7 Spooky Lighthouses in Maine Still Watching the Coastline

Maine’s rugged coastline is dotted with lighthouses that have guided sailors safely to shore for centuries. Behind their picturesque facades, many of these beacons harbor dark secrets and ghostly tales that continue to fascinate visitors.

From phantom keepers who never abandoned their posts to the spirits of those lost at sea, these lighthouses blend maritime history with supernatural mystery.

1. Seguin Island Light Station: The Phantom Pianist

Built in 1795 near Bath, Seguin Island Light Station is Maine’s second-oldest lighthouse and perhaps its most musically haunted. Legend tells of a keeper’s wife who received a piano as a gift to combat island isolation. Unfortunately, she learned to play only one song, driving her husband to madness with the endless repetition.

In a fit of desperation, the keeper destroyed the piano with an axe before taking both their lives. Visitors today report hearing phantom piano music drifting across the island when no one is playing. The 10-acre island remains accessible by boat during summer months, with brave souls occasionally staying overnight in the keeper’s quarters.

2. Portland Head Light: Shipwreck Spirits

Standing sentinel in Cape Elizabeth since 1791, Portland Head Light witnessed countless maritime tragedies. Most notorious was the 1886 wreck of the Annie C. Maguire, which crashed directly onto the rocks below the lighthouse on Christmas Eve. While the crew survived that particular disaster, many believe the souls of other shipwreck victims never left.

Lighthouse staff and visitors report mysterious footsteps climbing the tower stairs when no one is there. Cold spots materialize on perfectly warm days. Park rangers have documented unexplained light anomalies in photographs taken at dusk. The lighthouse museum displays artifacts from shipwrecks, some of which are said to move positions overnight when the building is locked.

3. Owls Head Light: The Keeper Who Never Left

Perched on a bluff overlooking Penobscot Bay, Owls Head Light has guided mariners since 1825. The most persistent ghost story involves a dedicated keeper who seemingly refused to abandon his post even in death. Visitors report encountering a bearded man in oil-stained keeper clothes who vanishes when approached.

Local legend tells of a ship’s bell that rings by itself during foggy nights, believed to be the work of the spectral keeper warning vessels away from danger. The lighthouse saved many lives during its active years, but couldn’t save everyone. Some claim to hear the cries of drowning sailors during storms.

The keeper’s house now serves as a museum where items inexplicably move overnight and doors open and close without human assistance.

4. Hendricks Head Light: The Searching Mother

This picturesque lighthouse on Southport Island harbors one of Maine’s most heartbreaking ghost stories. During a brutal winter storm in the 1870s, a ship wrecked offshore. The lighthouse keeper discovered a small box floating in the waves containing a baby girl, miraculously alive, but her mother had perished.

Ever since, people report sightings of a spectral woman in period dress walking the shoreline, seemingly searching for something lost. Her apparition appears most frequently during winter storms, when the wind howls and the seas crash against the rocks. The baby girl reportedly grew up to become a lighthouse keeper herself.

Modern visitors claim to hear a woman’s weeping carried on the wind, even on calm days when no one else is around.

5. Burnt Island Light: Whispers in the Keeper’s House

Just off Boothbay Harbor sits Burnt Island Light, Maine’s oldest continuously operating lighthouse. Established in 1821, this beautifully restored station includes the original keeper’s dwelling where strange phenomena occur with startling regularity. Overnight caretakers report hearing children’s laughter echoing through empty rooms and the sounds of furniture moving upstairs when no one is there.

The ghost of a former keeper reportedly appears in the lantern room on stormy nights, checking that the light remains operational. Museum staff have found objects rearranged in the morning despite the building being securely locked. During living history tours, visitors occasionally ask about the “man in period clothing” who wasn’t part of the official program.

6. Pemaquid Point Light: The Fisherman’s Watch

Commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1827, Pemaquid Point Light stands on a split rock formation that has claimed numerous fishing vessels. Locals tell of a spectral fisherman spotted on the rocks below the lighthouse, gazing out to sea as if waiting for something—or someone—to return. The apparition vanishes when approached, leaving behind nothing but the scent of pipe tobacco.

Park rangers report inexplicable cold spots around the property, even during summer months. The adjacent Fishermen’s Museum houses artifacts from shipwrecks, some of which allegedly carry attachments to restless spirits. Photographers frequently capture unexplained orbs and light anomalies in pictures taken at dusk.

The lighthouse bell sometimes rings by itself on perfectly still days, heard by multiple witnesses simultaneously.

7. Pond Island Light: Isolation’s Echoes

Often overlooked in favor of its more famous neighbor Seguin Island, Pond Island Light near Popham Beach harbors its own eerie reputation. Established in 1821, this remote outpost was notorious among keepers for its profound isolation and unexplained phenomena. Former lighthouse staff documented hearing phantom footsteps and disembodied voices echoing through the keeper’s quarters.

The most persistent legend involves a keeper who went mad from isolation and supposedly still wanders the island. Visitors report feeling watched while exploring the grounds. Bird researchers staying overnight have abandoned their studies after experiencing objects moving on their own and hearing someone breathing beside their beds.

Though automated since 1963, locals insist the light occasionally operates even during power outages—guided by unseen hands.