Pensacola Lighthouse

A 150-foot lighthouse on Pensacola Naval Air Station, built in 1859 to guide ships through the Gulf of Mexico. Labeled the most haunted lighthouse in the United States and featured on Ghost Hunters and the Travel Channel.

The Pensacola Lighthouse has cast its beam over the entrance to Pensacola Bay since 1859, but its paranormal reputation stretches back even further. Standing 15 stories high with 177 steps, the lighthouse is home to at least six documented spirits according to paranormal investigators.

The first keeper, Jeremiah Ingraham, moved into the original lighthouse with his young bride Michaela in August 1826. Their story, like many at this site, ended in tragedy. Several keepers' wives died within these walls, including Ellen Mueller, who bled to death in childbirth in 1911. Her spirit is said to linger at the top of the tower where she spent her final hours.

Sam Lawrence, who became head keeper in 1877, still patrols the tower he maintained for years. Visitors and staff have reported footsteps ascending the staircase when no one else is present, and a glowing ghost-like form has been spotted in the top window. Some visitors have felt a hand grab them on the stairs—a seven-foot-tall spirit identified as Thomas, a former slave who worked at the lighthouse.

"Raymond who lives under the stairs" is another entity identified by investigators. A woman in white has been seen throughout the property.

The Travel Channel featured Pensacola Lighthouse on "Most Haunted Lighthouses," and TAPS (Ghost Hunters) investigated in 2009. Led by Jason Hawes, they found evidence of multiple ghosts in both the lighthouse and the nearby lightkeeper's dwelling. The investigation identified six total spirits, each with its own territory within the historic complex.

The lighthouse museum now offers ghost tours as a popular attraction, and past investigations have documented extensive paranormal activity through EVP recordings, temperature anomalies, and visual manifestations.