Exploring The Winchester House

Welcome to my Haunted Places Blog! I've now added the Winchester House in San Jose, California, to my list of Haunted Places that I want to visit. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester, heir to the Winchester empire, the manufacturer of the famous Winchester repeating rifle. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was located in New Haven, Connecticut. Oliver Winchester was grooming his son, William to takeover the company one day.  In 1862, Sarah and William were married.  Their happiness would, sadly, be short lived. 

I like history, and Sarah Winchester's tale piqued my interest. I had so many questions and had to know more. The study of human behavior has always fascinated me; learning what makes people tick. What would drive someone to the lengths that she went? There is usually more to such a story, than meets the eye.  All that anyone can really do, is take educated guesses at certain aspects of her life, as there isn't much actual proof to back up a lot of her story. That never stops speculation and stories, especially in regards to anything involving any suspected supernatural occurrences.

     
                                        This picture is of the windows inside the house.

The Queen Anne style mansion is known for its size and complete lack of any master building plan, but that isn't entirely accurate. Sarah Winchester, had plans; In fact, she went through several architects, eventually drawing the plans out herself, despite no formal training in that area.  Sarah Winchester believed that the house was haunted by the ghosts of the people who fell victim to Winchester rifles, and that only continuous construction would assuage them. The house was continuously under construction for 38 years; from 1884 until Sarah's death on September 5, 1922, at which time work immediately ceased.The Guinness Book of World Records gave the house the "Record for Longest Continuous Home Construction.

William and Sarah had a baby girl on July 12th, 1866, whose name was Annie Pardee Winchester. She died tragically, just 40 days after she was born, due to an infantile disease know as Marasmus (a severe form of malnutrition due to body's instability to metabolize proteins).  They were devastated, and this begun what Sarah believed to be a curse.  In December of 1880, Sarah's father in law, Oliver Winchester died Then, in March 1881, William died suddenly of tuberculosis. When he died, Sarah inherited $20 million and roughly a half of the ownership in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The money did little to comfort distraught Sarah when she had just lost the two people she loved most in the world. 

Heartbroken and inconsolable, Sarah left, supposedly going on a 3 year "world tour", during which time, she consulted with a medium.  The medium then informed a grieving Sarah, that she was cursed by the ghosts of everyone that had been killed by a Winchester rifle. Then they advised her to travel West, where she could build a home for the ghosts; telling her, "you must never stop building the house. If you continue building, you will live forever. But if you stop, then you will die." She really took this to heart. In 1884 she purchased an unfinished farmhouse in Santa Clara Valley, and began building her mansion. There are people that argue that she was simply moving there, because her remaining family, her brother in law and 2 of her sisters, lived in the Bay area. They also argued that since Sarah was so well off, she bought the house with hopes of expansion, for her family to all move into.  That did not happen.  We can't know what really happened, and perhaps there were a combination of factors involved in her decisions, as with most people. 

Shakespearean inspired windows in house

Sarah Winchester, was well educated and quite innovative. She was possibly the first person to use wool for wall insulation and the first to create indoor cranks to open windows.  She stood at only about 4'10," but wore her hair piled on top of her head, as was the style and it gave her the appearance of being taller. Doing her hair this way, was a pain to do, and high maintenance. Fortunately she was a bit of a genius, and developed a shower system for her small stature.  Back then, bath tubs were a lot more common than showers. She had several bathrooms and bath tubs, but only 1 shower.  This particular shower only sprayed her front and back, from the neck down, as to not disturb her hair. Eccentricities aside, Sarah turned the 8 bedroom farmhouse into a 160 room mansion. Mind you, there are a lot of stairways, windows in ceilings, doors to nowhere, and rooms without floors. There were bedrooms supposedly found, that had been walled up, hidden, and secret rooms.  Were these to confuse the ghosts?  The home itself is built using a floating foundation, which is believed to have saved it from total collapse in the 1906 earthquake. It was one of the century's strongest earthquakes.  During the earthquake, Sarah was trapped in an attic room for a while.   She blamed angry spirits for all of it and boarded up the room. This was the only time that construction took a brief break.  There was a lot of damage from the earthquake. Then it resumed, continuing around the clock.  

Among her superstitions and eccentricities, Sarah had an obsession with the number 13.  There are different theories.  We generally know 13 as an unlucky number.  Sarah went way beyond, just being general superstitious.  The most common theory is that she used the number 13 everywhere, to ward off evil spirits. There were 13 hooks in the seance room, 13 ceiling panels in the entrance hallway, 13 rungs on each stairway railing, flights of 13 stairs, etc.   The Hall of Fires, as Sarah called it, had multiple fireplaces. Sarah would shut herself in the hall and light all of the hearths, as if roasting herself. Oddly, the house has 47 fireplaces, but only 17 chimneys. 

