Burkhalter's Antiques, Starke, FL

[kchiki]

Daniel should be familiar with this location. It's a painted pink block building in downtown Starke that functions as an antique store. (I mentioned it in my story about the creepy painting.)

When I moved to Raiford (yes, I lived there, ugh) my mother met the woman who was running Burkhalter's Antiques. She had two daughters the same age as my sister and me, so we would hang out there with them on the weekends or after school. That place is CRAZY with activity!

The main store area is closed off from the storage area in the back (the building is HUGE) by a very heavy metal sliding door. While in the front of the store, we used to hear noises from the storage area all the time.

Once, my friend's mother asked us to keep an eye on a customer that looked suspicious. The back area was open and he was poking around, so we went back there to make sure he didn't try to "lift" anything. We offered to show him around the loft area where there was some furniture stored. There were 4 of us upstairs in the loft, all in separate areas when all of us heard the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. Everyone (including the customer) stopped to look around, and we all heard it from different places. It literally sounded like a piece of heavy furniture with wooden legs being dragged across the wooden floor for 2-3 seconds. (That kind of wood-on-wood screech sound.) Needless to say, all of us bolted down the stairs into the front room of the store!

It's a pretty old building. I don't know much of the actual history behind it, only stories that high schoolers tell each other, as in "It used to be used as a crematorium" or "That frayed rope hanging from a rafter was used to hang somebody". That kind of thing. It would be interesting to get some history on the building and see if we can contact the owner to do an investigation! (Vishi, I totally forgot about this one until just this morning!)

[admin]

kchiki ,
         Do you still know the owner and can you get us permission to investigate?

[kchiki]

I knew the woman who ran the store, but I don't think she owned it. I've never met the owner. If I get a chance, I can call and see if she still works there.

[db73]

I am working on a case in Green Cove Springs right now, but some time next week  I will get some information on this place and see if I can't get us in to investigate. 

Al, I have checked out Little Ruth Cemetary and I don't believe it is worth investigating.  I will send you a more complete reason in an email later.  I have found a couple of more promising cases that I will work to put in on for January 17, 2009.

[admin]

OK Dan,

      Let me know what you come up with.

[kchiki]

Just a quick update:

I emailed Dan the limited information I had about this location, and he replied that in 2007, the property was gutted and turned into a bar & grill. He said the owner is pretty amiable, so he was going to work on talking to him about the possibility of investigating there. Dan will update us on the status of that location.

[db73]

 I'd like to offer a little history for you on this place, because it is rich. As a matter of fact, the whole little downtown section is. It dates back to 1857 and many of the buildings are that old. In fact the building that was Burkhalter's was one of the first buildings in Starke, and was origionally a drug store and the first Post Office in the county. So with that knowledge alone, you know there's bound to be somthing paranormal going on, and I have decided to take this on as my next research project, and hopefully set it up for investigation. The owner of the new place is a good guy, so I don't think it will be a problem.
 I will post a complete history as soon as I finish this cemetery in Green Cove Springs. This is another ancient place, with its first known internment in 1849. Although I don't believe age to be a prerequisite for the paranormal, I do think that the longer a place has been there, than the possibility of energy being stored there statistcally increases.
 I was able to find the caretaker, and I am awaiting her return call as to permission to investigate.
 Finally, I have a question. Do we have a board, or could we create one, that we could use to post our historical research work?

[admin]

Dan,
       You can place it on the team page under investigations old and new. Or if you want a location for everyone to see place in under the research section.

        Just start a new topic for each location so nothing get jumbled up.

Al

[kchiki]

Good work, Dan! I knew the building was old, but that's some good info! I also know that the building has a railway door on the second level in the back that could have been used to load/unload shipments from the train tracks that run literally right beside the building. I'm interested to see what else you dug up on it.