1. Owls Head Light, Owls Head, Maine
Owls Head Light State Park, open year-round, provides lovely views of Penobscot Bay. The pretty little lighthouse and keeper’s residence are part of the park but not accessible, though that doesn’t prevent a ghost from trespassing. The 3-year-old daughter of previous keepers once awakened her parents and announced, “Fog’s rolling in! Time to put the foghorn on!” They discovered she had an “imaginary friend” who resembled an old sea captain. Current residents recognize his footprints in the snow and welcome his services―polished brass and frugally lowered thermostats; 207/941-4014 or lighthouse.cc/owls. In nearby Rockland, the Maine Lighthouse Museum displays the country’s largest collection of Fresnel lenses; 207/594-3301 or mainelighthousemuseum.com.

2. Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, Gasparilla Island, Florida
This lighthouse and the assistant keeper’s dwelling stand on a sunny Gulf of Mexico beach near Fort Myers. A museum in the lighthouse building and the surrounding Gasparilla Island State Park make the island’s southern tip a nice place to visit―by day. By night, as one worker put it, one might encounter “some things that are a little bit weird.” A young girl, presumably the ghost of a keeper’s daughter who died in the building, can be heard giggling and playing upstairs. More ominously, the headless body of Josefa, a Spanish princess decapitated by a pirate, wanders the sand; 941/964-0060 or barrierislandparkssociety.org. Continue reading Top 10 Haunted Lighthouses in the USA →