Why did ghost hunters from The Atlantic Paranormal Society (T.A.P.S.) hear a disembodied female voice asking for help in the St. Augustine Lighthouse? What or who made those eerie footsteps? What's the explanation for visions of shadowy figures on the stairs?

Questioning, curious people all over the world have made a serious hobby out of investigating how real historic tales turn into lingering claims of unexplained phenomena, especially at the oldest structures like the St. Augustine Lighthouse, circa 1874.

The insatiable search for paranormal activities in historic places has become a popular part of the local tourism industry. Barbara Golden, communications manager for the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau, said there are currently eight ghost tour companies in the city that are partners with the VBC.

"Though most visitors take the night-time tours as an added activity, many people do come here specifically because of the reputation and availability of these tours," Golden said.

Ghost tours and "haunted happenings" are a regular part of the VBC public relations pitches because they add another interesting way to promote history.

"Many of the tours are great little vignettes that feature actual people and historic figures with interesting stories," Golden said.

True ghost stories

One such interesting vignette is told at the Dark of the Moon tour offered since 2006 at the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Glow sticks provide the only light as head tour guide Matt Hladik, 21, tells haunted historic tales.


On July 10, 1873, "during construction of the tower, the foreman's children were playing on a supply cart that ran on the tracks to where modern Salt Run is now. When the cart hit the gate the children were trapped until a worker was able to lift it up. The two youngest children, Edward and Carrie Pittee survived. The two oldest, Eliza and Mary did drown," Hladik said.

The lesser-known part of this story is there was another child involved - a 10-year-old African-American girl. Hladik said her name wasn't recorded in the primary source used (a newspaper article interviewing Edward many years later), but through other sources they know she was there.

"This girl deserves to be mentioned just as much as the others and I'm happy that I'm in a position where I get to do so," he said.


"He died in the line of duty," the article reported.

Haunted history

Hladik, an English major at the University of North Florida, said the stories they tell are all historic in nature so they interest visitors who want to learn about the past as well as those who focus on frights.

Although not a ghost hunter himself, Hladik said he has seen many strange things at the lighthouse complex. He said he has glimpsed a shadowy figure in the tower, a hand coming through the tower door and furniture moving around by itself.

"I've had a few arm hairs plucked off me in the basement of the keeper's house. Rather recently I had my ankle grabbed. That was pretty amusing since it was in the middle of my tour so it looked like I just randomly tripped over air," he said.

The Dark of the Moon tour began on a seasonal basis, to capitalize on the Halloween industry, but was so popular it is now offered year round. The tours, with a maximum of 50 people, regularly sell out.

The more serious ghost hunters rent EMF meters or bring their own. The meter measures the electro magnetic field of an area. Ghost hunters believe spirits are made of energy that can be measured by such devices.

Lighthouse finds paranormal fame

The first visit from T.A.P.S. ghost hunters in 2005 helped put the lighthouse on the map for this industry. Several television episodes were devoted at least in part to the St. Augustine Lighthouse on the Syfy channel show, "Ghost Hunters." The main stars of the show, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, dubbed the lighthouse complex "the Mona Lisa of paranormal sites."


"When the ghost hunters came they ended up gathering the most evidence of anywhere else in town. This really got people's interest. Some really hard-core ghost hunters travel a long way just to come here and see what's going on," said Shannon O'Neil, spokeswoman for the lighthouse.

O'Neil said before the lighthouse offered the after-hours tour, other ghost tours were driving by telling its stories.

"Our whole mission as a nonprofit is to tell the stories of this place, so we knew we could do it better ourselves," O'Neil said.

In an effort not to be "too gimmicky" the tour guides are not dressed as re-enactors and nothing jumps out artificially to scare people. It's still a history lesson but the darkness and the power of suggestion combine to create a semi-eerie atmosphere.

"We have a responsibility as a museum and sharers of history to keep it authentic. That's really important to us. The stories we tell are all true. This site has been actively used for more than 300 years so there are a lot of stories to tell" O'Neil said.

Dark of the Moon is the most popular of the specialty tours. The lighthouse also offers the Behind the Scenes tour and the Lost Ships Archaeology Tour.

Still a working lighthouse

Whether in daylight or darkness, the favorite activity for most visitors is climbing the 219 spiraled steps to the top for a panoramic view. Once they are here, visitors invariably become interested in the history as a whole.

"They go into the Keeper's House and become intrigued with how the family lived and worked here and how tough the conditions were and it opens up the whole maritime story," O'Neil said.

It's a balance, though, between keeping people interested and keeping things historic. The admission fees help keep the interactive museum going and fund new exhibits. They also help keep the light going in this still working lighthouse. About 200,000 people visit every year.

The federal government built the structure from 1871 to 74 and it still has its original 1874 Fresnel lens, with 370 hand-made prisms. They recently received a grant from the state to repaint the black and white tower in the spring and do some work on the lens.

The tower is repainted every five to seven years anyway, but this time it coincides well with looking its best for the 450th commemoration, O'Neil said.