books moving between locations without explanation. The episode's conclusion was that investigators did find a presence at the property.
The inn has also been described on paranormal programs including My Ghost Story and Paranormal State, and the Historic Ocala Preservation Society includes it on walking ghost tours of the historic district. The Yelp page for the old Seven Sisters Historic Bed and Breakfast Inn format is marked closed; the current operator at the same address runs the property under the Seven Sisters Inn name with four Airbnb-listed suites.
Notable Entities
Charles Rheinauer (1846–1925)Emma Rheinauer (d. 1942)
Media Appearances
- Ghost Hunters — 'The Ghosts of the Sunshine State' (TV — SyFy Channel, 2008)
Where this legend is told
