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This Haunted Maine Lighthouse Holds Dark And Chilling Secrets · Mystery Archives Episodes

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  The reality To some, the thought of spending an isolated period
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  of time during a turbulent series of storms inside a
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  lighthouse would be a strange and seemingly scary predicament
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  to be in. The waves crashing against
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  walls, rain and hail pelting the windows, and the roll of Thunder
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  surrounding you. Not knowing when and if the
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  weather would yield. Certainly it would take a mental
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  toll on a person. It seems that some would break
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  under these conditions and others wouldn't, and those that
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  broke perhaps would never leave. Such a place we're discussing
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  today is the Seguin Island Lighthouse located in Maine.
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  And this haunted Maine lighthouse holds dark and
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  chilling secrets. The Seguin Island Lighthouse is
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  Maine's second oldest lighthouse.
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  The explorer Samuel D Champlin discovered Seguin Island in
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  1612. He commented that it looked like
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  a giant tortoise. The name Seguin is said by some
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  to be a corruption of a Native American word that means place
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  where the sea vomits. Others claim that it originates
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  from a Native American word meaning hump.
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  Either way, it's entirely appropriate given how it looks.
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  In June of 178655 local merchants petitioned the General
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  Court of Massachusetts for a lighthouse on Seguin Island.
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  The petition noted that the island of Seguin seems to be
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  designated by nature for this purpose, and it stated the
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  opinion that if there was a light upon this island, many
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  vessels would be saved from shipwreck and many persons
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  preserved from immature deaths. At that time, there were only
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  three light stations on the coast north of Boston, at
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  Thatcher Island, off Cape Anne, at Portsmouth Harbor in New
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  Hampshire, and at Portland Head in Maine.
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  It would take nearly a decade, but the lighthouse would be
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  approved by then President George Washington.
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  By April 1795, a site had been chosen and a request was posted
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  in local newspapers for proposals to build an octagonal
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  wooden lighthouse tower on the stone foundation and a one story
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  wood frame dwelling. A newspaper notice in late
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  October of 1796 announced that the buildings had been completed
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  under the supervision of Henry Dearborn, who would later become
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  the Customs Collector in Boston and Secretary of War under
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  President Jefferson. Seguin's first keeper, appointed
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  in March of 1796 at $200.00 per year was Major John Polaricki, a
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  Hungarian Hussar, an account who was born in France who fought
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  with French troops during the American Revolution.
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  His family had been Hungarian nobility and they dated back as
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  far as 16/13. He had settled and dressed in
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  Maine and was their town clerk for 25 years until he applied
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  for and was granted a position as a keeper of Seguin Island
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  Light in 1898. His meager salary was unfit for
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  living off the island in such harsh conditions due to its
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  remote exposed location and he constantly requested increases
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  in his salary but was always denied.
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  His brother-in-law, Christopher Bushard, served as his assistant
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  with him and initially brought his wife briefly to the island
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  where they had their first child, Jane.
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  However, Pusher didn't get his family to stay as relations were
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  strained between the two men. After serving for eight years in
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  18 O 4, John died penniless on the island.
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  For years afterward, some say his ghost has haunted the
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  keepers who came after him. Known as the old Captain, John's
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  ghost would become all too familiar to some.
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  One incident closer to modern times occurred after the
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  lighthouse was automated in 1985.
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  The supervisor in charge of the crew to move the furniture
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  reported months later that he was woken up by a ghost.
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  He claimed that several times as he slept inside the lighthouse,
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  as rain hammered the structure, his bed began to ferociously
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  shake. Waking up in a panic, he sees at
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  the foot of his bed an older man dressed in oilskins, grabbing
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  and shaking the bed near his feet.
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  The entity asked him not to take the furniture away and to leave
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  his home alone. Convinced he was simply in a
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  deep dream, the supervisor decided not to oblige the
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  captain's ghost. The following day, he decided to
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  move the furniture anyways, as he and his crew had been paid to
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  complete it that day. All the furniture had been
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  successfully loaded onto a boat, which was being lowered into the
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  water. But as it lowered, suddenly the
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  cable mysteriously snapped the ship and all of its contents
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  fell and would spill onto the rocks below, smashing everything
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  into pieces. In the years since, many
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  responsible and credible volunteer caretakers who have
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  signed on to help upkeep the lighthouse, along with the
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  occasional tourists, have reported various sightings of
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  multiple entities as well as experiencing paranormal events.
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  Items have been moved inside the house or tossed from shelves and
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  on to the floor, Mysterious cold spots seemed to appear at
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  random, tools would often disappear as if someone or
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  something was playing a trick on people, and doors have been
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  observed opening and closing. Oddly, when the caretakers move
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  the furniture, it is sometimes restored to its original spot
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  the following day, as if something invisible had moved it
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  all back. Some have reported hearing
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  coughing from an unseen force, as well as whispers and the
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  sighting of an older man dressed in oilskins.
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  The old captain isn't the only entity that seemingly dwells the
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  grounds of the Seguin Lighthouse.
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  This following story is one of legend and has been very
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  difficult to find documentation, but it is perhaps the most
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  tragic incident that has ever occurred on the island.
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  According to the legend, around the mid 1800s, a caretaker or
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  keeper of the beacon, newly married, brought his young wife
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  out with him to tend to the light.
