Jack's Review: Haunted Lighthouses makes the most of the sense of isolation and loneliness that pervades its subject. The story of Seguin Island's caretaker and his wife is nothing short of shocking, and the piece on Point Lookout in Chesapeake Bay is directed exceedingly well. In a different vein, the story told by Lorraine Parris of Old Presque Isle on Lake Huron is touching--one of those ghost stories you just hope is true. Highly recommended.
Seguin Island, ME
Word has it that in the 1850s, a new lighthousekeeper and his bride moved onto Seguin Island. They were the only residents of the small island, and although the caretaker's duties kept him busy, his wife became seriously depressed, able to take refuge only in the piano her husband had shipped in to alleviate her sadness. Unfortunately, there was only one piece of sheet music packaged with the piano, which the increasingly despondent woman played over and over again, sometimes from early morning until late into the night. Driven mad by the repetition, the caretaken destroyed the keyboard and killed his wife and himself. Some of the local residents claim that, sometimes, you can still hear the woman's music floating to the mainland.
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. Highly upset, 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.
St. Simons Island, GA
In March of 1881, lighthouse keeper Fred Osborne was killed by his assistant, who loved Osborne's wife. More than a hundred years later, Osborn's spirit may still inhabit the grounds; over the decades, several people have reported hearing someone climb the lighthouse stairs when no one else was there.
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, Hannah Thomas, who was the wife of the first caretaker. 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.
Old Presque Isle, Lake Huron
In the eighteenth century, a small lighthouse on Lake Huron received the persistent complaints of 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 Presk 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.
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--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, in 1919, the government told him to retire. The night before he was to leave the lighthouse, Captain Robinson died. Karen McDonnell, the current caretaker, reports 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.
Point Lookout, Chesapeake Bay, MD
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 Donnie Hammett, a Point Lookout Park police officer, has seen a woman--who suddenly disappeared--searching for graves that were moved a century ago.
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 Lighthouse Board member Jane R. Masson and Director Kathy Flemming have separately seen a large, presumably male, figure in the basement. The former is thought to be the spirit--place memory?--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.
