10 Things You Didn't Know About Jeepers Creepers
5. The Creeper's Church Burned Down
The church where the Creeper kept his bodies was actually the abandoned, boarded-up former St James Church located on the highway between Dunnellon and Ocala in Florida.
It had been empty for several years prior to the film, but Salva thought it was perfect for the Creeper's lair, finding it after searching for a similar building to Brad Parker's concept sketch. It was on a different road to where the rest of the driving sequences were filmed, but was made to look like it was on route after post editing.
A few years after Jeepers Creepers was released, the church and many of the trees around it burned to the ground in a suspected arson attack. It has never been proven, but many suspected former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was behind it. Steinbrenner owned a nearby horse farm just to the south of the church, and had allegedly grown irritated with the number of horror fans who had been frequenting the location.
If you want to visit a set location from the film that is still standing, the police station was filmed in the former Old Reddick High School, which was renamed to North Marion High School in 1957. The school closed in 1964 when it was consolidated with Anthony and Fort McCoy high schools to form North Marion High School and is now boarded up and abandoned.