Spookiest Lighthouses: America’s Most Haunted Lighthouses

By Terrance Zepke

The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):

Well little Ghoulies here were have our third of several non-fiction books. These are going to be a smidge different from our fiction friends in that there are no fictional characters or situations to rant and rave about. With this my approach will be more of a reflection on the locations and histories surrounding the alleged hauntings. I’ll throw in some interesting pictures and links (just click on the pictures) to keep ones appetite whet.

I think it should be an interesting departure and prove to be very interesting. Don’t worry though, I’m sure it will not be anger free. That’s just not who I am after all. Set up is like the other two previous books this one has a brief history for the locations but it also seems to have more information about specific investigations and incidents of the other worldly kind as well. It seems our author is still a travel writer first and foremost but her interest in the paranormal peaks through more in this one. This was the first book in the series so it’s possible that through time her style changed ever so slightly.

St Simon’s Lighthouse

 There seems to be only one spirit that has stuck around this location. It is thought to be that of Keeper Frederick Osborne. Osborne was the keeper appointed to this lighthouse in 1874. The lighthouse was such that it required lighting everyday therefore there was both the lead keeper and an assistant that was needed to keep the light functioning. The assistants name was John Stephens.

Both of the man and their families stayed in the keeper’s house. Allegedly Stephens either was sleeping with or trying to sleep with Osborne’s wife. The two had an altercation and Osborne ended up being shot and killed. Stephens got off on a self-defense plea and was released of his own recognizance, and banished, never to return to the island.

Several individuals have heard footsteps heard on the stairs and even witnessed full body apparitions that they believe to be Frederick Osborne. There are no mentions of official investigations being done at this location.

Execution Rocks Lighthouse

This is an interesting location in that the normal protocol for contracting a keeper was thrown out the door due to the hauntings. Apparently most keeper positions are contractual positions but not this location. They were unable to fill the post and had to give individuals the opportunity to leave whenever they saw fit, i.e. got scared and abandoned their post.

The reason for the name is that the colonists would bring prisoners to the island to be executed. Unfortunately their deaths were not to be easy ones. Essentially they were chained to the rocks at low tided and then drown slowly as the high tide came in.

There are suspicions that the spirit of Carl Panzram haunts this sight but this is just rumor. Carl was not one of the individuals executed on this island (he was hanged at Leavenworth Prison in KS) so, for me, I feel it more likely that the unlucky individuals that were executed here are probably more likely to be the cause of these hauntings. The spirits could be those of Panzram’s victims that he dumped on the island disposing of the bodies.

When the lighthouse was first active there was no house for the keeper so they were forced to sleep on the floor of the lighthouse itself. Eventually a dwelling was constructed so that they had a home. The most reported activity is found in the first floor bedroom, on the stairs, in the attic, and around the execution rocks

St Augustine Lighthouse

This is the oldest lighthouse in Florida as it is located in the oldest city in America. There have been several lighthouses on this location that all were either damaged during war time or fell apart due to deterioration. The one you see today was erected in 1874. On the grounds there is a keeper’s house which is now a museum, two summer kitchens, a garage, coast guard barracks and most recent a weather station. It’s one of the largest lighthouse complexes in America.

There are several paranormal happenings that have been reported including footsteps, cold spots, doors opening and closing, objects disappearing only to reappear a few days later, crank music boxes playing on their own and full body apparitions. For me one of the creepiest is the man that is seen leaning over the railing of the lantern room but when they climb the stairs there is no one there.

SyFy’s Ghost Hunters has investigated this location and they determined it to be a hunted location. Our leaning man from above was one of the experiences that they had.

In addition, tragic struck a family when in 1873 the three Pittee (not Pity) sisters and another girl were playing roller coaster with a railway cart that had been used to move building supplies from the dock. They used a wooden board to stop that cart from going into the water and unfortunately on this day that board was not in place. The girls were pitched over into the water with the cart landing on top of them. A worker saw what had happened and tried to save them but by the time he was able to lift the cart off of them three of the four girls had already drown. Unfortunately our author seem to have gotten some things incorrect with this story (and spelled their name incorrectly. According to the lighthouse museums page the girls were taken to Maine after their funerals for their burial and that it is thought that all three of the girls haunt this location. Apparently they like to play hide-and-seek with visitors.   

The lighthouse does have ghost tours that you can sign up for, Dark Side of the Moon Tours as they call them.   

Point Lookout Lighthouse

We are now familiar with the Civil War quite well thanks to Spookiest Battlefields. This lighthouse was part hospital and part Confederate POW during that time. Apparently it was the largest of the war prisons. Many men died there.

The lighthouse was also a private residence off and on for many years. This was actually its original purpose, other than the whole lighthouse part of course. The lighthouse required three keepers so the house was divided into two apartments and another dwelling built to house the third keeper.

