Haunted Lighthouses of America – Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio

We don’t often think of the Midwest as lighthouse country, yet three states have lighthouses on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and Lake Erie, and all have haunted stories to tell.

November gales

Split Rock Lighthouse – Minnesota

Minnesota’s Split Rock Lighthouse was the inspiration for Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the sinking of “The Edmund Fitzgerald.” The weather is so extremely brutal that people visiting after the month of October are warned to expect a six-month stay, as heavy ice, snow, and hurricane-force winds make light travel impossible. Wolves have reportedly been heard howling at night.

In 1910, two first assistant keepers drowned when their boat capsized en route to the mainland. The boat was eventually found, but their bodies were not, and consequently many people reported supernatural phenomena.

A visitor who lost his wallet returned to the light and asked an old man, dressed in a lighthouse keeper’s uniform, if he had seen him. The man ignored him and refused to allow him to enter the tower to look for his wallet, and entered the house. The visitor later saw him looking down from the tower window and wondered what he saw. The next day, the visitor returned and found his wallet, but never discovered the man’s identity. Another story says that the man returned the visitor’s wallet and abruptly disappeared. Could this man be one of those who drowned?

released by a nun

Chambers Island Light – Wisconsin

Former caretaker Joel Blahnick noted a “presence” when he first arrived at this light in the middle of Green Bay on Lake Michigan in 1976. The light was deserted for twenty years prior to Blahnick’s arrival.

On his first night in this light, Blahnick was awakened by an extremely loud sound, followed by heavy footsteps from the spiral staircase coming from the lamp room. The ghost walked down the hall and through the living room to the kitchen and out, closing the door with an audible click. Skeptical visitors quickly became believers when they were awakened from a deep sleep by heavy footsteps.

The spirit, believed to be Lewis Williams, the first Guardian, was not an angry ghost, but instead enjoyed playing a trick on the Guardian. He loved to move tools from where Blahnick and his father worked, only to find them under a pillow.

In 1987, a group of nuns found out about the ghost while touring the lighthouse. A sensible sister fearlessly placed her hands against the tower and fervently prayed for the deliverance of the earthly spirit. She has not reported any other ghosts since then.

The ghost in the little cat feet

Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light – Ohio

We’re used to stories of human spirits, but the ghost haunting this lighthouse on Lake Erie is a playful, playful gray kitten. This light still aids navigation, and its keeper’s house is the oldest maritime museum on the lake.

According to a legend, Keeper, the wife of Captain Joseph Babcock, afflicted with a serious illness, was bedridden for several months. However, she was not alone, as a playful kitten visited her regularly and they spent many happy hours playing “fetch” with a soft ball.

A curator, who saw and played with this kitty, did some research and guessed that the living room of her apartment was probably the bedroom of the old caretaker’s house where Mrs. Babcock recovered.

Some people believe that the kitten died before reaching adulthood.