White River, Lake
Michigan
In the busy lake town of White River, town officials pressured the federal government for a lighthouse.
When they refused, Captain William Robinson took it upon himself to--night after night to warn ships of
land by waving his lantern in the air. His persistence won the town a lighthouse in 1875, and William
Robinson became its first caretaker. Fifty years later, years in which he saw his children grow and
leave
and his wife die prematurely, the government told him to retire. The night before he was to
leave
the lighthouse, Captain Robinson died. Reports are heard of finding
portraits
hung at strange angles when no one was there and hearing the noise of a man walking up the
lighthouse
steps with a cane.
Old Presque Isle,
Lake Huron
In the eighteenth century, a small lighthouse on Lake Huron received the complaints by ship
captains, who claimed they could barely see its light. A taller lighthouse was built a mile north, and in
1870, the lighthouse on Old Presque Isle was put out of commission. A hundred years later, George and
Lorraine Parris were appointed to restore the lighthouse and its caretaker's dwelling. Under orders
from
the Coast Guard, George removed the lightbulb and wiring, leaving the lighthouse without any means
of
being lit. In early 1992, George died. In May of that year, people starting witnessing an unexplained
light
coming from the tower, a light that has perhaps saved several lives of people lost in fogs.
Seguin Island, ME
In the 1850s, a new lighthousekeeper and his bride move to Seguin island. They were
the only residents of the small island, and although the caretaker's duties keep him busy, his wife
became depressed, able to take refuge only in the piano her husband had shipped to alleviate
her sadness. Unfortunately, there was only one piece of sheet music packaged with the piano, which
the
increasingly despondent woman plays over and over again, sometimes from early morning until late
into
the night. Driven mad by the repetition, the caretaken destroys the keyboard and kills himself and his
wife. Some of the local residents claim that, sometimes, you can still hear the woman's music.
St. Augustine, FL
The St. Augustine Lighthouse, guarding over the oldest city in America, has seen ghosts for decades.
One of those apparitions is a twelve-year-old girl who is heard more often that seen. Word has it she is
the younger of the lighthouse builder's two daughters, both of whom drowned in 1873. Footsteps have
been heard on the gravel outside and up the steps, and others have reportedly seen a large,
presumably male, figure in the basement. The
former is thought to be the spirit of a caretaker who fell to his death while painting. The
latter is rumored to be the spirit of an unnamed former caretaker who hung himself (the hanging man
was
also seen during reconstruction after a fire in the early 1980s), though both connections seem to be
speculative.
Point Lookout,
Chesapeake Bay,
MA
Called "America's most haunted lighthouse," Point Lookout Lighthouse was built in 1830. During the
Civil
War, the Union Army set up a prison camp next to the lighthouse. Horribly overcrowded, the camp
served as a breeding ground for disease, dispair, and death. Since the 1860s, phenomena related to
the
camp has been reported at the lighthouse. Many voices and sounds have been heard, some even
captured on tape. Ann Davis, the ghost of the first lighthousekeeper (she took over duties for three
decades after her husband died before taking charge of it), has been sighted at the top of the steps. A
figure has been seen in basement. And a Point Lookout Park police officer claims, he has seen a
woman--who suddenly disappeared--searching for graves that were moved a century ago.
New London, CT
An older man, "twice unlucky in love," became the caretaker of Ledgelight Lighthouse, and took his
much younger bride to live with him. Soon, the woman, incredibly bored, left him by way of a boat that
stopped by one evening. Despondent, the lighthousekeeper killed himself. However, some think he still
inhabits the lighthouse, playing small pranks on its inhabitants (though none live there now), and
appearing every now and then.
The Gurnet Light, MA
America's oldest wooden lighthouse, The Gurnet Light dates back to 1768. It may still be inhabited by
the spirit of its second caretaker (the wife of the first), Hannah Thomas. Professional photographer
Bob
Shanklin, who stayed the night with his wife before shooting the lighthouse at dawn, witnessed a sad
woman--perhaps Mrs. Thomas, perhaps not--one night when he awoke from sleep. She appeared,
stayed
for several moments, then disappeared when he glanced out the window.
The above stories are just a sampling of many stories of haunted lighthouses. There are several excellant books available pertaining to this subject.
Some are shown below with a link to purchase them.
