Are there spirits in St. Pete’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 39? Here is part one of a paranormal investigation.
Photo courtesy of VFW Post 39
This is the first part of two featuring before-and-after information sessions for a paranormal investigation.
November is a month of holidays, including Veteran’s Day, making it a wonderful time to reveal research into the haunting of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 39. Located in the Grand Central district, it is a neighbor of other places the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg has investigated, including Haslam’s and the Mari Jean Hotel.
What many ‘Burgarians may not know is that this is the oldest VFW in the southern United States, and one of the oldest in the nation.
It was founded in January of 1919 by veterans of the Spanish-American War. The formal institution and officer installation happened at Emmet Riley’s restaurant, and the post was named in honor of Lawrence Melzer Tate, the first St. Petersburg man killed in action during World War I.
St. Pete’s VFW Post 39
The current building has a mysterious origin as a courthouse fire in the 1920s burned many of the historic property deeds. However, the core of the structure dates back at least 100 years.
Outside, it hosts a unique torpedo-turned-sculpture, and its walls are decorated with murals. Inside, the first floor has a bar, a meeting room, offices, and even a small arcade. The second floor has a grand hall that is being refurbished.
In fact, the VFW is working to raise $300,000 to install a new fire sprinkler system upstairs.
The History of VFW Post 39
From the point of view of the founders, the Spanish-American War is noteworthy for this area. Although it only lasted from April 12 to Aug. 13, 1898, it brought future president Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. The soldiers stayed in the Plant Hotel and helped to put the area into the national spotlight.
It was also the first foreign war for the United States, pitting the young country against Spain for the sovereignty of the island nations. The U.S. sided with the Cuban War of Independence and the Philippine Revolution after the USS Maine was sunk in Cuba’s Havana Harbor.
It was this victory that gave the United States Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and allowed for the formation of a protectorate for Cuba. It also ended the Spanish presence in the area.
VFW Post 39 and SPIRITS of St. Petersburg
Years ago, a woman who worked for the VFW Post 39 came to a SPIRITS event and described paranormal phenomena in the building.
She said that she saw glasses slide across the bar on their own, and an invisible presence was felt in the old structure. Stories also circulated that the prior canteen manager, Patrick, heard noises from the bar area that sounded like drink mixes clinking while people were moving around.
There are also rumors of a mysterious man in a leisure suit who appears in the building, the ghost of a little girl, and a possibly haunted porcelain doll. No one knows where the doll came from, but there are times when her painted-on eyes, which are closed, appear to some as open and staring back.
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No one knows where the doll came from, but there are times when her painted-on eyes, which are closed, appear to some as open and staring back.
Photo courtesy of Brandy Stark
The SPIRITS attempted to inquire into an investigation at that time, but it was denied. Thus, the site ended up on our “paranormal bucket list” of places that we want to investigate. Resolution came on Oct. 13, 2025, as the team met with members of the VFW and searched the location for spectral presences.
Perhaps the disembodied personalities who stay at the site remain because this VFW works to be welcoming and open to all, especially those who meet the membership requirements. To join, one must, of course, be a veteran of a foreign war with boots on the ground, and they must have honorable service, with a general or honorable discharge, or currently still be serving.
The Quartermaster of VFW Post 39, Deidra Broderick, notes the importance of this.
“I called one VFW who told me that I should join the auxiliary,” Broderick continued, “I was a 21-year veteran who had been in the Air Force and Army. I served in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq, and was more than qualified to be a member. Then, I came here and the then-bartender, Patrick, was so welcoming that I immediately joined.”
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Post Commander, Cindy Stanford, is retired Air Force, where she served as a surgery tech and training manager. She transferred from VFW Post 6827 where she was the first woman to be appointed to the commander position.
In her command of Post 39, she is very protective of the post and its invisible inhabitants.
“I think that people need to respect the fact that there are veterans. I have people that come in and they don’t know what VFW means; it means that every person who is a member here fought in a foreign war,” even those who are specters, said Stanford.
She has had a few encounters in the building.
“I don’t like being in the office, even though it is my office. I often feel like there is someone else in there with me,” Stanford continued, “I won’t go upstairs if I can avoid it. One night, two of us were here and we turned off all of the power upstairs… three times. We’d turn things off, come downstairs, and they’d be back on again. After the last time, we decided to leave the lights on and go.”
When reviewing security footage, Stanford uncovered remarkable footage of an orb on camera that moves through the building. In the SPIRITS’s 28-year history, only one other site has produced a similar image. The orb shifts in brightness and size as it follows a path through one of the rooms.
Multiple First-Hand Experiences
One of the best sources of information is Chris Shineman, who served in the Army and is working on a graduate degree in World War II studies. He is also the canteen manager who spends many hours in the building, and he has had many unusual experiences there.
In fact, he told us, “two days ago, I was here in the bar area with another person. We both heard a huge ‘thump’ that evolved into footsteps. Someone was running across the floor — but we saw no one there.”
Phenomena started on the first night that he started working at this location in April 2025.
Shineman said, “I had closed everything and turned off the TVs, and I was facing the back room behind the bar, counting cash. I heard banging in the back [the kitchen]. I thought it was the air system or someone outside making noise or playing music.”
“But, it kept happening for so long that I knew it was not music. There was banging all over the place, from the stairs, across the ceiling, and from the back room,” Shineman continued. “Then, I heard footsteps in the pool table room. It was unsettling, so I walked around and took a look, but no one was there. Then, I heard footsteps coming from the other room, loudly stomping… and the noise stopped right in front of me.”
Read part one and two of the St. Pete’s Mari Jean Hotel Investigation.
Chris Shineman, the canteen manager, spends many hours in the building. He has had many unusual experiences there.
Photo courtesy of Brandy Stark
He knew that the presence didn’t feel dangerous or malicious. Whoever it was just wanted attention.
“I have had other experiences, but nothing that direct,” Shineman said. “There were a couple of times when I heard banging on the ceiling when I was the only one in here, and the building had pretty well been shut down for the night.”
Shineman also witnessed heavy banquet chairs that had been moved and put away after an event. As he watched, the chairs started to rattle and shake.
“It sounded like they were going to slide across the room,” Shineman said.
Another time, he was sitting at the bar, counting sales for the day.
“Everything is off, and there is nothing to create noise or output,” Shineman recalled. “I heard footsteps coming toward me and then knocked at the bar, moving along the length of the counter. I just turned and said, ‘Guys, come on.’”
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Once, he tried to turn off the TV after hours. He tossed the remote into a bin and continued closing when the TV came on again. He turned it off; it turned back on.
Finally, he turned it off again and said, “OK, if you’re going to turn it on, at least find something entertaining.” He left to put the trash out and when he returned not only was the TV on, it had been turned from “AUX” to “cable.”
“You have to push a switch to do that,” Shineman noted.
As for what the ghosts wanted to watch, the show was on commercials. It was time for him to go, so he just said goodnight and left the set as it was.
Are There Spirits in St. Pete’s VFW POST 39?
And now, it was the SPIRITS of St. Pete’s turn to see what secrets they could find inside this grand historic location. The results will be revealed in December with so keep your eyes on The Gabber Newspaper for part two!
Brandy Stark is the founder of SPIRITS of St. Petersburg. If you have a paranormal story or a location, contact brandybstark13@gmail.com.
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