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Lighthouse Ghosts and Seaside Haunts

© Janice Oberding

The lure of the ocean has always been a strong one. It's said that once someone gets a taste for salt water it is difficult to be more than a mile or so from the water. Perhaps this is the reason so many lighthouses and seaside inns have more than their fair share of ghosts and spirits.

The very remoteness of a lighthouses may be comforting to the spirits of those who lost their lives on rocky reefs in storm tumbled seas. Then again maybe the ghosts of devoted lighthouse keepers prefer to stay on even after death. The Heceda Head Lighthouse in Yachats Oregon was built in 1894 and is still an operating lighthouse. The Victorian style keeper's house has been converted to a cozy bed and breakfast, and is home to two ghosts who are known as Rue and John.

Also in the area is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This one is said to be haunted by the spirit of a young girl who disappeared there one morning years ago. While the story of this particular spirit may well be fiction, there seems to be more validity to the rumors of a ghostly sea captain who strolls near the lighthouse late at night. What he is looking for, no one really knows.

Some say that the area around the lighthouse near Big Sur California is haunted. There are two theories on this ghost's identity. One belief is that this lonely spirit is the beautiful widow of a man who lost his life at sea. If this is true perhaps she keeps her lonely vigil near the lighthouse in hopes that his ship will one day sail safely into the Monterey Bay Harbor. Others claim that she is a lighthouse keeper's wife who stumbled to her death near the rocky cliffs shortly after moving into the lighthouse with her new husband.

In Pacific Grove the friendly spirit of Mrs. Fish, a former lighthouse keeper, haunts the Point Pinos Lighthouse. She continually tidies up and seems to be enjoying her duties as much in death as she did in life. Talk about a workaholic.

But lighthouses aren't the only places haunted by those who loved the sea. If you plan on enjoying the surf and sand at the Red White and Blue beach near Santa Cruz California remember that it's haunted. The spirit is believed to be a sailor who lost his life nearby. He isn't all that friendly and fond of visitors.