A skylight in the floor

Despite being odd, she was a very generous person.  They were in hard times and people like to talk, painting her a a crazy lady building a house for ghosts, while many people were struggling to get by.  Every story has to have a villain. Sarah was said to have been a generous employer, paying above the going rate and providing on site room and board.  She kept to herself mostly, avoiding the social circuits and lavish parties that the wealthy upper class like herself typically enjoyed.  She had an annual ice cream social on the grounds of her home, for local orphans.  

Sarah died in her sleep in September 1922, at the age of 85, despite continuing construction, per the medium, for the ghosts.  She was buried alongside her husband and daughter. They say that upon the workers hearing the news of her death, all construction stopped immediately, even to the extent of leaving hails half hammered in. Sarah had never stopped construction, for long, during her life, so, her work would never truly completed to her satisfaction. Is it possible that Sarah Winchester's ghost wanders about the halls of the Winchester as well as the other ghosts? Does she linger, feeling she has unfinished business because she stopped building due to her death? Was she angry?

Sarah did not mention the mansion in her will, and appraisers considered the house utterly worthless because of the damage caused by the earthquake in 1906, the unfinished design and the impractical nature of its construction. The house was valued at a mere $5,000. Despite that, it sold at auction to a local investor for just over $135,000.  Regardless of the "value", at the time of Sarah's death, it had an impressive 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, 10,000 panes of glass, 17 chimneys, 2 basements, 3 elevators, and a partridge in a pear tree. Just kidding about the partridge(I was seeing if you were paying attention).The Winchester house was more of a liability than an ideal home for most people.  There were doors and staircases to nowhere, secret rooms and windows in floors. Sarah had a private Seance room, and was the only one who had a key and could enter the room. The stories say that she went into the seance room each night, building plans clutched in her hand, to commune with the spirits. The Seance room lies at the center of the house.  It has 1 entrance and 3 exits.  The 1st exit is the entrance, the 2nd exit is a door right next to that, but it opens to an 8 foot drop, into the kitchen sink, in the floor below. Ouch. The 3rd exit door, has no latches or handles, so if someone goes through, the door shuts behind them and they can't get back in. Were the 3 exits to possibly trick the ghosts that Sarah felt haunted her? 

Five months after Sarah Winchester's death, the Winchester Mystery House opened to the public in February 1923. Since the Winchester house opened to the public, people have talked about having strange occurrences, blaming ghosts.  A lot of people have reported seeing orbs, hearing unexplained organ music playing, or having their hair pulled, just to name a few things.Harry Houdini toured the mansion in 1924, and in the newspaper account of his visit; which was displayed in the rifle museum on the estate, called it the Mystery House. Harry also did a seance there, trying to disprove the presence of any spirits in the mansion. He did not believe in the psychic powers of medians like Ms. Winchester had, his goal was to prove that they were full of it. When he left, he said he could not prove nor disprove that there were ghosts.  What happened at his seance?

Harry Houdini

People who work in the mansion, have described strange experiences.  The caretaker claimed to have heard footsteps and breathing in the empty house at night, long after the mansion emptied out. On one lonely night, he heard the sound of a screw slowly turning, followed by a "plink" as it fell to the floor, but when he turned on the lights he could find nothing out of place. A year later, a ghostly stranger who appeared in a photograph the caretaker’s friend, had taken at the house one New Year’s Eve. After all, the man, whom neither of them recognized,  appeared wearing  workman’s heavy coveralls. That ties in with the most commonly sighted apparition, a man pushing a wheel barrow in the basement.  He might have been a former landscaper? Another longtime employee at the Winchester House said he was often a target for the sort of pranks that a mischievous spirit would play. As he closed the mansion up one evening, he locked the heavy doors to the main courtyard and then set the burglar alarm. When he turned back to check the doors, he found them unlocked. Of course, he was alone in the house at the time. Another evening, after conducting a walk through of the house at the end of the day, he carefully locked all of the doors and turned off every light, but as he walked to his car, he looked up to discover that all of the lights on the third floor were on. While anyone could forget to turn off just one light, he couldn’t imagine forgetting to turn off an entire floor’s worth of lights. A final bit of mischief occurred in his absence, but it seems clear that he was the target. One morning, he arrived to find his desk drenched with water. All of the paperwork he’d left the night before was soaked through, and his pencil cup was filled to the brim. There had been a light rain the night before, but the walls and ceiling around the desk were bone dry and undamaged.

