By Evelyn Kelly, PhD
The fog creeps in. It is pitch black. You hear a sound like a bellowing dragon; it is a foghorn blowing. A faint light appears; it is the lighthouse. Your ship will miss the rocky shore.
Because of their isolation and loneliness, fanciful tales of the supernatural have emerged around lighthouses. The dark, foggy night is perfect for ghosts, ghouls, and apparitions: here are four.
St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida
St. Augustine Lighthouse was one of the first built by the Spanish. Closed during the Civil War, remodeling began in 1871, with Hezekiah Pittee as the builder. Pittee had two daughters. As construction proceeded, a railway cart moved supplies from ships to the lighthouse. The girls played in the cart, riding it back and forth like a roller coaster. On July 10, 1873, someone forgot to replace the board that stopped the cart from going into the water; the cart flipped, and the girls were trapped beneath it.
Although it has been years since the accident, strange things are attributed to the Pittee Sisters. Take the “Dark of the Moon” tour of the lighthouse to hear about a keeper in the 1950s who refused to stay there because he heard footsteps going up and down the stairs. Some declare you can feel the presence of the girls. The girls’ toys and games appear in the basement. The apparitions of the girls have also appeared!
Tybee Island Lighthouse, Georgia
The Tybee Island Lighthouse off the coast of Georgia was built in 1736. As the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Reconstruction passed, the ghosts of each era entered. People whistling, talking, and even floating bodies in the water are regular occurrences. A creepy doll on the second flight may have caused the camera to freak out, and the lights started flashing. Some people have experienced a fan turning on and then off again.
The spirit of a 5-year-old girl warns visitors not to go up the steps any further, or they will be cursed.
Related: Armchair Adventures: Ghosts and Graves of Sleepy Hollow
Battery Point Lighthouse, Northern California
Built in 1856, the Battery Point Lighthouse has so many ghosts that it is called a paranormal researcher’s dream. Located near Crescent City, it was built near sacred Native American ground, and ghosts appear to show the tribe’s displeasure. Other strange things happen here all the time, such as the keepers seeing boots walking up the stairs.
Saint Simons Island Lighthouse, Georgia
Built in 1872, the lightkeeper and his assistant of Saint Simons Island Lighthouse did not get along and one day had a heated argument. The assistant pulled out his gun and fatally shot the keeper. The assistant was charged with murder but was acquitted, which made the keeper’s ghost unhappy.
Soon thereafter, reports of a ghost haunted law enforcement officials. In 1908, a published account described a lightkeeper’s wife calling out to the dead keeper. When he appeared, she fainted.
We love visiting lighthouses, but we have never seen one of their ghosts.
Evelyn and Natalie Kelly, a mother/daughter writing team, have traveled to 88 countries, 50 states, and seven continents. Their book “Have a Love Affair with Travel” will be released in October.
