Spooky Sailing Stories: Spirits of St. Augustine Lighthouse

Article and Illustration by Rick Scott

I created this image of ghosts circling the St. Augustine lighthouse from a photo I took in 2011. 

The 1874 St. Augustine Lighthouse and the adjacent keepers house are said to be haunted by the spirits of those who suffered tragic deaths in the environs, including three young girls. The spirits let themselves be known by noises, leaving traces of cigar smoke, or even appearing as apparitions. Previous lighthouse keepers have reported being lured by a child’s giggling at the top of the tower, only to hear the giggling at the bottom after they have climbed the 219 steps to the lantern. One resident awoke to find a child standing at the foot of his bed. 

The lighthouse has been featured on paranormal TV shows and is part of many St. Augustine ghost tours. Tour patrons have reported seeing the dark outline of a someone leaning over the railing at the lantern platform. Others have seen a young girl in a Victorian dress along one of the nearby paths. One person reported her shoelace was tied to the circular stair railing at the start of a tour, thought to be a playful prank by a young ghost.  

The lingering odor of cigar smoke has been reported in the basement of the 1876 keepers house. A woman claims that an EMF meter she brought on a tour showed activity in that basement when she asked if the girls wanted to play hide and seek. The basement was the only part of the house, aside from some burnt timbers, that survived a mysterious 1970 arson fire.  

One tragedy dates from 1859 when a keeper fell to his death from scaffolding while painting the earlier 1824 tower. It is thought he is responsible for the cigar smoke odor detected by some. He may also be the too-tall shadowy spectre called “The Man” who has been seen climbing the lighthouse’s spiral stairs or leaning over the catwalk railing, wearing  a blue jacket and a mariner cap. His wife took over the keeper’s duties and became the first woman to serve in the US Coast Guard. It is said that she is the dark figure on the catwalk, looking down at the dead body of her husband. 

The saddest calamity occurred in 1873 when the current tower was under construction. Hezekiah Pittee from Maine was hired to supervise construction. A railway cart was used to bring building material from cargo ships in nearby Salt Run up an incline to the light. Pittee’s four children would use the cart as a rollercoaster, hauling it to the top of the hill and riding it back down to the pier. 

One day Pittee’s three daughters and a girl friend, ages 4 to 15, were riding the cart when it flipped into the water at the end of the railway trapping the girls below. A board meant to stop the cart was not in place. A worker jumped in and with great effort lifted the heavy cart off the girls but only the youngest survived the drowning. The construction site as well as the entire town shut down for the funerals. Pittee buried his daughters in Maine but their spirits still haunt the lighthouse environs with their giggling and pranks. 

One Thanksgiving we rented the circa 1940s lighthouse keeper’s cottage that sits below the lighthouse, just outside the park grounds. Reportedly, this private cottage had been used by a keeper who in 1955 refused to live in the 1876 house. After hearing footsteps in the house he stated the “big house was haunted and he would not stay another night in it.” 

Our rental came with a pass to the lighthouse. The pass also allowed for nighttime access to the grounds. In the evenings we would search around for ghosts, or at least something eerie. Seeing none we decided to fake our own spirits to trick our skeptical son, who had stayed back at the cottage. I set my digital camera on a tripod and took a few long exposure shots as we walked slowly in the frame past the base of the light. Unfortunately the images of blurred transparent figures did not convince our jaded philosophy major son. •SCA•