Spooks Galore at the Haunted St Augustine Lighthouse

Spooks Galore at the Haunted St Augustine Lighthouse

The St. Augustine Lighthouse is considered one of the most haunted places in Florida, with its chilling tales of ghosts and tragedy.

In 1871 Hezekiah Pittee arrived with his family to oversee the construction of the new lighthouse. Just as any child would do, the Pittee children turned the construction site into a playground, inviting the children of the workers into their fun.

The tragic accident at the St. Augustine Lighthouse construction site in 1873 claimed the lives of Mary, Eliza, and another young African-American girl, while Carrie Pittee survived. The children were thrown into the water when the railway cart they were riding flipped; Mr. Dan Sessions, a young African-American worker, managed to lift the cart but was too late to save three of the girls. The site and town shut down for the funeral, and the Pittee family returned to Maine with their daughters’ bodies. The final resting place of the African-American girl remains unknown.

Accident Details

By 1873, only the foundation and forty-two feet of the 165-foot St. Augustine Lighthouse were completed.
A railway cart was used to transport supplies from supply ships to the building site. Children used the cart for amusement, riding it down to the water and back up the site.
The cart was stopped only by a wooden board at the end of the track, and on July 10, 1873, the board was not in place. This failure led to the cart flipping into the water with Mary, Eliza, Carrie, and an unnamed African-American girl inside.

Victims and Rescue Effort

The victims were Mary Pittee (15), Eliza Pittee (13), Carrie Pittee (4), and an unnamed 10-year-old African-American girl.
Mr. Dan Sessions saw the accident and rushed to help, managing to lift the heavy cart off the children. Despite his efforts, only Carrie survived; the others drowned before help could reach them.

Aftermath and Legacy

The entire construction site and town ceased operations in mourning, holding a funeral for the girls.
The Pittee family returned to Maine to bury their daughters. The identity and burial site of the African-American girl has not been uncovered by researchers.
The story has become a part of local lore and is closely associated with the history and legends of the St. Augustine Lighthouse.

Unanswered Questions

The name and final resting place of the African-American girl remain unknown, underscoring the partial historical record of the event.

A number of occurrences have been witnessed by visitors, reporting feeling cold spots and temperature changes, a heavy energy and being touched or even shoved by an unseen force. Objects moving or chairs being overturned, doors and windows opening and closing on their own, and shadowy figures. Music boxes have been known to turn on by themselves.

The girls seem to be playful spirits. Enjoying playing hide and seek and sometimes including unsuspecting people. One night in the dark lighthouse tower, a lone staff member was closing up for the night. He heard giggling at the top of the tower and thinking that he had left someone on top of the tower, he returned to find it empty.

As he began to head back down, he heared the same giggles below. Descending the stairs, he once again found no one there.

Was it just the wind, or was he in the midst of a game of hide and seek?

Another evening, a female guest on the dark of the moon tour was standing on the first step of the metal lighthouse staircase, when she took her first step to climb the tower, she found her shoelace tied to the staircase. Whether it was a ghost or companion playing a trick.

The girls sometimes appear to people in fully formed apparitions. Once a guest was exploring the nearby maritime hammock trails and came upon a young girl in Victorian outfit sitting on a bench, reading a book. As she began to ask the girl a question, another group came up from the opposite direction, The woman looked away for only a moment and turned back to find the little girl on the bench gone.

In a similar instance, a woman on a ghost tour approached a woman to compliment her daughter’s behavior on the tour. Confused, the woman said she had no daughter. The woman then told her that a little girl had been standing by her side most of the evening, but there were no children on the tour that evening.

Others have spotted Eliza floating about the grounds.Wearing the same blue dress, she died in.

Peter Rasmussen’s spirit, the lighthouse keeper, who worked from 1901-1926, is believed to reside in the keeper’s house.

He has been envisioned in a full body apparition, dressed in white and often there is a scent of his cherry tobacco pipe.

Visitors frequently report sightings of Joseph’s Andreu, a keeper who tragically fell to his death while painting, and the restless spirits of two young sisters who met an untimely end on the property.

Over the years, seven people have died on the grounds, including three lighthouse keepers and their wives, some of these deaths are not connected to specific hauntings, but add to the overall history of the site.

Many who have visited and worked here, say it’s super creepy. Like all hauntings, the spirits that roamed the grounds of the St Augustine Lighthouse didn’t just appear from nothing, over the 150 years that the structure has stood, many people have come and gone, lived and died, and a few even remained.

The sightings that have been recorded, have roots that go deep into the history of the lighthouse, much as which is now known to us.

The lighthouse is open to the public for tours of the grounds during the days, but ghost tours are the best option for visitors wanting to explore the lighthouse at night.

Daytime admission to the lighthouse is $15. The nighttime Dark of the Moon tour, where the only light source are glow sticks, and visitors go up into the tower, is $30 for adults and $25 for children, 12 and under.

Whether you are a believer or not, it’s all in good fun right off Route 1.

David Garland FL St. Augustine Oct 18, 2025 Family History Museums

Location: St. Augustine FL

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