Thread: Haunted Lighthouses

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I saw that ghost hunters rerun today on tivo... it is one of the best!!! These stories have been so interesting and your website page is great Michigal! I wish I lived closer. I'm in sunny so. cal! But then again I don't know if I'd have the guts to go in.

Time for another installment, and thank you Suzeelilli for the nice words.

Minot's Ledge lighthouse was a place no sane person wanted to live. It is just a tower coming out of thesea on a reef located off Scituate, Mass. In fact, the first tower was destroyed by the sea a scant year after it was built. Isaac Dunham, who was also the first lightkeeper at Pemaquid Point, was sent to be the first caretaker at Minot's Ledge when it was rebuilt, and after 14 months just abruptly retired from the service, being unable to take it anymore, especially when his warnings about the instability of the spider-legged tower went unheeded.

In April of 1851, the new keeper, John Bennet, flew a flag from the lighthouse requesting to be picked up for a shore visit. His two assistant keepers, Joe Wilson and Joe Antoine, stayed behind to tend the light. While ashore, a no'theaster with winds of over 100 mph kicked up, preventing Bennet from returning. The lights went out at 10 p.m. The next morning, nothing was left of the tower, it had been smashed on the rocks. Antoine's body washed ashore at Nantasket Beach, while Wilson's was found on Gull Island.

Since then, fishermen report hearing cries from the island at night, and Portugese (Antoine was Portugese) swear they've seen a man hanging from a ladder on the side of the tower, screaming, "Stay away, stay away" in their language. Shadowy figures have been seen in the lantern room, taps on the shoulders and whispers at night have all been heard or felt by subsequent keepers. A cat brought to the tower for companionship, went berserk when near the lantern room, running around in circles and screeching.

Although these phenomena would be enough, the strangest thing is the cleaning. Seagulls flying overhead dirty the windows, which usually take the whole day to clean off. If a keeper mentioned to his assistant that they needed cleaning, by the time the assistant would make it up with cleaning implements, the windows would be sparkling clean again. Another keeper heard five taps echoing up through the stairs. The five taps had been a signal that the two Joes had once worked out for signalling the end of the shift. Some keepers would thank the two Joes for their work, but one couldn't take it and slit his throat and bled to death. Another went insane and was removed from the lighthouse in a strait jacket.

All these stories and even more tales are now on my website, Haunted Lighthouses. I have five pages of tales, at least one more to get up, and a newly started haunted lighthouse blog. Please feel free to stop by and check the site out, comment and share your own stories on the blog. Thanks.

Just added a haunted lighthouse quiz to my site. And six full pages of haunted lighthouse legends, hauntings, and more tales. Link to quiz is on menu at right on site, but it's best toread the pages first.
If you check it out, please vote for my site as a top 25 lighthouse site. It's on the first page, just scroll down to the banner that says vote for this site, and click on it. That's all you need to do, and I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Enjoy the quiz, and the stories.

Haunted Lighthouses

What great stories ! I enjoyed this thread alot, will continue to check out more on your site, (voted several times already, will continue to do so- good luck!)

Awesome site! I love haunted houses let alone lighthouses.

I was contacted this afternoon by a reporter for the Fairfield County (CT) Weekly. He wants to talk to me about Penfield Reef Light in particular and haunted lighthouses in general. That one to me is a well-documented haunting. He'll be calling me tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. They do have an online edition, hopefully it'll be on there next week.

P.S.
I could use some votes for the top 25 list. It rolls over every month, and you can vote again (one vote per month). If you check it out, I'd appreciate your vote. Thanks.

Oh man, this is so wrong:
PETA Applies For Ownership of Penfield Reef Lighthouse; Seeks National HQ For Its Fish Empathy Project