The Leamington Lighthouse and the Blue Lady

 Author: Skylar Shirey

The Leamington Lighthouse was a beacon of light used to guide sailors on their way. It is located in  Hilton Head and served the ocean’s sailors for many years. One night tragedy struck the lighthouse, and the area has never been the same. 

On a dark night in 1896 a gigantic storm hit Hilton Head Island. This storm affected the whole town, but most importantly the lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper, Adam Fripp, worked tirelessly to keep the light a flame. Despite his best-efforts Fripp had exerted himself too much and died from a heart attack. Adam Fripp left behind his daughter Caroline Fripp. After not hearing from her father, Caroline set out to the Lighthouse to check on him. When she arrived, she was greeted with the body of her deceased father. She placed pennies over his eyes to give him good fortune in the afterlife. Despite her grief she continued where her father left off servicing the lighthouse. While distributing oil up the lighthouse Caroline fell and died when she me the ground. Days later, once the storm had passed, rescuers found the bodies of the father and daughter. They were laid to rest, and the lighthouse never received another keeper. 

Over time the Lighthouses purpose shifted. SC Picture Project describes this shift in their article entitled, “Leamington Lighthouse.” The area around the lighthouse became a Marine base, and then later became a historic monument. Some say the have see a figure wandering the area on stormy nights. This figure is seen radiating blue in a white dress. She was given the name The Blue Lady. Witnesses say when the Blue Lady is spotted, she is heard wailing. Because of the description of the Blue Lady and the area she resides in paranormal experts believe she is Caroline Fripp. They say she is wandering crying out for her missing father. 

In the later years the keeper of the lighthouse home has been moved to a location within town. Dennis Woods, a real estate investor based in the state or Oregon who investigates real estate and the stores that coincide with it writes in his article, “The Hilton Head Blue Lady - Paranormal Activity on Hilton Head Island” about the sightings of the Blue Lady. He describes, during the demolition and construction, a blue phone would ring at the house’s new location. Once picked up the phone would scream the sound of cries. Some believes this was the work of the Blue Lady. Construction workers also say that when leaving the sight late at night the see a blue light glowing within the home. 

The Leamington Lighthouse still stands tall in Hilton Head. Plaques have been placed around it telling the story of the storm and the Blue Lady. Though it has been many years those who visit the lighthouse on stormy nights may still see the Blue Lady in all her glory. 

Works Cited:

Woods, Dennis. “The Hilton Head Blue Lady - Paranormal Activity on Hilton Head Island” Ezine Articles, 09 Dec. 2009, https://ezinearticles.com/?The-Hilton-Head-Blue-Lady---Paranormal-Activity-on-Hilton-Head-Island&id=3397164. 

“Leamington Lighthouse.” SC Picture Project, 16 Oct. 2022, https://www.scpictureproject.org/beaufort-county/leamington-lighthouse.html.

Rae and Dad. “Haunted Lighthouse/ The Blue Lady Ghost of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina” YouTube, 24 March 2021, https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=leeamington+lighthouse+and+the+blue+lady&qpvt=leeamington+lighthouse+and+the+blue+lady&view=detail&mid=656FA0A261C4A24E6EEA656FA0A261C4A24E6EEA&&FORM=VRDGAR.

Segars, Bill. “Leamington Lighthouse” SC Picture Project, June 2010, https://www.scpictureproject.org/beaufort-county/leamington-lighthouse.html.

“All About Our Island: Discover Hilton Head.” Hilton Head Island, 25 Oct. 2022, https://www.hiltonheadisland.org/our-island.

For Further Information:

“Haunted Places in Hilton Head” Haunted Places, 16 Oct. 2022, https://www.hauntedplaces.org/hilton-head-island-sc/. This article was written by an anonymous author and serves as a reference for haunted areas near Hilton Head. The source, Haunted Places, also shares haunted areas all around America.

Kauffman, Barry. “So the story goes: The Blue Lady” Hilton Head Monthly, 30 Sept. 2022, https://hiltonheadmonthly.com/living/lifestyle/1463-so-the-story-goes-the-blue-lady. This article was written by Barry Kauffman, a researcher and author who studies paranormal activity and human potential. This article describes the paranormal activity surrounding the Leamington Lighthouse and the story with it.