The Winchester House has an undeniably intriguing history and  even to this day, people claim to have ghostly encounters. They host ghost tours, sleepovers, and fright nights. That is definitely on my traveling bucket list!  TIME magazine even placed the Winchester House among the Top 10 Most Haunted Places. I will write another blog entry post-visit. Go and check out the spooky mansion for yourself. Safe travels and don't go through the wrong door! 

Halloween Edition!!!!- Haunted Williamsburg!!

A nice spooky picture to get this Halloween edition blog off to a good start! This is a recent photo of me(Jessica Waddell),
taken by photographer Anna Marie Keenan of AMK Photography. You can check her and I out on facebook.

Perhaps you've heard about the many hauntings in Williamsburg, VA? Or perhaps you just think of Bush Gardens, Williamsburg Winery and other attractions that Williamsburg has to offer? There is a history of hauntings from before the 17th century up until now, with research supporting these claims. Colonial Williamsburg is really the most haunted area of Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg is like a live museum, made up of 160 renovated buildings, on 175 acres of land.  It is protected by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and allows visitors to explore the town, much as it was in the early 1600's.  They wear colonial costumes, and have demonstrations.

Colonial Williamsburg actors

Map of Colonial Williamsburg

There are numerous haunted places in Colonial Williamsburg, such as the Wren building, the George Wythe house, Peyton Randolph house, College of William and Mary, Nicholson House, The Ludwell Paradise house, and there are Indian burial grounds and there were also witch trials. There are other haunted places there as well. Williamsburg was also the birthplace of the American Revolution, so there are supposedly a lot of ghosts from the War. There are several ghost tours that will take you to these places and others as well. Probably the most well known and well reviewed ghost tour company is called Williamburg Ghost Tours.  They take you to the College of William and Mary, the Brafferton House, Market house, Bruton Parish Church, Merchant's Square, Matthew Whaley Elementary School, Fort Magruder, Peyton Randolph house, George Wythe house and the Kimball Theater.  That is a lot for one blog so I picked a few of the most haunted ones to write about this time. But stay tuned, because I fully intend to visit Williamsburg and go on the ghost tour as soon as possible and will write about all of the places that I went to!

Lantern Ghost tour

Wythe House

We are starting with the George Wythe House, which is 1 of 5 original structures of the Williamsburg, VA. It is located on the Gloucester Street West side of the Palace Green, built during 1700s. In 1755, the George Wythe House was designed to be a wedding gift for the newly wed George Wythe, a dedicated patriot, also America's first law professor, teacher and mentor of Thomas Jefferson.  He was also the first Virginia signer of the Declaration of Independence. Sir Peyton and Lady Ann Skipwith would come and stay for extended periods of time, up until 1779. Here is where the stories vary. Some say, that Ann Skipwith died in childbirth in 1779, some say she took her own life, in the room she would share with her husband, after hearing about her husband and her sister (Jean Miller) having an affair. The fact that they were wed soon after Lady Ann Skipwith's death, did little to put to rest the rumors. Continuing on with the history of the Wythe House, it makes sense it could be haunted. After the capital was moved to Richmond in 1780, the Wythes moved there as well. George suffered a painful death by poisoning in 1806.  A greedy relative did it, hoping for a large inheritance. George's grandnephew, George Wythe Sweeney was suspected but not charged. However, George Wythe did change his will quickly before he died, knowing that he was dying.

George Wythe

Lady Ann Skipwith

There have been many paranormal investigations of the house, revealing as many as 3 ghosts who reside there. A strong aroma of perfume has its place among the Wythe House's files. In 1986, or around that time, an employee keeping track of visiting groups was sitting in a chair at the back of the hallway when she smelled perfume and concluded that someone in a current group of visitors had been wearing it. But her clipboard notes showed that the last group had left twenty minutes before. It was, as she said, as if someone wearing strong perfume had leaned over her shoulder to read the clipboard. Perhaps it was Lady Ann Skipwith, seeing if she was being written about? A second perfume sensing was reported in March 1999, when an evening interpreter said she heard chairs being dragged about in the empty parlor and smelled perfume as she stood in the open front doorway. Other occurrences have been reported, such as an incident in 1987, where someone reported seeing blue lights inside the house after closing. They wished to remain annonymous to avoid ridicule. Another told of a scowling gentleman in 18th century clothes, walking up and down the hall outside of Mr. Wythe's library. One woman actually fainted upon seeing the ghost of a woman pass through the bedchamber, over the parlor and leave through the wall by the closet. That would be pretty scary for your average person. There have also currently, been candlesticks moved from the windows, other objects moving about, doors closing and strange noises.

Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin

Something supernatural caught on camera at the Wythe house perhaps?

