Harder Hall

Harder Hall opened in 1927 on the shore of Lake Jackson, one of the finest hotels built in South Central Florida during the 1920s land boom and named for its original owners, Lewis F. Harder and Vincent Hall; it operated until financial trouble forced its closure in the early 1980s. It has sat abandoned ever since, with several stalled renovation attempts, until a 2022 sale aimed at redeveloping it. Long-running local legend holds that every owner has died under strange circumstances connected to the hotel — a claim locals dispute, since several past owners are still alive — but visitors and urban explorers do report figures peering out of its windows and roaming the overgrown courtyard.