“Hilton Head/Leamington Lighthouse.” Discover South Carolina, 25 Oct. 2022, https://discoversouthcarolina.com/products/25688. This article was written by an anonymous author and describes the Leamington Lighthouse and the purpose it serves today. IT also discusses the environment around the lighthouse. 

The Hauntings of St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida

 Author: Solace Steele

 

Imagine catching what appears to be a silhouette of
someone peering down from two staircases above. 

This sighting has become more common than
others when touring the lighthouse.

Spooky Season has arrived at long last, and Halloween is just around the corner. It’s the perfect
time to indulge in candy and other traditions that accompany this holiday, and those who are
interested in everything paranormal are in for a treat if they’re willing to take their chance and
explore. The St. Augustine Lighthouse in Florida is one of the oldest points of navigation in U.S.
history. The lighthouse that stands today is the second one and was constructed in the late 1700s when the first collapsed due to erosion. It has also stood tall and proud through many battles during its time. Still, there is more to this lighthouse than what initially meets the eye. Its history is tainted with death, and to this day spirits remain tethered to it, having been unable to move on for centuries. One of St. Augustine’s most famous ghost stories begins with Hezekiah Pittee, who was the superintendent of the second lighthouse construction. Kelcie Lloyd, the Special Programs Manager at St. Augustine Lighthouse, explains this tragic tale in her article titled Ghost Stories: The Pittee Girls. He had four children named Mary, Eliza, Edward, and Carrie. They utilized the construction site as one giant playground and favored a supply cart that ran from the site to the dock where supply ships would wait. Little did they know that supply cart would carry them to a watery grave. The only thing preventing them from tumbling into the water at the time was a wooden board. On the day of July 28, 1873, the Pittee siblings and an unidentified African American girl were on their makeshift rollercoaster, and as it turns out, that wooden board was no longer secured in place to stop the cart. So, it tipped over and into the water. The girls were trapped beneath it, and by the time a worker raced to remove it, three of the four girls had drowned. Carrie, the youngest, was the only survivor. 

The Pittee family, originally from Maine, moved back to their home to bury their loved ones there,
and the resting place of the unidentified African American girl has yet to be discovered. 

 

 This video follows Buzzfeed Unsolved co-hosts 

Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara as they visit

 the St. Augustine Lighthouse after hours to 

provide viewers a ghostly experience

Many years have passed since this tragic incident, but that was not the last the world would ever
see of these children. Not to mention, there were more who had died here. Some of these
individuals include William Harn, Peter Rasmussen, and Joseph Andreu, who have supposedly
been sighted around the lighthouse and the keeper’s house below it. Rasmussen’s spirit is easily
identified through reports of the scent of cigar smoke. Andreu met his end after falling off the
lighthouse when painting it during its construction. Harn was one of the first keepers of the
lighthouse, and unfortunately the first to die in it after a long battle with malaria and tuberculosis.
Many strange occurrences have happened since then, with staff members and tourists reporting
ghostly encounters. There have been reports of footsteps being heard upstairs, with no one present upon investigation, as well as sightings of little girls standing and disappearing not a second later. Staff and tourists have also noted the smell of cigar smoke, doors being left wide open despite having been locked the night before, EMF readings, the sound of music boxes playing, and more. The St. Augustine Lighthouse is a favorite among tourists intrigued by the unexplainable and has even been featured on an episode of SyFy’s own Ghost Hunters. It seems safe to say that human beings absolutely must have an explanation for things, and the paranormal refuses to provide one, which surely contributes to the lack of belief in them. However, some answers must be sought after, and perhaps a ghost tour of the lighthouse would be a good place to start. 

Works Cited
A&E. “Ghost Hunters: Return to Haunted St. Augustine.” YouTube, 13 May 2020,
https://youtu.be/Pa5-O0nnshU

Anya016. “St. Augustine Lighthouse – Florida.” Random Times, 21 April 2020, https://random-
times.com/2020/04/21/st-agustine-lighthouse-florida/

Buzzfeed Unsolved Network. “The Haunted Shadows Of The St. Augustine Lighthouse.”
YouTube, 27 Sept. 2019, https://youtu.be/fU-8Rg4CgeI.

