The Kress Building

📍 The Kress Building, Orlando, FL

The last two years I have traveled to Orlando, FL for work. This last trip, I took some time to take a spooky tour of the city.

In the heart of Orlando stands a piece of 1930s elegance that refuses to stay quiet.

Once a bustling five-and-dime under S. H. Kress & Co., this building has seen everything from civil rights sit-ins to fine dining to UFO’s.

There are accounts of footsteps that echo through empty halls, lights that flicker in upstairs windows and figures moving when no one’s there.

But the real story might be upstairs.

The building was designed by architect, Edward F. Sibbert, who was one of the first tenets of the building. He lived there for years often disappearing for weeks at a time. No one ever knew where he was going.

There were rumors around town that Sibbert had been trying to make contact with aliens or some other unknown entities. Sibbert had a reputation for being eccentric so no one questioned the multiple heavy duty locks or messages taped to the door saying “DO NOT ENTER”.

It wasn’t until after his death that the reason for his frequent disappearances was finally realized.