GREEN COVE SPRINGS — They say that ghosts are dead serious and transparent about their intentions.

Especially when it comes to telling stories of the past.

A group of local women made that loud and clear on Thursday, Oct. 29, as they gathered to tell the stories of Green Cove Springs' past — as the lingering spirit of historic figures.

Ghosts of Green Cove's Past was a theatric retelling of the city's prominent people and moments hosted by the Green Cove Springs Preservation Society.

Written and directed by Village Improvement Association President Larianne Stutts, the event was one of the organization's many efforts to raise funds for the Rivers House.

In front of a sold-out crowd, each woman took to the stage to tell the stories of some of Green Cove's most prominent faces and places. While Stutts opened the show as Annie, the 1880's ghost of Palmetto Street, Tina Brannen followed as Viola, a member of the Village Improvement Association, the oldest woman's club in Florida and second-oldest in the country. Organized in 1883, the group championed town beautification, education and a public library.

Terry Wilson followed with Lovinia, the ghost of Broadus Raines Funeral Home. Originally the home of the Pratt sisters: Julia Anne, Ellen Lovinia, Ermina Almira, the women lived out their last years at the building at 501 Spring St. after their husbands died.

The women often traveled to Europe and took their servants, Frank and Agnus Gustafson, with them.

The Gustafsons would later open Gustafson Farms, a dairy empire and one of the Southeast's largest family-owned and operated dairy distributors.

As the ghost of the "milk lady," Felecia Hampshire told the tale of how Ma and Pa Gus purchased their first cow, Buttercup, and began producing dairy products for their six children, neighbors and nearby hotels - QuiSi Sana Hotel and the Magnolia Hotel - from their home on Walnut Street. 

When the family decided to sell it, it sat vacant for 59 years. There were talks about developers tearing it down. However, last year, Brian and Jennifer Knight purchased the property and are planning to turn one of the city's most unique destinations into a place that perfectly balances the past, present and future. The Gustafson Restaurant, a new upscale Florida-style eatery, is set to open in March of next year.

Laura Lynn Elgin played Clara Rose, the ghost of the old Coca-Cola bottling plant at 604 Walnut St. After bottling ended, the building became the Council of Aging Clay County, now the Clayton and Mildred Revels Senior Center.

As Minnie, Henrietta Francis told the story of the Augusta Savage Arts Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the former home of Dunbar High — the county's only all-Black high school built in 1942.

The school closed following integration. Years later, it reopened as the mentoring center and museum named after Savage, a prominent artist and sculptor during the Harlem Renaissance.

Cheryl Gonzalez was the ghost of Pearl of the Muldrow Boarding House. Opened by Sarah Catherine and Joseph Muldrow in 1947, the boarding home welcomed Black travelers and provided lodging for workers and military families.

Susan Guy played the ghost of Alice, founder of the Clay Theatre. The 1937 movie theater brought screen entertainment to Walnut Street, and its restored setting now welcomes weddings and special events.

Mother and daughter duo Janey Fox and Jessica Hames took on the roles of Helen and Florence of the Qui-Si-Sana and Clarendon hotels. Fox detailed the four-story Clarendon Hotel, which opened in 1871 beside the city's spring. While the hotel was destroyed by a fire in 1900, the Qui-Si-Sana was built in its place, Hames said. Today, City Hall occupies the former location.

Preservation Society Treasurer Sandra Dunnavant closed out the show as the ghost of Priscilla of the historic Rivers House. The home at 219 Spring St., now named the Heritage and Adventure Center, was built in the early 1880s as an accessory lodge for the Oakland Hotel during the city's booming hotel era. It was called Spring Cottage.

It later became the home of prominent Green Cove Springs attorney and judge Thomas Judson Rivers. Most remember it as a stunning Victorian-style home that Rivers also used to perform matrimonial ceremonies.

The home was sold to the city in 2020. There were various visions for the home. But the first step included bringing it up to code. After many grassroots efforts, the city completed Phase 1 of renovations.

Currently in its second phase, all proceeds from the event will go toward work on the inside of the building.

The preservation society hosts various other events, like historic walking and architectural tours, exhibits and educational programs to continue to bring the Rivers House back to life.

To learn about more ways to support, visit gcspreservationsociety.com.