The oldest building on the UF campus, opened in 1906, where students blame the clanking of old radiators on a former kitchen worker called Old Steve.
133 Fletcher Dr, Gainesville, FL 32603
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active residence hall. The building exterior and surrounding historic campus quad are visible from public walkways; interior access is limited to residents and university business.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved campus walkways across the historic University of Florida quad. The building exterior is viewable from public paths.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1906 · Oldest building on the University of Florida campus, opened September 1906 · One of the original two campus buildings, built alongside Buckman Hall · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places within the UF Campus Historic District · Originally housed a temporary campus kitchen and dining facility
The University of Florida moved to its Gainesville campus in 1906, and Thomas Hall was one of the first two buildings completed, opening in September of that year together with neighboring Buckman Hall. The two buildings formed the original core of the campus and are today the oldest structures the university owns. Thomas Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the University of Florida Campus Historic District.
In its earliest years the building held a temporary kitchen and dining operation that served the small student body of the new university. That kitchen function is the seed of the building's ghost story: students later recalled a head cook who ran the kitchen and was known for a loud, clattering style of work.
Thomas Hall was renovated and converted to a residence hall, the role it still fills. It anchors the Murphree Area, the cluster of historic residence halls on the original quad. The building's heating system relies on old radiators, which knock and clank as steam moves through aging pipes — a detail that university staff have repeatedly pointed to as the real source of the noises attributed to the resident ghost.
Because it remains an active student residence, the interior is not open to the public, but the exterior and the surrounding historic quad are accessible to visitors walking the campus.
Sources
The Thomas Hall legend centers on a figure students call Old Steve, described as a head cook or caretaker from the building's early years when it housed the campus kitchen. According to the story, Steve worked loudly, banging pots and pans and shouting at his staff, and that habit is said to continue after his death: residents report clanking and hammering noises in the building, most often around sunset.
University of Florida communications have addressed the story directly. A university spokesperson told the Gainesville Sun that the noises long attributed to a ghost are produced by the radiators that heat the century-old building, and that the legend itself was created by former students who wanted to commemorate a kitchen worker they had known and liked. In that telling, the haunting is less a frightening tradition than an affectionate one, kept alive by generations of residents.
The building's status as the oldest on campus gives the story durability. Reporting in the Independent Florida Alligator has noted that many of UF's older ghost legends, including Thomas Hall's, have faded as the campus has changed, but the Old Steve account remains the one most often tied to this specific building. Visitors should note that the haunting is reported by residents indoors; the building interior is not open to the public.
Notable Entities
Thomas Hall sits on the historic University of Florida quad alongside Buckman Hall, the two oldest buildings on campus. The exterior is easily viewed from public walkways during a self-guided stroll of the original 1900s campus core. The interior is an active residence hall closed to non-residents, so the visit is a daytime exterior and grounds walk rather than an indoor tour.
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