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  Not used to the isolation of the island, his wife quickly became
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  increasingly bored and depressed, constantly
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  complaining about not having anything to do.
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  Thinking it would occupy her and keep her mind off the boredom,
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  her husband ordered a piano and asked it to be brought to the
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  island just before winter would set in.
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  Upon its delivery, he proudly presented it to her.
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  After numerous attempts to get the piano up the side of the
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  rocky ledge. Once it was up, it was carefully
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  hauled into the keeper's house with the hands of many friends.
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  His wife was delighted, but she couldn't play without sheet
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  music. Fortunately, though, only one
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  song had come with the piano. It was a simple Scott Joplin
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  tune. Soon afterward, when winter had
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  set in, the island was frozen. No other deliveries, despite
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  their best efforts, could come in isolated.
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  More than ever. Together, the man's wife would
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  continually play her piano, playing the same song over and
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  over and over again. The isolation and constant
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  playing of the same tune over countless hours and days began
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  to take their toll. The husband of the couple began
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  to lose his sanity, finally reaching his breaking point.
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  He had had enough. He took an axe and with a fit of
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  fury, chopped the piano into pieces following the outburst.
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  Once the shock had subsided, his wife bitterly complained.
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  He would then turn on and attack her, ruesomely chopping her with
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  the axe. Within hours, it seemed that the
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  man had finally come back to his senses, but realizing the
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  horrendous act he had committed, he decided to turn the axe on
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  himself today. Some say that on the Kennebec
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  River during foggy nights, you can hear the ghost of the
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  lighthouse keeper's wife playing the same ghostly tune on her
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  phantom piano out over the waves on those still calm evenings,
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  many Mariners and former keepers have claimed to have heard some
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  kind of piano tune playing over the waters as well.
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  These 3 ghosts have been claimed to have been seen or their
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  presence felt by numerous visitors and volunteers over the
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  decades. Among other entities, some of
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  which I was unable to find origin information on, is the
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  one of a young girl and her story goes like this, moving on
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  to the island with her family in the early 1900s as her father
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  took the position as a keeper at the lighthouse.
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  She was the only child of her two parents.
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  The island is isolated, lonely in cold.
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  There are no other children to play with or much to do for a
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  young child to stay entertained. One of the activities she tried
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  to preoccupy herself with was throwing rocks down into the
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  water from the cliffside near the lighthouse.
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  One unfortunate day, as the rocks near the edge were
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  slippery from the mist, the fog surrounding the island, the poor
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  young lady would slip and meet her demise, falling onto the
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  rocks and waters below. It is said that she still
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  lingers on the island and does everything she can to entertain
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  herself and interact with those who happen to visit her forever
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  home. She has been witnessed by many
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  running playfully around the gardens, laughing and smiling,
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  playing hide and seek with visitors for all eternity.
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  She's been seen not only by visitors to Sea Guine Island,
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  but also by previous keepers who called the lighthouse their
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  home. She's been witnessed running up
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  and down the stairs of the lighthouse, waving to her
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  onlookers, tapping people's backs, only to have them turn
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  around to catch a fleeting glimpse of her small feet
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  running away and phasing out of her vision.
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  There are a few things I would like to mention before we go.
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  Considering the location, I wonder if the lighthouse or the
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  island is indeed haunted. Could it have perhaps started
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  with the misfortunes of the late captain?
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  Or was it something else, perhaps a battle of sorts where
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  a tragedy occurred there or near there, tainting the land?
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  It's hard to say, but with the age of the lighthouse and given
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  what we know about its history, I wouldn't be surprised if
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  spirits still dwell there. Maybe it is a beacon for souls
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  as much as it is for ships. And this isn't a sponsorship,
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  but I wanted to provide the following details because I
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  think it's very important to fund and preserve history
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  whenever possible. Seguin Island is a little over 2
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  miles offshore from the mouth of the Kennebeck River near Fort
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  Popham and Popham Beach State Park.
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  The lighthouse grounds and museum are open to the public
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  and lighthouse tours are provided.
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  During the summer, the Fish and Trips Boat, also called the
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  Seaguin Island Ferry, provides daily 30 minutes services during
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  the summer season to ferry people to the island.
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  And for those who want to try and investigate the lighthouse,
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  there are overnight rustic accommodations available for
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  members of the Friends of Seaguin Island.
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  You can contact the Friends of Seaguin Island at
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  seaguinisland.org. I would encourage all of you to
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  go and experience places for yourselves whenever possible,
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  especially historic places to help preserve them for future
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  generations. But I will warn you, be careful
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  and be respectful because if you aren't either, you might just
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  become the newest permanent resident of the isolated island.
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  Thank you all so much for watching this news episode.
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  While I investigate cases for other videos, sometimes it's fun
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  for me to go and check out more historic places and learn about
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  the story surrounding them. So if you enjoyed this video,
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  please give it a like subscribe with notifications on, leave me
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  a comment and share this around on any and all social media
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  platforms or with your friends and family.
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  All that stuff genuinely helps me out tremendously, especially
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  when YouTube doesn't seem to like our content as much these
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  days. There will be a new and
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  terrifying case for an episode coming out very soon and I did
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  want to thank you guys as always for supporting me.
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  This has been Cody here mystery archives.
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  Remember to please stay safe out there and take care.
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  I'll see you next time.