Episode 22 – Tend the Light: The Hauntings of St. Augustine Lighthouse (Part 1)
Hi, everybody! Welcome back to a very special episode. It's two-fold special because it's our very first Strange Woods on Location episode as well as our first two-parter! In this episode, we discuss the history and mystery of the St. Augustine Lighthouse in St. Augustine, FL. Spooky haunts are rumored to roam this historic site and we're gonna tell you all about it! Let's go!
STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!
If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!
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Produced by Peter Woodward
SAINT AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE
The beautiful and mysterious St. Augustine Lighthouse towers 165ft above Matanzas Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, Florida. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this unbelievable landmark boasts a Maritime Museum and other historic buildings along the property that were used during WWI and II.
Visually striking with its black and white spiral pattern and cherry red observation deck, the lighthouse offers an amazing 360 degree panoramic view of St. Augustine from the top. There are 219 steps from the entrance to the observation deck.
The unique paint job on lighthouses serves as a way to identify and differentiate them from each other at a distance for ships using them to assist in navigation.
Though much has changed in the multiple decades since its construction, the lighthouse is still nautically relevant today. Equipped with a Fresnel Lens which allows the light to be seen from up to 24 nautical miles away, it is still used as a secondary navigational aid for ships to this day.
The History
Settlers established St. Augustine in the year 1565, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States. Settled by the Spanish, a heavy Hispanic influence remains to the present. The original structure was called the “Old Spanish Watchtower” and was built in 1737. The U.S. government converted it into a lighthouse in 1824.
Made of limestone, the lighthouse required routine maintenance and repainting very frequently. Damaging water and winds caused erosion, which would eventually lead to the decision to reconstruct and relocate the lighthouse.
The current St. Augustine Lighthouse was built 1872. It is located about 300 yards northeast of the original site and is approximately 95ft taller than the original structure.
Currently, visitors enter through the gift shop. A small path leads out to the lighthouse which is directly across from the Lighthouse Keeper’s House. A brick pathway runs between them. Following the path leads to several structures on the property: a tented boat-building exhibit; a small snack shop called The Tin Pickle that was a Jeep garage in WWII; a small house that was used by the Coast Guard during WWII; a building containing models and ship artifacts; and the Shipwreck Conservation lab!
THE HAUNTS
Now let’s get to the meat and potatoes…the reason you’re here…the hauntings! Several friendly specters are said to roam the sites of the original and current lighthouses, but there are a few that make the most frequent appearances.
Lighthouse Keeper Maria Andreu
Her history...
Our first haunt begins in the original lighthouse. She is the amazing Maria de los Delores Menstre Andreu. She was the wife of Joseph Andreu, the lighthouse keeper from 1854-1859. While painting the exterior of the lighthouse just before Christmas of 1859, Joseph tragically fell to his death. Of course, this left the lighthouse without a keeper. The story states that Maria went to the top of the lighthouse and cried out “What shall I do?” She heard her husband’s voice on the wind saying “Tend the light.”
And tend the light she did! Maria became the first female lighthouse keeper of Hispanic-American descent in the state of Florida. Because the job of lighthouse keeper is an official military position, she consequently also became the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard and first to command a federal shore installation.
Maria kept the light burning until wartime tensions in the form of orders from the Confederacy forced her to allow the Fresnel lens to be removed and the lighthouse to go dark.
Though the Union had peacefully occupied St. Augustine, the Confederacy wanted to prevent the lighthouse as a possible asset for the Union. A Confederate sympathizer named Paul Arnau hid the lens until the end of Civil War in 1865. Eventually, he was imprisoned on a gunboat by the Union until he gave up the location of the equipment.
The lens was replaced and reignited in 1857.
Her haunting...
Maria’s presence on the grounds is reported as one of the most frequently felt and observed of all. Staff refer to her as “the lady in white” as she is often seen in a long, flowing white gown. Maria takes form as a full-body apparition and is frequently seen at the top of the lighthouse on the observation deck. She also speaks to guests and staff, and her voice can be heard when no other females are present!
A staff member (Hi, Abbey!) captured the image below and was kind enough to send it to us here at Strange Woods. She believes it to be none other than Maria Andreu! What do you think??
Pittee Girls
Their history...
As the exterior of the original lighthouse continued to degrade following the Civil War, it became necessary to construct a new lighthouse. As such, a new site was selected and construction on the current lighthouse began in 1872.
The gentleman hired to head up this new construction was named Hezekiah Pittee. He moved to St. Augustine for this work from New England along with his wife Mary and his four children: Mary Adelaide (15), Eliza (13), Edward, and Carrie (4).
The Pittee girls loved to play together, particularly on the construction site where their father told them not to. During this time, they met a friend: a 10-year old African-American little girl who’s name is thought to be Ellie.
On the site of the lighthouse, building materials were transported using a system of rails and carts. Supplies would be loaded into railway carts and brought to and from the work area. When these carts were not in use, the girls would find them, jump inside, and use them as a sort of rollercoaster ride.
The cart would travel quickly down the tracks, finally stopping at the end. This was accomplished by hitting a board that blocked the end of the track just before the cart would come off the tracks and fall into the bay below. There was also a braking system in the cart itself. The girls would then get out, roll the cart back to the beginning of the tracks, and go again.
On July 10, 1873, the girls were all playing with their favorite makeshift rollercoaster and something went terribly wrong. Either the board was not in place or brakes were not working (stories exist saying both), but all three Pittee girls along with Ellie flew off the tracks and into the bay… with the railway cart flipping on top of them.
A worker on the site named Dan Sessions witnessed the children going into the water and dove in to save them right away. Unfortunately, by the time he was able to pull the cart off them, all but Carrie had drowned.
Their haunting...
