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Mayport Stories

A Mayport Moment

The King House holds many secrets as witness to Mayport Village’s history over the decades since it was built sometime in the mid 1800’s.

Situated on Ocean Street directly across from the Ocearch Research Center, the two story southern gothic home with wrap around porches was built pre civil war by a river pilot, Captain William Arnau. It destroyed by fire in 1881 and reconstructed in the early 1900’s by Captain William Joseph King after he and Arnau’s daughter Clara married and began living there.

It was a constant through decades as Mayport’s main street sprouted hotels, as many as four, to accommodate beachgoers arriving by a Flagler built railroad, as saw mills flourished from the abundant timber nearby, and as fishermen and river pilots plied their trade on the St. John’s River and Atlantic Ocean. Through the years it has been more than just a home to one of Mayport Village’s most esteemed families. It once housed Roman Catholic services and sailors. It may have been the site of a murder by a jealous lover. It may be haunted.

The house is long reputed to have ghostly occurrences in with some King family members embellishing these rumors of the supernatural. In 1968, parapsychology researchers from Duke University examined the house and investigated recuring claims of ghostly sightings of a butler, a bride and a kitchen maid, among others. Their report concluded there was some "presence" within the house.

In the late 1970’s the pre-Civil War portion of the house was partially demolished in a failed attempt to convert the house into a restaurant. The home today is half the size it was originally built but the main part of Captain King's residence still remains, with its legacy of poltergeists, ghost stories, and architectural beauty.

William Joseph King came to Mayport from Delaware as a cook on a schooner in 1878. After serving an apprenticeship as a river pilot under Captain Arnaut, King joined the ranks as one in 1882. In 1913, Captain King decided to enlarge his residence into a more elaborate manor. He hired a builder from Fort George, who daily rowed across the St. Johns River to work on the two-story addition, which soon dwarfed by a two-tier veranda with turned posts, brackets, and a filigreed balustrade, which encircles the house on three sides.

At one time it was painted all white in keeping with the rest of the buildings in Mayport. Upon Captain King's death in 1940, his son John inherited it and lived there till 1977.

It is now owned by a non- profit LLC and in part houses a cat rescue program. The home is also occupied by private tenants and is not open to the public but its historic exterior is a Mayport Village landmark.

> Learn More About The King House