I had never heard of a Spook Hill located in Florida prior to looking up information about the Spook Hill in Maryland. The Florida Spook Hill popped up during my web search.
"Spook Hill" is a hill in Lake Wales, Florida, where cars appear to roll uphill due to an optical illusion. Geographical locations with this type of optical illusion are commonly called "gravity hills."
The name, Spook Hill, has been attached to this location in Florida at least since the 1950's. The "spooks" or spirits responsible for this event in Florida--according to a sign currently marking the spot in the 21st century--are an Indian chief and alligator spirit. I do not know how long the sign has stood there. One my my sources stated that a sign mentioning the Indian chief appeared sometime in the 1960's.
I found a couple of variants of this local legend. Some variants claim that the Indian chief is Chief Cufoowellay of the Seminoles. His tribe settled on Lake Ticowa, which is now Lake Wales. The chief magically drove a powerful alligator spirit from the area for the safety of his people. This legend is probably not true, as it doesn't seem to fit any known historical facts.
This legend--which may be fakelore--claims white settlers around the lake later named the area Spook Hill when their carts would be pushed uphill by an invisible force.
An entirely different version of the story involved an old man in the 20th century planning to do some fishing in Lake Wales. Forgetting to set the handbrake, he had parked his old truck on the very spot where the spooky phenomenon takes place. He unloaded his fishing gear and turned smiling towards the water. He remembered that he left his bait in the truck. When he turned back to get his bait, he was surprised to see his truck moving. To his amazement, his truck seemed to be rolling uphill--apparently pushed by some invisible force.
He is reported to have yelped, "Spooks!" as he scrambled to hop in and pull the handbrake. Supposedly, this event took place in the early 1950's and thereafter locals started calling the area Spook Hill. I have no way of knowing if there is any truth to this legend.
One variant of this older version of the legend involving an old man is preseved on a vintage post card, which can be seen on CardCow.com. In Fall 2016, I was able to purchase, at a consignment shop specializing in vintage goods, a copy of this exact same post card. See the post card below.
According to the back of the post card:
Spook Hill is located at Lake Wales, Florida.There is no copyright date on the card. The vehicles depicted on the card, however, are obviously from the 1950's.
Lakeland News Co., Lakeland, Florida.
Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C. T. Art-Colortone" Post Card (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.)
If you look at the story on the card, you will notice the person whose car, not truck, is rolling away is described not as an elderly fisherman, but as an "old negro." This quaint little post card story probably dated to the 1950's, judging by the wording.
It is unknown if the version of the legend of the elderly fisherman was genuine folklore. The whole story could have been created specifically for the post card.
It is likely that any folklore about any rolling wheeled vehicles attached to this area did not predate the existence of a paved road.
Ultimately when this spot was dubbed "Spook Hill", and by whom, remains a mystery.
Curiously, this name, "Spook Hill," has influenced the local culture. There is a "Spook Hill Elementary School" in the area, which has a friendly ghost as its mascot.
For information about Maryland's Spook Hill, see the entry for Spook Hill/Gravity Hill, Maryland in Roots and Stuff.
Copyright 2016 Myth Woodling
Sources
Charlie Carlson, Weird Florida, 2005
Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins Spook Hill, Lake Wales, Florida - Roadside America, 1996-2016, accessed 9/15/2016.
Karin Byron, You tube: The Legend of Spook Hill, accessed 9/15/2016.
Official Spook Hill website, The Legend of Spook Hill, accessed 9/15/2016.
Dawn Henthorn, Spook Hill, Indian Legend Adds "Spook" to Phenomenon, accessed 9/15/2016.
Najataagihe, “The Real Story Behind Spook Hill”, accessed 9/15/2016.
Spook Hill Elementary, 321 Dr. J. A. Wiltshire Ave E., Lake Wales, FL 33853, accessed 9/15/2016.
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