Ghostsandgravestones.com. “Haunted Guide to the St. Augustine Lighthouse.”
https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/lighthouse-haunted

Lemmon, Kathryn. “The Haunted Side of St. Augustine, Fla.” Nexis Uni, 5 October 2012,
https://advance-lexis-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/document/?
pdmfid=1516831&crid=5cda0547-d12b-425a-9140-557a795b8445&pddocfullpath=
%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A56RN-KHT1-JC8H-
N2CD-00000-
00&pdcontentcomponentid=157000&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=xzvnk&e
arg=sr0&prid=b5d2c776-f0df-4118-84b1-55a172717caa

Lloyd, Kelcie. “Ghost Stories: The Pittee Girls.” St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum.
2 March 2020,
https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/2020/03/02/ghost-stories-the-pittee-girls/

Links for further research
1. The Ghosts of the St. Augustine Lighthouse
https://ghostcitytours.com/st-augustine/haunted-places/st-augustine-lighthouse/
An article providing an overview of the ghosts that inhabit the St. Augustine Lgihthouse
2. The St. Augustine Light
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine_Light
A Wikipedia article that provides the history of the entire lighthouse as well as more
resources for further research.
3. staugustinelighthouse.org home page
https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/
The official lighthouse webpage itself. It offers information on the lighthouse and its
history, as well as how to set up tours.

Haunting of St. .Augustine, FL

Author: Mya Tribble

Take a closer look at the photograph, as you look just look a tad bit closer in the center of the creepy image. You may be curious to know where the location of this image came from. This image is the haunting of St. Augustine. St Augustine is located in a city on the northeast coast of Florida Lighthouse.  St. Augustine is like a paranormal activity of paradise of the darker side. They have different stories like in the early 1600’s was “Castillo de San Marcos” a commander who found out that his wife was having an affair with another commander then, they both disappeared and were never found again.

The 1700’s “A Second Chance At Life” was a women who was nearly buried alive at the Tolomato Cemetery, went on to live another six years before passing away (again); and now guests have been the ghost of children playing inside the cemetery and heard the sounds of their laughter. The 1800’s two sisters were playing in and out of a car and then, uncontrollable they tumbled down a hill and drowned in the water. The late, 1800’s “The Life of a Criminal” was a building known as the old jail where inmates were treated bad and physically tortured so, now the old jail belongs to the inmates who lost their lives within the prison cells. Then, “The Forever Hospital Patient” it was a Spanish military hospital where, underneath the hospital are thousands of human bones where, people hear the cries, conversations, and screams of patients dying within the hospital’s rooms. Then, another story called “The Bitter End” where, it goes back to the early 1820’s “Huguenot Cemetery where, it was known to be paranormal activities.

The haunting of Huguenot who died. When, he died, and his kids grew up they wanted his body exhumed and moved closer to them. During the exhumation the grave digger left the coffin open while, he was on a break. That’s when, thieves stole his gold tooth. Since, then people have seen him floating around in the air.

Works cited:

“Haunted Guide to the Huguenot Cemetery.” ghostsandgravestones.com, 2019, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/huguenot-cemetery

“The Story Behind This Haunted Florida Lighthouse Will Give You Goosebumps.” OnlyInYourState.com, 2017, https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/florida/haunted-lighthouse-fl/

“Ghost Hunters’ returns to the St. Augustine Lighthouse.”staugustine.com, 2019,   https://www.staugustine.com/entertainmentlife/20190901/ghost-hunters-returns-to-st-augustine-lighthouse

“Castillo de San Marcos' History.” Travelchannel.com, https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/castillo-de-san-marcos-history

Haunted Guide to the Oil Jail.” ghostsandgravestones.com, 2019, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/old-jail

Links for further research:

Haunted History of St. Augustine
https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/haunted-history
The website has different information that talks about the different haunting stories. Like history, tours, guides, etc.

Visit St Augustine
https://www.visitstaugustine.com/article/haunting-tour-lighthouse 
The website gives you brief information on the haunted lighthouse. Also, gives background information that can be helpful. It also, talks about the tours that they have.

Staugustine.com
https://www.staugustine.com/article/20141026/NEWS/310269932