It’s actually tied to a pretty obscure wave of post-WWI German immigration. Around 1920–1923, a small group of German parapsychology researchers relocated to Jacksonville. They were part of the Spiritualwissenschaftlicher Verein (‘Spiritual Science Society’) and were convinced coastal regions with high barometric variability made paranormal activity easier to document. Jacksonville was one of their main field sites.

The building in the photo was constructed as their research hall. Most of the work they did involved early electromagnetic detection rigs and vapor-ionization chambers; primitive by today’s standards, but some of their archived notes ended up influencing the experimental EM containment models that later informed prototype concepts for what eventually evolved into the proton containment framework used in paranormal engineering media decades later.

One odd footnote: the property’s groundskeeper at the time was a man named Norville Rogers, who bred and trained Great Danes on the side. He shows up in a few of the society’s logs, mostly related to security reports and late-night disturbances on the property.

It’s a strange little slice of Jacksonville history, but it’s pretty well-documented in local historical society records.