There was a Doctor W.A.R. Goodwin who believed in Williamsburg's ghosts and did not care if other people didn't. He thought there to be possibly as many as 3 ghosts haunting the Wythe house. He once told newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle, "I wouldn't give a hoot for anybody who doesn't believe in ghosts." That was in 1936, while Pyle was visiting Williamsburg's Restoration. Goodwin was actually credited for the idea of Colonial Williamsburg. He spoke often of Williamsburg's ghosts as he served the restoration as local director in the 1920's and 1930's. Goodwin's ghosts were not the stereotypical chain clanging type. They were benign enough for him to write to ten year old Joan Scott of Norfolk, that you can, "Shut your eyes and see the gladsome ghosts who once made these places their home. You can learn to call them back," he said. "You can train yourself to hear what they have to say." That was in 1927, but his beliefs went much further back. In 1905 he had taken on a restoration of Bruton Parish Church that led to replacement of the floor and explorations among the graves beneath it. His daughter Evelyn recalled "digging down to the coffins" as his partner "in this archaeological work. Many years later, he finally decided to accept an invitation to sit in Wythe's house office at midnight to wait for something supernatural to occur. "Tonight," Goodwin wrote in 1935, "I am in the Wythe House waiting for the hour to strike for the midnight Christmas Eve service... One is not alone here. The Ghosts of the past are my gladsome companions in the near midnight silence."

Wythe house as it appears today

Now, here is where it gets spooky!  One apparition seen in the house, has been heard making a peculiar clicking rhythm going up the main staircase, around midnight. It is thought to be Ann Skipwith, dashing up the stairs, after a huge fight with her husband at the Governor's Palace.  This was most likely when she confronted him about his affair with her sister. On her way home, she lost one of her shoes, and the strange click was from her one dress shoe clicking up the stairs. She has also been spotted coming out of the bedroom in a satin gown and red shoes. She was also seen sitting at her dressing table, combing her hair.  We may never know the whole story, how she really died, so I say use your imagination to fill in the blanks! One evening, a custodian saw a very life-like apparition of a woman in a colonial evening dress, standing on the staircase. At first, he thought she was a tour guide. When he went to speak to her, she disappeared before his very eyes!

George Wythe grave

Dr Goodwin and John Rockafeller in front of Wythe house prior to restoration

The air on the second floor landing at the top of the stairs,  has unexplainable cold spots, often, even on hot days. A hostess was walking through this frightfully cold stop one day and suddenly felt a pressure try and push her back.  Other hostesses there have had creepy experiences as well. Some have been tapped on the shoulder, by an invisible hand, or heard furniture moving around when no one else was in the house.  This is how common hauntings are at the Wythe house! Other employees there have even heard what sounded like an argument, between two people, when no one was there. Imagine, being so angry with someone, that you were to continue arguing even in death. Some people have also seen a small group of "spectral gentlemen" as they were described, sitting together in wing back chairs by the unlit fireplace in the study. Would you be able to work in such a haunted place? I feel that they should pay "hazard" pay. Haha.

Many orbs like this have been caught on camera at the Peyton Randolph house

Now we are moving on the the also very haunted, Peyton Randolph house. This is another one of the original structures. It is a two story colonial mansion, build in 1715 by Sir Jon Randolph. His family lived there throughout the 1700's.  Then the mansion was eventually sold to someone outside of the family. In 1824, Mrs. Mary Monrow Peachy began as new owner of the home. Then her tragic story began. One of her children died after falling from a tree, then several more of her children died from various diseases and illnesses. This was unfortunately common in these times for people to die from simple illnesses that can be easily cured today. Then a male relative killed himself in the drawing room. After the civil war, a young orphaned solider stayed with the Peachy family while he went to William and Mary. Unfortunately, he came down with the deadly disease, Tuberculosis. He suffered a long and excruciating death. Many families lived there before the house became part of the historical living museum.

Image caught on camera at Peyton Randolph house

With all of the deaths at the Peyton Randolph house, it isn't terribly surprising that there would be manifestations there. There have been ghost sightings for over 200 years.  There is only speculation about who the spirits may be. Many think that a young girl had fallen down the stairs and still resides there. People have heard shattering of a mirror and the sound of heavy stomping of boots going across the polished floor. There is a room upstairs where residents had been woken up in the middle of the night to see a white "shimmering" translucent male apparition, standing in the corner of the room. That would probably make most leave!  Psychics who have visited the Randolph house have felt uneasy vibes on the stairs and in some of the rooms. Employees have seen life like apparition of perhaps the same young man in a colonial outfit. Could it be the young man who succumbed to tuberculosis? He looks like an employee, as far as his clothes are concerned, then disappears.