It was this third dwelling that, in the 1980’s was occupied by Laura Berg who was the Maryland Secretary of State at the time. She and her husband were having other worldly experiences so frequently that Berg decided to keep a journal of them and eventually had an investigation conducted at the location. During the investigation they recorded upwards of 24 different voices, experienced cold spots, smelled something rotten and even saw full body apparitions.

Additional experiences by others include the sound of snoring, lights turning on and off on their own, footsteps and additional full body apparitions. One of these apparitions actually acts as a ghostly barometer, only appearing when a bad storm is coming in.    

New London Ledge Lighthouse

From an architectural perspective this place is cool. It’s out there like an oil rig except it looks like it belongs in the Victorian era.

There is one specific spirit that is thought to haunt this location and there is the spirit of former keeper John “Ernie” Randolph. Apparently he married a woman much younger than himself (first mistake) who he then took (the little shit) to this isolated Victorian style lighthouse in the middle of the ocean where to our shock and disbelief she became lonely and bored. So much so that she made the decision to escape her marriage when a ferry captain came by to see if they needed anything leaving poor Ernie a short, to the point, “peace out” note. When he came back from his supply run she was gone and he was so distraught that he took his own life. What people will do for love.

Reported happenings include sightings of Ernie, moved tools, cold spots, gross odors, TV turning on and off, foghorn turning on and off, and my favorite floors and windows being cleaned. I need a ghost like this in my life. My crypt is filthy!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

If ever there was a location that needed a lighthouse it is this one here. Apparently, because of the volatile weather the actual “lighting” of the lighthouse was delayed by three years. Hell, one of the men working construction on the lighthouse was blown off the cliff by strong winds. Luckily he survived.

Because of this foul weather the lighthouse required three keepers to man it. There was a head keeper, first assistant and second assistant. For me the best bet on the reason for the paranormal activity is the death of first assistant keeper, Herbert Higgins. Allegedly head keeper William Smith went into town one night with his family leaving Higgins in charge. Higgins became deathly ill that evening and put second assistant keeper Frank Story. Unfortunately Frank was an asshole and instead of doing his job he got pissed drunk passed out forcing Higgins to man the lighthouse. Higgins gave it his best effort but he ended up dying attempting to climb the many steps of the lighthouse tower. Now I have some questions about this like how did he become so ill so quickly that he ended up dying within hours of first symptoms? The only thing I can think of is heart attack or poison. And Frank was shit-canned I hope… but I digress.

The most commonly reported otherworldly activity are footsteps on the lighthouse tower stairs so for me this being Higgins makes sense. Dude is still trying to light the damn light.  

Heceta Head Lighthouse

If nothing else this lighthouse is in a beautiful location. Whole the tower itself is not necessarily the most impressive of structures at only 56’ it happens to be the most powerful light on the Oregon coast.

It seems that there is one specific spirit that haunts this location by the name of Rue nicknamed the “Grey Lady”. She has been known to move things and set off fire alarms that have no batteries in them. It is suspected that she does not deal with change very well as the activity becomes more frequent and agitated during times where there are renovations or rejuvenations of the location going on. There is activity all over the keeper’s house but sightings of Rue have for the most part taken place in the attic.

Paranormal investigators are welcome; however, if you want to stay there you will need to plan your trip pretty far in advance as there is typically a three month waiting period for a room in Heceta House.

Seul Choix Lighthouse

A short and sweet chapter about a lighthouse on Lake Michigan. There is only one haunting mentioned and that is the haunting of keeper Joseph W Townshend who passed away from lung cancer (dude liked his cigars apparently) in 1910. Unfortunately it was winter in the UP so they had to keep his body in the house until the ground thawed and he could be interred in his final resting place. Cigar smoke can be smelled to this day.

In addition to the cigar smoke, lights turn on all on their own, there have been reports of bells ringing, alarms going off and when looking in the mirror in the keeper’s house bedroom it has been reported that a figure has appeared behind. Note the electronic version of this book has a name error in this chapter, calling Joseph Townshend, James Townshend. Oops…

Port Boca Grande Lighthouse

It was on this island that phosphate was found and thus turned this area into a very busy place thus needing a beacon to help ship navigate safely. This port saw as many as thirty ships a day during WWII. Today the lighthouse is part of a national park, the keepers house now the home to park rangers and there is a bridge that connects the island to the mainland allowing visitors to easily access this location.

There is a pirate story attached to this location and the headless specter of a woman has been seen roaming the beaches looking for her head. Seems pirate Jose Gasper, who was known for killing all crew that were aboard ships he plundered but keeping any women as his sex slaves (nice guy). Allegedly aboard one of these ships was Spanish Princess Josefa who was so beautiful the Gasper actually attempted a normal courtship with her. It was a miserable failure (can’t imagine why). He became so enraged by her rejection that he cut her head off, buried her body on the island and put her head in a jar as a trophy. This is all legend of course.

