St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum looks over the treacherous waters.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum is a working lighthouse serving the nation’s oldest port. The waters around St. Augustine can be treacherous. In the 16th Century the Spanish built a watchtower, but it wasn’t until 1824 that an official tower and beacon was built giving Florida its first official lighthouse.
Each lighthouse has its own unique coloring indicating its daymark and it has nighttime signature indicating its nightmark. This is to allow mariners to establish their location. St. Augustine’s colors are black and white spiral stripes with a red lantern and their signature is a thirty-second fixed flash.
The lighthouse rises 165 feet above sea level with 219 steps to the top. It is well worth the effort for you will find a beautiful panoramic view.
The keeper’s house is now the Lighthouse Museum. The lighthouse and the keeper’s house have rich and interesting history, and there are numerous stories about the ghosts that still walk the grounds.
One such apparition is of a man smoking a cigar. He has been seen casually walking the grounds or has appeared as a pale luminous figure. It is believed to be Captain Rassmunsun, the former lighthouse keeper, since it is a known fact that his wife wouldn’t allow him to smoke in the house and he would go outside to enjoy his cigar.
Downstairs in the keeper’s house apparitions of two girls have appeared to the staff. They also appear at the top of the spiral stairs.
Another ghostly presence is of children. Sometimes you’ll hear laughter and children playing. It is believed to be the spirits of Hezekiah Pittee’s two daughters, who tragically lost their lives. On July 10, 1873, five children were playing. They decided it would be fun to ride the rail car down the steep slope. The rail car didn’t make the turn, but plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Workers tried to save them, but they only saved a boy and a girl. Two of Pitte’s daughters, Mary (15), and Eliza (13), and a young black girl, either a servant or the daughter of one of the workers drowned.
Many of the staff has seen an apparition of a young girl standing by the spiral staircase in the keeper’s house. Visitors have seen a teenage girl on the lower level of the keeper’s house, thinking she was an employee because she was dressed in period clothing. When they would turn to ask her a question, she would be gone. Many have seen a young girl looking out the third-floor window after the building was closed up for the night. The strange thing about this is—the third floor no longer exists.
The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), an organization based in Warwick, Rhode Island was asked to investigate the lighthouse. During the episode of Ghost Hunters, they captured audible voices from the top of the Lighthouse. One was a female voice that sounded like she said, “Help me.” A shadowy figure can be seen moving up the circular staircase and at one point; it looks like the figure is looking down at them from the railing. Then it simply disappears. If have the chance to catch a repeat of this eerie episode on the Sci-fi channel, you may find yourself convince the Lighthouse is haunted, too.
The Lighthouse offers a haunted tour, “Dark of the Moon Tour” on certain days of the month so you will have to check the schedule. You’ll be able to tour the site at night and receive history about who lived and died on the property. I happened to take the tour with A Ghostly Experience. They offer different tours around St. Augustine. The coach tour took us to the lighthouse, but we were not permitted inside. I took the self-guided tour during operating hours for the daylight photos.
If you’re interested in seeing more photos of other haunted sites, please visit my website at www.kmnbooks.com.
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