Its said that in 1935 a jail was built due to the growing population on Amelia Island. Those that are familiar with Amelia island are aware that its a 12 mile long island full of ghost stories, pirate tales, native American lore, war, death, and historical sites. 

Today a museum the old jail boast 4000 years of history from the island all the way from aboriginal settlements to 18th century plantations. Its the only oral history museum in the state of Florida with historical objects and archaeological finds.  It also  has out front eight national flags which have flown over Amelia islands rich past.  So much is covered such as famous people on the island, tourism, history and many stories. Of course being that it was visited by so many nations the island was very diverse.

There is an old tale how true it is not sure but a man named Luc Simone Aury was a bastard son of a pirate named Luis Aury.  He was a renowned scoundrel and wanted for many crimes on the island such as murder, rape and even robbery. Eventually the law did catch him and he was sentenced to hang in the gallows behind the jail. I do not know how true this is since most hangings stopped in the early part of the 1900s.

When word got out about the hanging of this famous criminal a crowd gathered to witness the event. The night before the hanging Aury slit his own throat to deprive the city of his humiliation unfortunately the attempt did not work. A surgeon was summoned to stitch him up which kept him alive till his hanging. The jail put a collar around the wound to hide it from the public and then he was drug up to the steps which led to the rope.

When the trap door opened the stitches ripped open almost decapitating Aury and blood spewed all over the crowd. Women fainted, men were screaming, and children were trampled in panic as the crowd fled in terror. Some say you can hear the ghost of Aury moaning where the old gallows use to be and some say  you will see his ghost appear with a giant slash across his throat covered in blood.

Although I am sure there are many other ghost that haunt the jail as well there is proof that there may have been gallows here at one time. In the center of the road is a very large oak tree with a giant limb whether anybody was hung from it or not its hard to say. The jail seems real serene but at the same time on the backside you can just feel something watching you out its barred up windows.

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Rick-LordOfThyNight