A "face" at the Peyton Randolph house, when no one was there

One female employee has a particularly terrifying experience.  I personally would have had a hard time staying there after this happened, even as much as I like haunted places and a good scare. She met an angry, seemingly evil, presence on the top of the staircase on the second floor, that tried to push her down the stairs. She fortunately was able to grab hold of the banister and held on tightly until the attack stopped. There was a mentally disturbed man who killed himself in the parlor, but this also could have been another ghost, since there were several sightings of male apparitions. Because of this presence, several hostesses are afraid, understandably, and will not go upstairs or work in the house at all, alone.

More apparitions at Peyton Randolph house

There is also supposed to be a grieving old lady's spirit there, who is very polite apparently. She also lived upstairs, in the small, oak panelled read bedroom on the second floor, many guests over the years at first enjoyed the warmth and coziness of the room.  It had a nice, corner fireplace and two narrow windows that faced north. Her low post bed was next to one of the windows. The most common occurrence is when the very gaunt old lady's spirit, dressed in a flowing gown and laced night cap on her head, would wake up guests, very politely by calling them by their first name and then would go into mourning, wringing her hands. The moonlight would shine through the window and through her apparition, "polishing the bones on her skeletal face," as they say. Perhaps she was trying to warn people not to stay in the house? Or did she lose a loved one in a war?

Entrance to cellar at Peyton Randolph house

Basements are already creepy.  They say that another suicide took place in the house, in the basement. This is due to all of the creepy occurrences there. But it hasn't been confirmed. The entity seems to be very unhappy and disturbed. I suppose I would be too, if I were a ghost. 

In the 1970's, just as a security guard, Mr. Jones, was about to go home one night. Then he heard moans and groans coming from the house's basement. When the brave security guard entered the basement to see what was making the sounds, something, or someone slammed the door shut and locked from the outside! Imagine how terrifying that must have been! Mr. Jones found himself paralyzed, he could not make himself move at all. Was it just fear, or something more? But when his boss knocked on the front door of the house, the basement door unlocked itself and Mr. Jones was able to move again. He ran out, left his job, and found another, less spooky job. There have been a ton of orbs photographed there by tourists.

gravestones in Williamsburg

What haunted town would be complete without haunted burial grounds? There are burial grounds scattered all over Williamsburg, which really isn't surprising considering Williamsburg's history of wars and the Spanish flu. There is also Indian burial ground! About 6,000 Virginians died from the Spanish flue in October 1918, during the big epidemic of the 20th century. Many bodies were sent home for burial, but others were just buried on a piece of land near William and Mary College that is partially paved over now. There were two graves found in the Merchant Square parking lot as well, where the tombstones had actually been paved over. There are said to be British soldiers buried under the Palace Green in front of the Governors Palace as well. French soldiers were buried at the Bucktrout Cottage. Eight bodies have been confirmed to be buried at the Public Gaol under the wall. But the most interesting find was discovered on accident. Construction workers found an ancient Indian burial ground while they were building the National Park Services National Colonial Parkway tunnel that runs under Colonial Williamsburg. The grave site had to be moved. With all of these disturbed and forgotten burial sites, it's no wonder that restless spirits wonder about at night. They can't be happy about their graves being covered, paved over without a care or notice, or relocated. Blackbeard and his crew were actually held in Williamsburg's Gaol, which only traces still exist. It was thought that they were hung and buried there originally, but that actually is untrue. They were hanged and buried in Hampton actually. They do claim that Blackbeard's ghost haunts Williamsburg still, but that is probably just another story.  But there were a lot of hangings in the gallows, the bodies were dumped in a nearby ravine. I'll bet their spirits are a little more than agitated.

re-enactment of hanging at the Gaol Gallows

orbs seen at the Stocks

Colonial did not celebrate Halloween as thought by some. They didnt' have jack o lanterns, costumes or go trick or treating for candy as they do now. There were actually witch trials there, so perhaps the Episcopalian population wasn't keen on celebrating a dark holiday as Halloween. They did however have pumpkins, a lot of pumpkins, large and small, in a variety of colors they used to decorate and consume. Our use of pumpkins would be frowned upon by the colonials. They would have been confused by the waste of a food that was so vital to their survival in the harsh winter months. But they sure do celebrate it now! Williamsburg lights up for Halloween celebrations, ghost tours, trick or treating, storytelling, costume contests and much more. With such a spooky history and their awesome Halloween celebration now, what better time to go visit and go on a ghost tour there?

Is Williamsburg really haunted? It sure seems like it is and the history lends itself to such speculation. Visit, go on a ghost tour and see for yourself! A lot of times it seems that groups of people in ghost tours don't always have the best of luck having ghostly experiences, but it seems different with these tours. People have ghostly encounters, and captured pictures of orbs, and some spirits as well. I can't wait to go and check it out as soon as I have a chance, and I will of course report my findings in full detail.