Very sad. Fortunately, the girls seem to be happy haunts at the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Guests and employees report they are probably the most active on site! They sing, whistle, and giggle all the time and can frequently be heard running up and down stairs.
The Pittee girls have been witnessed and captured peering over the railings and out windows. They love to play with shoelaces–untying them, tying them together, and even tying one employee’s laces to a banister!
Most recently, wet footprints appear and disappear within the lighthouse: child-sized footprints. Oooooo. One of the tour guides (Hi, Emily!) actually pulled these images up on her personal cell phone to show us. According to her, the footprints look wet but are dry to the touch, appear and disappear randomly, cannot be wiped away, and are only either the left or right foot each time. Here are the pictures of the footprints as well as somebody peeking over the rails… Thoughts?
Apparently the girls love to play hide-and-seek with guests and staff. Using an EMF detector, the girls will cause a spike if they want to play. You search for them and when you find them, they make the detector spike again!
Sam and Colby of YouTube did an episode on the St. Augustine Lighthouse and they played hide-and-seek with the Pittee girls. Here’s the link if you want to watch!
Lighthouse Keeper Brevet Major William Harn
His history...
His haunting...
So…it seems that Major Harn may have a bit of a complex as a friendly specter. He apparently takes issue with anyone who does not refer to him as “Major Harn”. He does not like just being referred to as “William”…he wants his proper rank stated!
Manifestations attributed to Major Harn most often are instances of hearing coughing. During his battle with TB, he spent much time in his room, which was on the top floor of the house. Guests and staff have reported hearing coughing coming from that site. Often, we were told, you can be in different areas of the house and still hear the coughing coming from the same spot…the location of Major Harn’s sickroom. Creepy.
Heavy footfalls going up and down the lighthouse’s spiral staircase are often thought to be the Major. He is said to be performing his lighthouse keeper’s work of bringing heavy cans of oil for the lamp up and down.
Lighthouse Keeper Peter Rasmusson
His history...
the longest to hold the position with a total of 23 years!
By all accounts, Peter loved his job as lighthouse keeper, but there was one aspect of the job that he absolutely hated. He was required to give tours to visitors on the site.
During his time on the job, tourism of the lighthouse became wildly popular, and literally THOUSANDS of visitors were showing up each year. During 1913, Peter recorded over 5,500 visitors just in the first three months of the year! And he had to provide the tours PLUS continue his lighthouse keeper’s duties. At this time, the lamps were still powered with oil so it was necessary to bring 20lb cans of oil up all 219 steps multiple times a day. We’d have been upset, too!
His haunting...
It seems that, even as a ghost, Peter has not lost his disdain for tourists! He is very forceful with men in particular and seems to really value good manners. In his time, wearing a hat indoors was considered very rude. As such, if men wear hats or ball caps or even a hoodie pulled up, they might find it whipped off their heads when they enter the basement! He also shoved a male employee that tried to provoke him with swearing and insults, knocking him off a chair and onto the floor in one push!
His approach to ladies is a little different…and creepy. Peter likes to touch the ladies. He’s been known to rub shoulders and legs.
Unsolicited rubbing. Hmm.
The basement seems to be his favorite place. The smell of pipe tobacco is thought to indicate his presence there. This is because in life, he was only allowed by his wife to smoke his pipe two places: outside and in the basement.
There are two wooden chairs down there that he has adopted as his own, and he is apparently very protective of them! We told the story in this episode of a man who threatened to take Peter’s chairs away and let them smash to bits on the highway by falling out of his truck. Violent shaking of the chair started immediately, scaring the guy out of the basement entirely! Here are some pictures of the basement and chairs.
More recently...
In 1970, a fire broke out in the Lighthouse Keeper’s House causing the eventual destruction of everything original except the basement. The origin of the fire is referred to as “suspicious”. For a time, complete removal of the structure was planned, even to the point that bulldozers were rolling in for demolition. But a group called the Junior Service League of St. Augustine stepped in. This volunteer organization and their efforts enabled the full restoration of the house over a period of approximately 15 years with completion in 1990. The Lighthouse Keeper’s House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The maritime museum opened in 1988 and the entire site became available to visitors in 1994. Today, the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum is not only a great site for history and mystery, but of further restoration/recovery efforts, education, and discovery.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse Archeological Maritime Program (LAMP) uses some of the buildings on site to restore artifacts and research shipwrecks! So cool.
What else did we discuss?
What is a brevet?
William Harn was listed as “Brevet Major.” As Jonathan discussed “brevet” is a temporary promotion of sorts that is done without pay increase or full privilege increase. According to WikiPedia, the recipient receives a higher rank as an honor for things such as “gallant actions, meritorious service, or to serve in a staff position when their permanent rank did not allow it.”
Remember Herbie the Love Bug? Aaaah-ooooooo-GAH!
Drop Dead Fred (1991) apparently gives Jeremy the creeps…specifically the black and white tile flooring.
I'll see you on the dark side of the mooooooon...
Truthfully, the St. Augustine Lighthouse is an amazing place. Please visit their websites to learn more about this unbelievable location. If you are ever in the area, make time to visit and TAKE THE DARK OF THE MOON GHOST TOUR! You will not regret it!
Also visit and follow their Dark of the Moon group on FaceBook!
Here are some links!
https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=dark%20of%20the%20moon%20ghost%20tours
And lastly...daytime photo dump!
Alright, Strangers! Thanks for dropping in! Hope you enjoyed, as always. Join us on the next episode for part 2…the paranormal investigation! Just gonna let ya’ll know…we caught some interesting stuff. Make sure to tune in next week!
Yeah, we’re pumped about it, too!
Until we meet again…Stay Strange!
References, articles, and sources:
Peter’s wife. Registered nurse. Uber-fan of The Strange Woods Podcast.
