Haunted Lodgings: Belleview Biltmore Hotel: Clearwater, FL

Belleview Biltmore: Clearwater, FL

In 1897 the beautiful Belleview Biltmore Hotel was erected overlooking Old Clearwater Bay by the famous Florida developer, Henry Plant.  Mr. Plant’s influence is still felt throughout Florida; Plant City was named to honor him, the onion-domed, riverfront University of Tampa was originally built by Henry Plant as another grand hotel, and Morton Plant Hospital (named for Henry’s son) still provides state of the art healthcare for Florida residents. But of all Henry Plant’s contributions to Florida history, the one that holds a special place in my heart is the Belleview Biltmore.

Haunted Lodgings: Lizzie Borden House

Lizzie Borden took an axe

and gave her mother forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done,

she gave her father forty-one.

So goes the rhyme associated with one of the US’s most gruesome crimes of the 19th century. In reality, her mother received only 18 or 19 blows while her father a mere 11, but neither of those numbers is as dramatic as forty and forty-one.