Ghostly images in Williamsburg, area unknown

Lots of orb activity at the church cemetery

"ghosts" of a time long since passed

Another Halloween photo from my latest shoot with AMK Photography /Anna Marie Keenan

Thank you for checking out my newest blog and please feel free to share it, and follow for future blogs! 

Welcome to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, in the Most Haunted City in Florida!

   

     If you visit St. Augustine's infamous haunted lighthouse in Augustine, Florida, the nations oldest city, your footsteps won't be the only ones you'll hear. You quite possibly might hear footsteps behind you, see a ghost, or hear voices.  It won't be because you are losing your mind. St. Augustine is not only the most haunted city in Florida, but The St. Augustine lighthouse has a rich and tragic history.  It has had numerous paranormal investigations and been featured by Ghost Hunters, CNN, Parade Magazine, Fox News and the Weather Channel. 

old lighthouse

      St. Augustine's lighthouse was originally a Spanish Watchtower, built in the 1500's as a acoquina stone structure. The Spanish had maintained a watchtower for centuries since their arrival in the late 1500's.  Before the Europeans arrived, of course the Native Americans freely roamed the area, like the rest of America.  There were many deaths on these shores as the Europeans and Native Americans clashed.  Thank Columbus for that. He got lost, and claimed a land he thought was somewhere else, that other people had already inhabited. He was not as intelligent as he liked to believe. Think of all of the innocent Native Americans murdered on that soil before there was even a lighthouse. That just adds to the uncountable spirits that wander the area and especially the lighthouse itself.  

     The original watchtower became Florida's 1st lighthouse in 1824 officially.  By 1870 however, the tower was threatened by shoreline erosion and construction began on the current lighthouse.  The new tower was completed in 1874.  Then the old tower was claimed by the sea during a storm in 1880.  Constructed of Alabama's brick and Philadelphia iron, the lighthouse is St. Augustine's oldest surviving brick structure.  In 1876, a brick light keeper's house was added to the site.  It was built at the Northern tip of Anastasia Island directly across Matanzas Bay from Downtown St. Augustine.  In the evenings, from downtown, you can see the lighthouse's beam sweep across those waters and then shift out over the Atlantic.  

   

     Lighthouses are said to draw the souls of those lost at sea.  They are like a beacon of sorts for wandering spirits.  In effect, they are often a "final destination" for lost souls, following the light.  Drowned sailors and other seafarers who were victims of the sea, often haunt lighthouses.  The St. Augustine lighthouse rises 165 feet above sea level, and has 219 steps. At the top, a first order Fresnel lens serves as the beacon.  The St. Augustine lends consists of 370 hand cut glass prisms arranged in a bee hive shape towering 12 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter.  Now that's a sizable ghost beacon!

Fresnel lens

       During the golden age of Pirates, they frequently came to St. Augustine to commit horrible crimes as was the pirate way. Pirates were often romanticized, but there was nothing romantic about these unshaven, dirty, despicable criminals with no morals at all.  These were not the Disney pirates we love. These were hardened, evil men.  They were thieving, murdering savages that brutalized the coast for years. One day, 13 such pirates were caught, and put through a speedy "trial", found guilty of piracy and hung.  Then after they were hung, they were buried in a small, shallow, mass grave behind the lighthouse.  Imagine how furious and spiteful the ghosts of those pirates would be. Their fates may have been justified ,but they no doubt, disagree.  Their spirits are said to walk the grounds late at night.  That would be a scary sight to see! 

    Whether or not you believe in the paranormal, ghosts, or the unexplainable, the St. Augustine lighthouse has been the scene of numerous tragedies over the years.   In 1824, the lighthouse keeper, Joseph Andreu fell to his death over 160 feet while painting the lighthouse.  They say he never actually left. He was the light keeper and took his job very seriously, even from the grave.  Another keeper, loved his cigars and was reputed for being a very strict as a manager.  Joseph Andreu also enjoyed a good cigar now and then. Many people claim to smell cigar smoke where there is none, and the lighthouse is non smoking.  

     The Engineer who was overseeing the erection of the newer lighthouse, Mr. Hezekia Pittee, in 1873, moved his whole family down from Maine to be with him.  This would prove to be an ill fated decision.  During the construction of the lighthouse, 5 children were playing on the railroad on a handcar. They lost control, supposedly the brakes failed and it went too fast, going off of the tracks and into the water by the tracks.  Tragically, 3 of the children died.  Construction workers jumped in to save the children and were only able to save two of them.  Two of the three children that died were Hezekia Pittee's daughters, the other 1 was an African American girl who was said to be a servant.  Hezekia's son and other daughter were saved.  It was an event that seemed to put it's "mark" on the lighthouse.  The girls are often seen and heard in the lighthouse or on the grounds.   Children's laughter is heard and running footsteps of children playing.  It was one of the most well known tragedies at the lighthouse.  

