10 Most Haunted Lighthouses in the U.S.
Lighthouses are hands-down one of the creepiest places. They’re sites of great strife, mystery, and paranormal activity. Of course, one of the best ways to visit a lighthouse is as they were intended to be accessed, by boat. From lingering spirits to stories of lighthouse keepers gone mad, below are some of the most haunted lighthouses. Start planning a visit by boat (if you dare).
Find boat rentals & unique on the water experiences near you
1. St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida
The St Augustine Lighthouse is known as one of the oldest and most haunted structure in the US. Approximately 200, 000 mortals visit annually to climb up its spiral staircase and communicate with the ghosts of these hollow grounds. If you’re looking for uniquely experience haunting experience, why not use the public boat ramp on property arrive to this lighthouse by boat?
2. Tybee Island Lighthouse, Georgia
Tybee Island Lighthouse is an ancient lighthouse in Georgia, first constructed in 1736. The Tybee Island Lighthouse that exists present day has stood 145 feet tall for 285 years. It could be that spirits didn’t want it here. Storms and a growing sea continuously wreaked havoc on this lighthouse, onsetting many to attempt to reconstruct it. Visitors have reported seeing floating bodies, hearing whistling with no one in sight, and other mysterious occurrences.
Find boat rentals near Tybee Island, GA
3. Battery Point Lighthouse, California
Battery Point Lighthouse, located in northern California, dates back to 1856. This lighthouse is a paranormal researcher’s paradise. Their findings conclude that these grounds are haunted by many ghosts. Not very surprising given past lighthouse keepers at Battery Point have had such terrible luck here like the 1879 fire. Peculiar instances continue to happen here. Like caretakers having their slippers moved at night and sea boots going up the stairs by themselves.
Find boat rentals from San Francisco, CA
4. Point Lookout Lighthouse, Washington, D.C.
Point Lookout Lighthouse, which dates to 1830, has such a history of abnormal activity that the official Maryland Department of Natural Resources website references it. The description clarifies that Point Lookout has “the most grisly history of any of the state’s parks,” having imprisoned people during the Civil War when as many as 8,000 Confederates died there. A parapsychology team investigated a couple of decades ago and recorded 24 voices in the building. Some people have reported seeing the specter of Ann Davis, wife of the first lightkeeper.
Find boat rentals from Washington, D.C.
5. Fairport Harbor Lighthouse, Ohio
Fairport Harbor Lighthouse overlooks Lake Erie in Ohio. It was built in 1871. Fairport was the star of a TV show that described how, while installing air conditioning, the trustees found mummified remains of a cat (yikes). So the legend goes, a former lighthouse keeper gifted various cats to his bedridden wife, for company. Many years later, a curator reported seeing the ghost of one gray cat.
Find boat rentals near Cleveland, OH
6. Owl’s Head Lighthouse, Maine
Built in 1825, today this lighthouse is said to be home to two ghosts. One, the “Little Lady,” hangs out in the kitchen and near windows. The other is believed to be a lightkeeper. Historians studying the lighthouse have reported to locals numerous tales of footprints in mud or snow.A former lighthouse keeper’s wife reported believing her husband had gotten into bed, but there was no one there, only the indentation of a body.
7. White River Light Station, Michigan
White River Light Station in Whitehall, Michigan dates back to 1875. Its first keeper died in 1919 and is said to still be there in spirit. A museum curator at the lighthouse says she has heard footsteps going up and down the staircase in the wee hours—maybe just the first keeper alone, or maybe him accompanied by the spirit of his wife. That same curator claims their ghosts have helped her finish chores, such as dusting. She calls the presence in the lighthouse “benevolent.”
8. St. Simons Lighthouse, Georgia
Built in 1872, St. Simons Lighthouse was the site of an argument between a lighthouse keeper and his assistant, who fatally shot the lighthouse keeper. The assistant was charged with murder but acquitted of the crime. Soon thereafter, reports of a ghost at St. Simons Island would haunt law enforcement officials. In 1908, a published account described a lightkeeper’s wife calling out to the dead keeper for help—and receiving it, to the point that she fainted.
Find boat rentals near St. Simons Island, GA
9. Heceta Lighthouse, Oregon
Perched like a sentinel above the Pacific waves, the tower still casts its guiding light—but there’s more below. They say the Gray Lady, or “Rue,” haunts the old keeper’s house. Guests and staff report faint footsteps pacing the upstairs, cupboards opening and shutting on their own, and objects mysteriously shifting—sometimes setting off a fire alarm when no one’s around. Her presence is said to be gentle but unsettling—sometimes seen as a smoky grey mist, other times a lady in Victorian garb, quietly asserting her place among the sea-swept history. Other than turning 130 last year, no new hauntings have made the news recently, but interest in the Gray Lady continues to draw visitors and paranormal enthusiasts alike.
10. Seguin Island, Maine
Even on the foggiest nights when the foghorn’s echo fades, there’s a melody that lingers on Seguin’s winds. The story goes: a lonely lighthouse keeper, eager to lift his wife’s spirits, had a piano shipped to the island—along with sheet music of a single song. She played it… over and over. The repetition drove him over the edge: he smashed the piano with an axe, then turned it on her—and finally on himself. On still nights, sailors and visitors claim to hear that same mournful tune drifting across the water, as if the island itself remembers. Seguin is considered the most haunted lighthouse in Maine, even in New England.
Kim Kavin has been on boats in more than 50 countries and islands, including in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Pacific, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. She grew up learning to steer a ski boat and Hobie Holder at her grandfather’s lake house in New Jersey, and went on to spend time aboard everything from America’s Cup racing sailboats to submarines.
Kim is a PADI-certified scuba diver and animal lover who always enjoys a good, long look around a coral reef. Her award-winning writing and editing regularly appears in national marine magazines and on leading websites. In her early years, she was a Dow Jones editing intern and a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. When she’s not writing, Kim can usually be found hiking northwest New Jersey’s beautiful park trails with her adopted shelter mutt, Ginger.
