GREEN COVE SPRINGS—In the spirit of Halloween and the city's 150th birthday, the Village Improvement Association Woman’s Club mixed some history, a little humor and maybe some fiction to entertain a small group last Thursday, Oct. 24.

In a presentation called " The Ghosts of Green Cove's Past, " actors played founding women who claim to maintain residency at key historic buildings in the city. Four told “spooky tales” passed down for more than 140 years. The stories were whimsical, interesting and engaging. Moreover, they were family-friendly.

The story started with Mary Rutledge, who, on Feb. 20, 1883, joined 24 other women in starting a club. They raised money “to make the town look pretty.”

Played by Chera Bleau, Rutledge talked about avoiding cows and their byproducts.

“The next problem we had to contend with was the cows,” she said. “Now, I love cows. I just don't love cow patties. You could ruin a beautiful pair of new shoes walking in fresh cow manure.

“We wore our Sunday best to come to our meetings. It might have been the only time we had to get out of the house.”

The club eventually bought what’s now the Village Improvement Association, and Rutledge said she hasn’t left. She said you can hear her rambling under the stage or in the fireplace when she’s in a particular mood.

“I've been so happy haunting this place for the past 110 years now,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I've had some close calls here and there, but I'm very comfortable here. Sometimes these ladies can feel noisy, but I love to laugh and enjoy one another. We get a little noisy too. When one or two of them are here, that's when they get started by me and my ghost friends. We get a little tired. Sometimes we rattle around in that fireplace that always gets them going.”

Shelley O’Steen talked about the history of 3 Palmetto Ave.

“It was 1854 the city of Green Cove Springs was established as White Sulfur Springs,” she said. “We were famous for our cold spring water that always stays cold. People thought it was healed and helped them stay young. I don't know about that, but I know we were renamed Green Cove Springs in 1871. I floated all over this town for a century. I watched boats enter the docks and the military planes come in, too. I finally settled down at 3 Palmetto Ave. I made that my home in the early 1920s. When I first happened to buy the place, folks were shoeing horses.”

It eventually became the city’s first gas station, owned by Al Ivey. He sold it to Sam Minick, who in 1988 sold the property to Darren Stutts. Stutts has operated Darren’s Custom and Restorations since.

“We've gone from shoeing horses to restoring cherries from the 40s and 50s,” O’Steen said. “Mosty now they do collision work on newer vehicles, probably because the newer vehicles aren't made as good as the old ones. Mr. Darren's always got police cars there, too, that he's working on. I can tell you all kinds of stories about them, but I won't.”

O’Steen said she loves playing games with the staff and customers.

“I hear him fussing at those kids, saying that they had lost his tools or the key to somebody's car,” she giggled. “Most of the time, it was just me. I like messing with Mr. Darren.”

Liane Barkley told tales of the oldest home in the city—the house at 411 Palmetto Ave., known as The Carriage House.

“It was built by a man named Wilson, and there's a big ‘W’ on the sidewalk in front of the steps. Well, I was here before that big ‘W’ was here, but I didn't pay too much attention to who was at the building,” Barkley said. “I just loved watching the comings and goings of that big house. And I was about ready to settle down myself. I took up residence in the carriage house about when Frank and Agnes Gustafson moved in while they lived there.”

The house got its name when the Gustafsons were coming home from St. Augustine and bought a horse-drawn carriage. Although they moved south of town to a bigger farm to maintain their dairy, when they couldn’t find a place to keep it, they put it on the front porch, where it remains today.

Another resident included former Clay County Crescent Editor Elaine Williamson and her three daughters. Barkley was especially delighted in playfully haunting them. Barkley said she believes Williamson had an outside staircase removed to protect her daughters.

“She and her sisters would hear me on the steps some nights,” Barkley said with a smirk. “I try to be quiet, but that fourth step going up does squeak a bit. I'm pretty sure they had that taken down because the girls thought ghosts were getting in the house that way.”

Rebecca Williams wrapped up the presentation by discussing the city’s fleeting hotel era. Grand properties like The Clarendon House, Magnolia Springs, Palmetto House and Qui-Si-Sana catered to the elite from the Northeast who traveled by ship, but when Henry Flagler built railways to South Florida, the Hotel Era ended.

And left in their ruins were accessible opportunities to create spooky lore, Williams said.

If you hear weird noises or see something unexpected, “It might be me,” she said.

The VIA said it plans to expand “The Ghosts of Green Cove’s Past” next year with more of the city’s history “and stories told by ‘someone.’”