A picture taken of the three Pittee girls a few years before they came to Florida.  From left to
right is; Mary, Carrie and Eliza Pittee.

 

      There were many other deaths tied to the Lighthouse as well.  That is why it seems to be a hot spot for Paranormal activity.  There were the Native Americans that lost their land and lives, the 13 pirates who were hung and buried out back, the light house keeper who fell to his death while painting, the 3 children who drowned, and it continues!  This is one of the most haunted places I feel that I've written about. The history alone is so sad and dark that I thoroughly believe that the St. Augustine lighthouse is haunted.  The little girls are seen on the catwalk often. One girl has been seen dripping wet and clothed in the same blue velvet dress she was wearing when she died, with a matching bow in her hair.   Another woman is seen on the lighthouse stairway or walking in the yard outside the buildings, and the figure of a man who roams the basement.  Then of course there is the cigar smoke smell.  One male figure is said to possibly be a Civil War hero and former lighthouse keeper William A. Harn. Some say that he died mysteriously hauling wood up the lighthouse stairs one evening.  He appeared to have had a heart attack of sorts, but was pretty healthy.  During the Civil War, soldiers used the lighthouse for quarters occasionally.  People have seen the shape of a tall man on the brick bottom floor where the old cistern is located.  It appeared to be gray in color against the dark room around it. As a staff member watched this shape in a doorway, it simply became one with the darkness surrounding it. At times, chairs are moved or overturned.  In the gift shop, staff and volunteers will find items have been moved out of place overnight.  Sometimes items disappear only to reappear at a later date. Music boxes will turn themselves on as well. Now that would be creepy!  There are many cold spots, and a presence is felt a lot.  People seem to get startled by their experiences but don't seem to feel threatened by them.

Photos taken of "ghosts" or orbs, shadowy figures,etc.

     Dozens, if not countless spirits haunt the Lighthouse.  Another story is of a young girl who was about 10 or 11 years old and killed by a passing train in the early 1900's.  She is said to walk the grounds, sometimes walking behind the dense bushes near the tower.  Another spirit is of a man who hung himself in early 1930. It was kept quiet enough, due to the nature of the death and not wanting more tragedy tied to the lighthouse. Due to that, there isn't a name recorded.  But he was believed to have lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929.  He is said to have wandered in from off of the beach he was living on, since he had literally lost everything, including his home.  In his depression, he hung himself to escape his troubles.  A lot of people killed themselves after the crash, unfortunately.  He appears on stormy nights.  People will sometimes see the image of a man hanging from the rafter of the old light house keeper's home,gently swaying side to side. He often appears on stormy nights. 

the winding stairs at the lighthouse

stairs inside lighthouse keepers house

     During World War II, the Coast guard men and women trained in St. Augustine and used the lighthouse as a lookout post for enemy ships and submarines, which frequented the coastline.  The sandbar by the lighthouse has claimed several ships over time.  The coast was home to British plantation landings, community boatyard foundations, ferry and steamboat landings, ballast dump sites and colonial wharves. It was a busy spot, and has significant historical value.   

Mantanzas Bay

         In 2009  archaeologists discovered the second oldest shipwreck in Northeast Florida waters.  It was an unidentified colonial sailing vessel known as the "Storm Wreck." They believe it was involved in the December 18, 1782 evacuation of Charleston at the end of the American Revolution.  It was carrying Loyalists and refugees to St. Augustine, which was a loyal British colony at the time.  This was the final British fleet to leave Charleston, and they wrecked, so close to their destination, so close to safety.  It "arrived" on December 31, 1782. I'm not sure how they figured they actually "arrived." I suppose they did arrive, after their death, perhaps beckoned to the lighthouse by the light.   As many as 16 vessels were lost on the sandbar in front of the St. Augustine inlet.  They have also found and excavated 2 historically significant 19th century wrecks; a wooden hulled steamship and a centerboard schooner.  The identities of both are unknown.  That adds to the already high death toll connected to the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  Imagine how many people died, in those wrecks, so close to shore.  It was probably hard to rest in peace. Their ships were resting in pieces. Can a place have too many ghosts? Can it get too...crowded? You'd think they'd get annoyed with each other, but then again, it's not like they take up a lot of space. 

