Haunted hotel guide · Apalachicola, Florida
The Haunted Gibson Inn, Apalachicola
A 1907 heart pine hotel with double wraparound porches on Florida’s Forgotten Coast, where the piano is said to play after the bar has closed.
Apalachicola is a small oyster and shrimping town on the Gulf, and the Gibson Inn is the building everyone uses to find it. The square, white hotel with its two levels of wraparound porches and rooftop cupola has stood at the entrance to downtown since 1907, built from native heart pine and black cypress.
Its ghost stories are quiet ones, the kind told over a drink in the Parlor Bar. A sea captain who died in the hotel is said to play the piano late at night, footsteps cross the dark dining room, and one of the sisters who gave the inn its name is said to ring guest rooms on the house phone. The local tourism office for Florida’s Forgotten Coast includes the inn on its own list of historical haunts.
Gibson Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 51 Avenue C, Apalachicola, FL 32320, at the entrance to the historic downtown
- Built 1907, as the Franklin Hotel
- Most haunted spots The Parlor Bar, the dining room late at night and the guest room phones
- Best-known ghosts Captain Wood and Mary Ellen “Sunshine” Gibson
- Booking the haunted room No single room is named in the stories. Book any room in the original 1907 building.
- Good to know Historic rooms in the main inn plus the newer Buck House rooms; Franklin Cafe for meals, free bikes and golf carts to rent. Call (850) 653-2191.
The ghosts of the Gibson Inn
Captain Wood and the piano
The best-known story is about a sea captain named Wood who is said to have died of pneumonia at the inn. Late at night, after the bar has emptied, guests and staff report piano music drifting from the bar and dining room, along with footsteps when nobody is there.
Nobody has published a death record or a first name for Captain Wood, so treat him as the inn’s legend rather than a documented guest. Apalachicola was a busy port, and a sick captain lodging at the town’s best hotel is a believable story either way.
Mary Ellen "Sunshine" Gibson
Mary Ellen Gibson, known as Sunshine, bought the hotel with her sister Annie in 1923 and gave it the family name. Florida’s Forgotten Coast describes her as a friendly ghost who gets attention by calling guest rooms on the house phone, with nobody on the line when guests pick up.
Footsteps in the dark
Alongside the piano, staff and guests describe footsteps crossing the dining room and the bar after closing. In an old wooden building like this, some creaks are inevitable, but the reports tend to come from rooms that are locked up and empty.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The Parlor Bar: Just beyond the lobby, the bar at the heart of the Captain Wood story and the best place to hear it.
- The dining room: Where the late-night footsteps are reported. Now home to the Franklin Cafe.
- Rooms in the 1907 building: If Sunshine is going to ring anyone, it will be a guest in the original inn, so ask for a room in the historic main building.
- The wraparound porches: Not linked to a ghost, but the place to sit at night and look over the quiet streets.
History of The Gibson Inn
James Fulton Buck built the hotel in 1907 as the Franklin Hotel, using heart pine and black cypress. It was built as a luxury hotel and, according to the inn, was the only hotel between Pensacola and Jacksonville heated entirely by steam.
In 1923 sisters Annie Gibson Hayes and Mary Ellen “Sunshine” Gibson bought it and renamed it the Gibson Inn. Annie married a man sixteen years younger two years later and kept her own birth year a secret. During World War II the Army took over the hotel to house officers from nearby Camp Gordon Johnston, a training base on the coast.
After the war the hotel closed and its ground floor was used for shops. In 1983 brothers Michael and Neil Koun bought and restored it, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2018 siblings Steven Etchen and Katherine Etchen Couilard bought the inn, the third set of siblings to own it, and carried out a major renovation that rebuilt the lobby from an old photograph and put artifacts found in the walls on display.
In 2024 the inn announced an expansion with 24 new rooms, a pool, a spa, a cafe and an elevator. The Buck House annex, named for the original builder, adds rooms with Victorian fireplaces, high ceilings and marble bathrooms.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Stay up for a nightcap. The Parlor Bar is where Captain Wood’s piano is heard, and the staff know the stories.
- Ask for the original building if you want the full 1907 experience rather than the newer rooms.
- Borrow a bike. Bicycles are free for guests, and the whole historic town is flat and walkable.
- Eat oysters. Apalachicola Bay oysters made the town famous, and the waterfront restaurants are a short walk away.
- Make a road trip of it. Tallahassee Magazine has called the Gibson the only historic luxury hotel on the whole rural Gulf coast of Florida, so plan a Panhandle trip around it.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Haunted hotels in Florida: including the Coombs Inn, also in Apalachicola
- Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine: for the other side of the state
- Haunted places in Florida: more ghost stories around the state
- Haunted hotels in Florida
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Gibson Inn haunted?
It has a long local reputation. Guests and staff report late-night piano music and footsteps in the bar and dining room, blamed on a sea captain named Wood, and phone calls to guest rooms attributed to Mary Ellen “Sunshine” Gibson. These are stories, not documented events.
Who is the ghost at the Gibson Inn?
The best-known is Captain Wood, said to have died of pneumonia at the inn. The other is Sunshine Gibson, one of the two sisters who bought the hotel in 1923.
When was the Gibson Inn built?
In 1907, as the Franklin Hotel. The Gibson sisters renamed it after buying it in 1923.
Was the Gibson Inn used in World War II?
Yes. The Army used it to house officers from Camp Gordon Johnston during the war.
Is there a haunted room at the Gibson Inn?
No specific room is named in the stories. The piano and footsteps are reported in the bar and dining room, and the phone calls come to guest rooms in general.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Florida's Forgotten Coast: 7 historical haunts
- The Gibson Inn
- Beaches, Bars and Bungalows: The Gibson Inn
- Emerald Coast Magazine: Historic Gibson Inn expansion project
- Tallahassee Magazine: New owner for the Gibson Inn
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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