The Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and its Gull Cottage in Maine are said to be haunted by the ghost of its last keeper, whose smell of tobacco still lingers.
Just north of Acadia National Park in Main is the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse and south in Gouldsboro on the Schoodic Peninsula. The entire area is often covered in stout fog rolling in from the sea, making it one of the happiest places on the Maine coast.
No longer seen as indispensable to the safety of ships passing along the coast, the site has now become a summer retreat for U.S. Army soldiers.
Prospect Harbor Lighthouse
A fishing port around these parts has existed there since the 19th century. A granite lighthouse was built in 1849 and rebuilt in wood in 1891. For years it guided fishermen and schooners from the busy fishing port to a unthreatening haven.
Albion Faulkingham, the last keeper of the lighthouse, served from 1930 until the lighthouse was automated in 1934. From then on they had more of a keeper than a keeper.
Ultimately, the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse saw little operate and fell into disrepair due to flooding and rot before it was restored in 2004 with the facilitate of the U.S. Coast Guard and Lighthouse Foundation.
It is not open to the public as such because it is an lively military base and you cannot reach the lighthouse area. Many passers-by, however, claimed to have taken photos of the ghosts there, and to this day the lighthouse still illuminates the road, and the lightweight helps navigate the area of the lively military installation.
Seagull's Cottage
This cottage at the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse is currently used by naval personnel and is another location in the park that is said to be haunted. The cottage was once the lighthouse keeper's quarters, and if rumors are to be believed, it appears to be haunted by the former lighthouse keeper.
Guests who stayed at the cottage claimed to have seen ghosts that left traces behind, such as the smell of tobacco in the air or the sight of doors opening and closing.
Over the years, those who encountered the ghosts nicknamed him Captain Salty. Who was he in real life? Many attribute the alleged ghost leaving the smell of tobacco in the cottage to “Grandpa Ira” Robotnik, the caretaker after the lighthouse was automated.
He died of a heart attack while lighting a pipe on New Year's Day 1951, and if rumors are to be believed, the pipe never actually went out.
Haunted statue at Gull Cottage
Another part of the haunting rumors is the story of a statue that seems to move on its own inside Gull Cottage.
Inside the hut there is a miniature statue of a sea captain, out of reach, on a high ledge at the top of the stairs. According to reports, it is said to head towards the stairs or the sea on its own. Could this be the same spirit leaving the smell of tobacco?
But could it have already been exposed as a hoax? According to Robert Kord's entries in the Machias Valley News, he was the one who moved the statue when he visited Gull Cottage in 1997.
“I kept moving these wooden figures around the place, trying to scare someone. “Our grandchildren from Prospect Harbor visited us and my techniques worked quite well for our granddaughter.”
True or not, the story caught on and continued to be told even after the Prospect Harbor Lighthouse came under the control of the American Lighthouse Foundation rather than the Coast Guard in 2000, when it was leased.
Bibliography:
Northern Acadia Park and Haunted Prospect Harbor Lighthouse
Prospect Harbor Lighthouse, Maine at Lighthousefriends.com
Prospect Harbor Point Lighthouse – Wikipedia
The History of Prospect Harbor Light – New England Lighthouses: A VIRTUAL GUIDE
Image Source: Pixabay.com