Diver with bell from "Storm Wreck"

     Even though the lighthouse became automated in 1955, someone still needed to monitor the beacon in case something went wrong, as it does a lot, especially with new technology.  One late evening, the caretaker realized the light had stopped working.  Right away, he walked into the darkness from the old light keepers house towards the lighthouse entrance to attend to the light.  He already knew the haunted history and had to be spooked a bit to start out with.  But while he was walking, with each step, he thought he heard someone walking behind him on the gravel driveway. Anyone who has ever walked on a gravel driveway knows that they are very loud and you make a lot of noise walking on them.  You can't exactly "sneak" around on gravel.  For him to hear the footsteps behind him in the dark, in a haunted place, he had to be terrified.  When he turned around, of course there was no one there. Was his mind just playing tricks on him?  He brushed this off as just his imagination working in overdrive, so he continued walking.  Again, he heard those gravely footsteps behind him.  Again, he turned around to find no one there. Unnerved to say the least, the man rushed into the lighthouse and up the spiral stairs.  This time, he unmistakeably heard footsteps, this time they were following him up the metal staircase of the lighthouse.  I'm sure he couldn't have gotten that light working fast enough at that point.  When he finally reached the top of the steps, he checked the lighting mechanism to find nothing wrong with it.  As he threw the switch to restart everything, the beacon started working again.  Not wasting anytime, or wanting to hear phantom footsteps again, he ran down all 219 metal stairs. Even now, several employees have reportedly seen a hazy male figure, then heard footsteps from an unseen presence shuffling in the gravel outside and walking upstairs inside.  Still unconvinced? There's more.

     In the 1960's, the old Light keepers house was rented to a man who liked to entertain often.  On 2 different occasions, guests reported seeing the exact same little girl in a frilly dress, that stood in the doorway, then would disappear.  During the 1980's, when the keeper's house was being restored, workers often spent the night there, due to the late hours and expensive equipment they kept there.  Sometimes they would wake up in the middle of the night to see a young girl, dressed in old fashioned clothes, silently watching them.  Reports also say that they've seen the 2 little girls, or a woman's figure standing on the lighthouse catwalk at the top.  A man took a picture of the lighthouse and captured what appeared to be the figure of a girl leaning against the railings at the top of the tower, gazing out to sea.  Was she waiting for a lost love to return? Was her lover in a war and never returned? Had she jumped off of the balcony, after losing a loved one? What is her story? 

You can definitely see the figure of a woman in this picture.

     The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) claim that they captured a few mysterious incidents on video.  There was a disembodied voice of a woman crying "help me," and a shadowy figure moving about the stairs above them.  Then they got the photo of the man looking down over the balcony above them on film. No other people were in the lighthouse at the time.  

picture of the supposed black figure peering over the railing

      There have been orbs, vortexes and EVPs ( electronic voice phenomena).  They call St. Augustine the most haunted city in Florida.  There is a tour company that will take you on a complete nighttime tour of the lighthouse and let you do your own investigation. I definitely plan on doing that and recommend that you do the same.  Perhaps you'll see something that will convince you of the existence of the supernatural, if you aren't a believer already. Or you'll have a cool encounter with a ghost, hear footsteps, or get something on film if you are lucky.  During a tour one evening, there was a crash inside the keepers house. When they went in the house, they found the large mirror in the women's bathroom on the floor, broken. All of the glass pieces were contained in the frame, and the posts that were holding the mirror with wire were still in place.  There was no sign of them breaking, causing the mirror to fall, and no one had been in the bathroom when it happened.

The broken mirror in women's restroom

       In July 2001, the United States Coast Guard, through the General Services Administration transferred the deed for the tower to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum Inc., through the pilot program of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.  They turned over the original Fresnel lens to the museum.  Now the old lighthouse keepers house has been turned into a museum and gift shop.  This is one haunted place that you can definitely still visit! 

     Are you intrigued? You should be. I can't wait to go visit and hopefully have a supernatural experience of my own.  All fans of haunted places, add St. Augustine Lighthouse to your bucket list.  It is worth it. What an amazing place with such a strong history that has really affected the overall character of the lighthouse.  Most people who go on the tour with the "Dark of the Moon" paranormal tour company are satisfied and spooked customers.  This is definitely towards the top of my list of the Most Haunted Places that I'd Love to Visit, and it's warm, sunny, Florida! Perfect vacation! You can have fun in the sun, see local hot spots, tour other haunted places in the history rich and very haunted St. Augustine, and of course, visit the lighthouse! Some of the other local haunted spots are the old jail, Castillo De San Marcos, the old Spanish Military Hospital, Huguenot Cemetery and Casablanca Inn.  Add those to your list as well.  And last but not least, enjoy your visit!!!!

lighthouse entrance

a possible ghost in right window

ghostly figure

picture from old keeper's house

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