12 Creepy Stories About Haunted Lighthouses

Commissioned by none other than George Washington, the original wooden tower of Seguin Island Lighthouse was built in 1795 off the southern coast of Georgetown, Maine. That tower was removed and replaced with a stone structure in 1819. It was rebuilt once more with cut stones in 1857, and it's that version of the lighthouse that stands to this day.

The haunting of the lighthouse stems from a story of a keeper and his wife from sometime in the mid-19th century. Isolated from the population, the keeper had a piano delivered to alleviate the couple's loneliness. Unfortunately, his wife was only able to play a single song, and she played it over and over again. Eventually, this drove the keeper to take an ax to the piano, then his wife, and then himself!

To this day, people visiting the picturesque lighthouse claim to hear the ghostly melody the keeper's wife played so long ago. Others have spoken of a young girl's ghost who runs around, laughing and waving at them. Members of the US Coast Guard have spoken of ghostly sounds, furniture being moved about, and items going missing.

Another story stems from the dismantling of the light in 1985 by the US Coast Guard. A warrant officer was awakened one night by a ghostly apparition dressed in oilskins who was shaking his bed. The figure said, "Don't take the furniture. Please, leave my home alone!" The very next day, the ship that was carrying the furniture sank. Some believe the keeper's ghost was trying to keep his furniture as close to his home as possible.

St. Augustine's famous lighthouse has long been a destination for ghost hunters. The tower's construction began in 1871 and was completed in 1874. The superintendent in charge of construction, Hezekiah H. Pittee, had four children who were involved in a terrible accident. In the summer of 1873, the four children and a 10-year-old African American girl were playing on a supply cart when it ran into a gate and was trapped in the water. By the time a worker could get them out, the two oldest children, Eliza and Mary, had lost their lives. The fate of the 10-year-old girl was not recorded.

Additionally, a keeper met his tragic end while whitewashing the exterior of the original Augustine lighthouse, also known as the Old Spanish Watchtower, in December 1859. While working more than 60 feet up, the scaffolding failed and collapsed underneath the keeper's feet. The keeper and both children are said to haunt the current lighthouse to this day. Visitors to the tower have noted the presence of various shadowy figures, a hand reaching through the tower door, and furniture that moves about on its own.

Battery Point Lighthouse is somewhat unique in that it is accessible by foot during low tide, but only by boat during high tide. Built in 1856 and decommissioned by the US Coast Guard in 1965, the lighthouse has built up quite a reputation among the residents of Crescent City, California, as a truly haunted location.

The lighthouse is said to be visited by three distinct spirits: a child and two adults. Those who tour the lighthouse have reported a feeling of being touched on their shoulders and the sense of a ghostly presence about. Caretakers' slippers have moved from their bed to another location while they slept. There have been other reports of a rocking chair moving on its own, and old sea boots stomping up and down the stairway... as if a ghostly keeper still maintains the light.

The Block Island Southeast Light sits 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island and was designated a historic landmark in 1997. The structure is notable for being "one of the finest lighthouses constructed by the US Light House Board in the 19th century," according to the National Park Service.

There are two tales associated with this stately lighthouse that contribute to its haunting. The first involves visions of a ghost ship called the Palatine or Princess Augusta that wrecked off the island's northernmost point. It is said that the departed sailors continue to sail around the coast aboard their phantom vessel.

The other - and more frightening - story relating to the lighthouse involves the spirit of a woman. It's said that a keeper brutally slew his wife sometime in the 1800s and her ghost haunts the lighthouse. She specifically targets the men who visit there, and male visitors have spoken of a harassing spirit who has shaken them, lifted their beds, and locked them out of their rooms.

The original structure of the Plymouth Bay Lighthouse in Massachusetts consisted of two towers fueled by oil lamps. It was once home to the first female lighthouse keeper in America, Hannah Thomas, who inherited the duties of the keeper from her husband after he was slain in combat during the American Revolution.

Some believe Hannah haunts her lighthouse to this day, even though the original structure no longer stands. The two towers were wiped out in a fire and rebuilt in 1803 as a single, taller tower. Apparently, Hannah doesn't mind the new digs, as she has been spotted by several people in the new structure. 

A professional photographer and his wife claim to have encountered Hannah while they were staying at the house adjacent to the tower. Awakened in the middle of the night, the couple saw the upper half of a ghostly woman floating over their bed and looking at them. The spirit was wearing 18th century period clothing and had long, dark, flowing hair.

The Seul Choix Lighthouse was commissioned by the Michigan State Congress back in 1886. After six years of construction, the 79-foot tower was placed into operation. Today, the lighthouse is home to a well-known ghost called Captain Joseph Willie Townsend, who is considered something of a paranormal prankster.

Captain Townsend lived nearby until he succumbed to consumption in 1910. He passed during winter when the ground was frozen over, which meant he couldn't be buried until the thaw. His body was placed in the basement of the lighthouse and stored for several months. This is said to be the cause of his haunting: his body remained for so long that his spirit was trapped within the tower. 

Every so often, pieces of cutlery are mixed about on a table, and there is a definite presence of heavy cigar smoke when nobody is smoking anywhere near the building. The old captain has also left his footprints in the snow and has been seen watching people from the windows halfway up the tower.