In the early
1920's, John Ringling, yes the Ringling of circus fame purchased considerable
acreage on the south end of the island known as Long Boat Key. Ringling
constructed a golf course there and also began construction of a luxurious
hotel, the Ritz-Carlton., but the hotel was never completed. The story goes
that a worker brought his young son to the job site one day and was showing him
around. Somehow the young boy fell down the unfinished elevator shaft and was
killed. The site was abandoned after this and the hotel was never finished.
Currently a shopping center sits on the sight, and the employees often report
seeing a small boy playing in the men’s room with a ball or often times a faint
scream has been heard by various witnesses.
