Ghosts, Legends & Lore from Florida: Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale looks polished in daylight. After dark, the older stories surface. A river that appeared overnight. A clock that started ticking after its owner died. A little girl at a hotel window whose name changes depending on who's telling the story. Five Navy bombers that flew east and never came back. Ghosts, Legends & Lore from Florida: Fort Lauderdale explores twenty-four stories rooted in real places — the Stranahan House, the New River Inn, the Kinney Tunnel, Snake Warrior Island, and the vanished crossroads of Andytown. Each chapter opens with a location guide, so you can stand where the story happened, then follows the tale backward through maps, newspapers, court records, and archives to find out where legend ends and history begins. Inside you'll find: The mystery of the New River — and the 1631 map that complicates its most famous legend The hauntings of Stranahan House, told alongside the documented tragedy behind them Lulu Marshall, the ghost whose biography changes with every telling Flight 19, the Bermuda Triangle, and what the Navy's own investigation actually said The Barefoot Mailman, the wreck of the Gil Blas, and Broward's lost towns These aren't campfire stories padded with invention, and they aren't debunkings that drain the mystery away. Written in the voice of a knowledgeable local guide, each chapter gives the legend a fair hearing, checks it against the record, and shows how a young city built on shifting sand keeps its memories alive. Perfect for Florida history readers, ghost tour fans, and anyone who's ever walked Riverwalk after dark and wondered what came before the skyline.