In addition to seeing her spirit individuals have reported hearing footsteps and children playing.

Seguine Island Lighthouse

This is the second oldest lighthouse in Maine as it was commissioned by George Washington.

There is a specific tragedy that occurred at this location that may explain some of the strange happenings. We have another keeper that married a younger woman and took her to an isolated island for his job. Of course she got bored and lonely as she was unable to go to the mainland often due to bad weather. This was not lost on her husband though so he decided, at considerable expense, that he would have a piano delivered to the island so that she could have something to learn and do. Unfortunately there was only one set of sheet music with one song on it that came with the piano. Allegedly the young woman would play this song day and night, not stopping as her extreme isolation drove her mad. Eventually hearing this song played over and over again drove the keeper mad and in his insanity he destroyed the piano, killed his wife and then himself. They were found by friends that became concerned when they had not heard from the couple for a while. There is no official documentation of this incident but that is the story.

The paranormal activity that is reported include guests hearing the sound of piano music. In addition to that guests have experienced cold spots, moving furniture and missing objects.

There are a couple of additional spirits mentioned in the chapter. Unfortunately the picture at the beginning of the chapter is a picture of Heceta Head Lighthouse. Oops…

More Haunted Lighthouses Worth Mentioning…

With each of these locations I have given a smidge more information about the hauntings than our author. Please be sure to click on the pictures to learn more about these hauntings.

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse:

It is suspected that there are two spirits that haunt this location. One is the spirit of a caretaker, George Parris that loved this lighthouse so much that even after death he needed to be close to this place. A spirit fitting his description has been seen at the top of the stairs. George passed away of a heart attack on the property in 1992. Is it possible that it is George that is keeping the light burning despite the fact that the light was disconnected some years ago?

The other spirit is not so kind. There have been reports by multiple individuals of the screams of a woman echoing in the night. Allegedly one of the former keepers locked his wife in the tower until she went mad. It is her screams that are believed to be heard.

Matinicus Rock Lighthouse:

The spirit of a former keeper is thought to haunt this location. Horace Beck who wrote “The Folklore of Maine” (1957) went to the lighthouse as research for his book. While he was there he noticed that the north light was not in use and enquired as to why this was the case. The Coast Guard crew that manned the location told him that they decommissioned the light and kept the tower locked to keep the ghosts in. Apparently many years ago one of the former keepers hanged himself in that tower and was believed to still reside there wreaking havoc whenever the tower door was not locked. This had been put to the test when a Coast Guard officer visited the location a few years prior to Beck’s visit. The officer told the crew that they were being ridiculous and that they needed to put there superstitious nonsense aside and get the light working. They did what they were told and that night all the lights on the island failed. They returned to the north tower and locked the door. With the door locked the lights began to work again and as long as the north tower door is locked there are no issues.  

Block Island Southeast Lighthouse:

It is believed that the spirit of a keeper’s wife that was murdered by her husband still roams this location. The story goes that during a heated argument between the couple, the nagging wife got herself pushed down the stairs which inevitably ended in a broken neck. It was known by the locals that their marriage was rocky at best and apparently he claimed that she had done it to herself. He stated that this was not the first time she had thrown herself down the stairs during an argument. I’m guessing that they did not believe him as he was arrested and ultimately sent to prison for her death.

“Mad Maggie”, as she is lovingly referred to, is still throwing fits. Male visitors and keepers have stated the they have been locked in rooms and closets, had their beds shaken in the middle of the night and even had sharp objects such as knives thrown at them.   

Owls Head Lighthouse:

Two spirits are thought to be here. One is thought to be a former keeper as footprints of a man’s work boot have been seen on the ramp and stairs leading up to the lighthouse.

The other is known as “Little Lady” who is the ghost that resides in the kitchen, mostly seen looking out the window.  

Final thoughts: Lighthouses are super cool structures that saved many lives. Even though most are now automated there is merit in considering what it took to make them run before that time. Many of these lighthouses were in remote, isolated locations, a functional necessity I’m afraid, and within those conditions there are often tragedies. Even though this Ghoul is pretty solitary, for the most part humans are social creatures and need that interaction. We also have to take into consideration that the need for a lighthouse probably meant that ships and their crew met their end in many of these places as well. These factors make hauntings of these areas completely understandable. There are some errors that I have mentioned. Others that were not, I believe, most of these kinds of errors occur when the book is being transferred to electronic media. Although I cannot speak for the paperback editions. Enjoyable and informative!  

Happy Devouring!

The Sexton