The Haunted Royal Hope Hospital

Posted: 11.13.2024 | Updated: 11.13.2024

Known for being the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine has survived through over 450 years of history. The Spanish settlers who first called the land just beyond the Matanzas Inlet home never could have guessed the turmoil that would eventually dot the city’s timeline. From a barrage of attacks mounted by the British to the Union occupation during the Civil War, St. Augustine has generated pockets of energy responsible for manifesting the ghosts that tell the city’s long and tumultuous story. 

Among these spirits are those trapped within the walls of the former Our Lady of Guadalupe military hospital. Today, known as Royal Hope Hospital, the current building replicates the original. Though newer and wiped clean of the tragedies witnessed by the first facility, the replica developers did not try to rectify the mistake made when the hospital was first constructed in 1784. It was still built on Native American burial mounds. 

Royal Hope is a treasure trove of paranormal activity. The question is, who’s haunting the halls of the historic hospital? Is it the restless spirits of the Natives that once called the land home or the unfortunate souls who were admitted but never left? 

Who haunts Royal Hope Hospital?

Where there’s a hospital, there is death. Royal Hope poses a unique opportunity for an intersection of the otherworldly. Not only has it housed many unfortunate souls who never again saw the light of day, but its foundation was also built upon the bodies of Natives whose ancestors were driven from the land. 

A heavy energy shrouds Royal Hope Hospital, suggesting a powerful assemblage of the undead. To learn more about St. Augustine’s haunted history, book a ghost tour with Old City Ghosts.

The Spanish arrive in Florida

Every ghost story has a beginning; for the specters of Royal Hope Hospital, it’s well over 400 years old. Though Spanish settlers may have come to the eastern shores of what would later become Florida, the land that now houses St. Augustine belonged to the Timucua tribe. Like other Indigenous tribes throughout the land that would become the United States, the Timucua lived a simpler life, thriving off the land. 

Upon their death, the Timucua people returned their bodies to the earth in burial mounds that, for years, would go undisturbed. Then, in 1565, the first Spanish settlers arrived, forever changing the Timucua way of life. Explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on the eastern shores long before European explorers found their way to Plymouth Rock, making him the first outsider to force a North American Native tribe from their land. The Spanish established St. Augustine shortly after Menendez de Alviles’ arrival and kept control for just under 200 years. 

In the wake of the American Revolution, the Treaty of Paris gave control of St. Augustine to the British, who held onto it for almost 20 years before the Spanish reclaimed their land. During their control of St. Augustine, the British built Our Lady of Guadalupe, the military hospital that set the foundation for Royal Hope. Possibly unbeknownst to the British, though, the grounds they laid that foundation were already inhabited by relics of an older age.

Discovering the Timucuan Burial Site

Though it’s known that the Spanish ultimately demolished Our Lady of Guadalupe when they regained control of St. Augustine, the timeline for the reconstruction of the Royal Hope Hospital replica is a little muddied. What is known is that, at some point, either before or after the replica hospital was constructed, St. Augustine officials decided to put work into the waterlines running beneath the site of the hospital. 

It was during these efforts that scattered human remains were discovered buried in the ground. Based on the number of bones and the history of the land pre-Spanish arrival, the remains were determined to belong to the Timucua Natives.

The Haunts of Royal Hope Hospital

Even if the remains were never found, it wouldn’t have taken long for the newly built Royal Hope Hospital operators to deduce something was wrong with the land. A dark force has been documented interacting with everything within the hospital, from moving different medical equipment to leaving physical marks on visitors. 

Spirits aren’t known for their vicious attacks on people, and the appearance of scratches is an alarming trait that suggests a malevolence force in the replica building. Is the Timucua tribe exacting revenge for the lack of care taken with their land and, subsequently, their remains? 

It’s possible, but incidents reported in the hospital’s mourning room point to a modern, contemporary haunt. Visitors and workers have claimed to hear crying and praying coming from the room. When they go to investigate, nobody is ever there. Has the loved one of a former patient who died in the hospital returned to mourn their loss? Whoever it is, their energy is quite different from the fiend often talked about in the surgeon’s office. The poltergeist in this room is known for shaking equipment and grabbing hold of passersby, refusing to let go.

Haunted St. Augustine

The ghosts of Royal Hope Hospital aren’t afraid to make their presence known. Whether it’s a staff member being accosted in the apothecary or a bed being tossed about in the ward, the ghosts of this St. Augustine haunt are fueled by enough spectral energy to remain active after all these years.

To hear more ghostly antics of St. Augustine, book a ghost tour with Old City Ghosts. Check out our blog for even more frightful stories from the nation’s oldest city, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more Florida haunts.

Sources: 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/us-oldest-city-st-augustine-florida-180956434

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pedro-Menendez-de-Aviles

https://www.allaboutparanormal.co/2015/11/the-haunted-royal-hope-hospital.html?m=1

https://flipflopgypsy.com/haunted-asylum-in-florida