GHOSTLY SWINGERS

Visitors to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum not only enjoy the magnificent view from the top of the distinctive black-white tower, they learn about the important role played by lighthouses in the nation’s maritime history.  What they don’t often learn about are the spirits that reportedly haunt the keeper’s house and tower.  Maybe that’s because visitors are on the site in the bright Florida sunshine.  But after darkness falls and everyone has gone for the day, the permanent “residents” begin to roam the grounds – at least until the sweeping beam of the tower’s light high above snaps off at dawn. Then, only faint traces of their presence are left to greet the staff as they arrive.  Sometimes it’s the wet footprints on a wooden floor where three young girls played – before they were drowned in a tragic lighthouse accident in 1874.  Sometimes it’s the strong odor of tobacco smoke when the door to the tower is unlocked for the morning – a reminder of a deceased keeper and his pipe.  Sometimes the evidence is provided by visitors who arrive later in the day.  For example, visitors have remarked that, not knowing the Lighthouse was locked for the night, they had come by the previous evening and while there had spoken with a very friendly family seated in a large swing on the front porch.  When questioned, they describe the family as being very authentic re-enactors dressed in 19^th century clothing. Lighthouse staff is there to talk about maritime history, not ghosts, so they never mention the swing was removed decades ago or that the archives include a photo taken in about 1880 that depicts the family in the swing just as were seen the night before.