Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Ghosts of Battery Point Lighthouse...

I suppose because Aliyana, the heroine of Heart of the Storm  (now in Ebook, Paperback and Audio!) met her handsome, 17th century captain, Wolf, in an old deserted lighthouse somewhere in the "in between" corridor between parallels (and because I love lighthouses in general) I thought I'd make a visit to another haunted lighthouse...

The Battery Point Lighthouse, in fact.



Battery Point Lighthouse, by Bobjgalindo



This lovely old lighthouse, located in Crescent City, California, reported for duty on the 10th of December, in the year 1856. During those 150+ years of service, the lighthouse sheltered many light keepers and their families, the first being Theophilus Magruder, a socialite from Washington D.C., whose family hobnobbed with James Madison. 

There are numerous stories of a pretty fierce storm in 1951, and then on March 27th, 1964, several tsunamis struck the coast of Crescent City. Those tsunamis killed seven people and obliterated twenty-nine city blocks. Despite the destruction caused by these storms, the lighthouse survived. Some believe the ghosts had a hand in that.

According to one paranormal team from a local college, there are three ghosts who call Battery Point home--two of them are adults, and one of them is a child. No one seems to know who they are though. They make themselves known in a variety of ways: A rocking chair will rock by itself. Many have heard the sounds of seaboots going up and down the stairs at all hours of the day and night (most especially during storms). Every now and again, a visitor will feel someone unseen tapping their shoulder.

Such incidences were recorded by Jerry Tugel, the last curator. He also said that he always kept his slippers by the side of the bed for easy access and during a particular series of days, someone or some"thing" turned them around facing backward. His good wife vehemently denied responsibility as any good wife would.

One night, he and his wife heard the mysterious footsteps ascending the tower stairs. They crept up the steps themselves expecting to find an intruder, but didn't see a soul. What they did find, however, was that the light had gone out. The alarm that should have sounded out a warning, never went off. As an aside: their cats (fraidy cats?) were absolutely horrified by something in that lighthouse. They refused to enter some of the rooms altogether, and in one area of the house, they wouldn't set so much as a single paw on the floor. They used the furniture instead.

So, have you ever visited a haunted lighthouse and if you did, did you ever experience anything spooky?




10 comments:

  1. I just love all these ghost stories you come up with. Keep them coming. .

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  2. I do like lighthouses, but I have never visited a haunted one.

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    1. Neither have I and really, I think I'm happy about that! Thanks so much for stopping by Mary, I really look forward to and enjoy your visits!

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  3. I've only had the pleasure of visiting two lighthouses, neither haunted, but I do love the lore and legends associated with them. Battery Point sounds spooky...and you know what they say about animals (especially cats) being able to see and sense things we can't. I had a female cat who would get "that" look on her face and I just KNEW she'd spied something I couldn't see. My male cats didn't do it nearly as frequently, but they had their moments too!

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    1. Doesn't it just give you the shivers when our animal friends track, hiss, bark or run from something we can't see? This has happened to me a lot. Gives me the chills just thinking about it...

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  4. I love reading the ghost stories you share. I never had the opportunity to visit a lighthouse. I have only seen them in movies and pictures. But maybe one day in the future I will visit one, then I will let you know if it is haunted and any spooky thing occurs. ;-)

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  5. I live about 10 minuets from Battery Point Lighthouse and have been inside. I have felt a presence before as well as someone unseen touching my shoulder. Now that in know the stories and what to expect I will go back and try to interact.

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    1. Wow! Thank you! I would love to hear all about your next visit if you're willing to share!

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  6. My wife and I were keepers at Battery Point in September 2011 for one month. I think it was the second or third day on the Rock. We had no visitors so it had to be that the tide was in and we were now an island. I was gazing out to sea, enjoying the beautiful scenery when behind me a child's voice, it sounded like a girl, said "Well Hello"

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