The St. Augustine Lighthouse has 219 steps.
That’s plenty of time to notice the iron staircase shaking under other people’s feet. It’s also enough time to wonder whether every set of footsteps belongs to somebody you can see.
The view from the top is worth the climb.
So is coming back down.
When Was the St. Augustine Lighthouse Built?
St. Augustine has used lights and watchtowers to guide ships for centuries. The present lighthouse stands on Anastasia Island, where shoreline erosion threatened an earlier tower.
Congress funded a replacement, and construction began in 1871. Workers built a 165-foot brick tower with a first-order Fresnel lens made in Paris. Lighthouse keeper William Russell lit the new lamp for the first time on October 15, 1874.
The black-and-white spiral came later. It gave mariners a recognizable daytime marker while the lens provided a signal at night.
Keepers and their families lived beside the tower. The light required attention, fuel, cleaning, and a steady willingness to climb those stairs.
The Pittee Girls’ Accident
The lighthouse’s most repeated ghost story begins with a documented tragedy.
Hezekiah Pittee supervised construction of the new tower and moved his family to the site. A rail cart carried materials between the water and the work area. The children treated it like a ride.
On July 10, 1873, the cart rolled into the water. Pittee’s daughters Mary and Eliza drowned along with a ten-year-old Black girl whose name hasn’t survived in the known records. Four-year-old Carrie Pittee was rescued.
Dan Sessions, a young Black worker, lifted the cart while trying to save the children.
Later visitors began reporting girls’ laughter, small footsteps, and movement in the keeper’s house. The accident is part of the historical record. The laughter belongs to the stories that followed.
Who Was Joseph Andreu?
Joseph Andreu served as keeper of the earlier St. Augustine light. In 1859, he fell from the tower while painting it and died.
Stories sometimes describe a man’s figure near the tower or a presence on the stairs and connect it to Andreu. His death gives the legend a name, although a reported shadow can’t identify itself.
His widow, Maria Andreu, took over the work and became Florida’s first recorded female lighthouse keeper. Her part of the story deserves more room than the ghost usually gives her.
She kept the light burning.
Is the St. Augustine Lighthouse Haunted?
Visitors and staff members report footsteps, voices, shadows, and doors that move on their own. The keeper’s house and tower receive most of the attention.
Children’s laughter is often linked to Mary and Eliza Pittee. Some visitors describe a girl in period clothing or the sound of someone playing upstairs. Others report a man on the staircase or a figure near the light.
The museum openly includes these stories in its programs. Its Dark of the Moon experience combines lighthouse history, ghost traditions, and time for visitors to investigate.
An old tower doesn’t have to do much after dark. A footstep can travel. Iron shifts. Wind finds the lantern room and works its way down.
Still, laughter is a specific sound.
The Keeper’s House
The keeper’s house was built in the 1870s and held multiple families. Daily life there included children, meals, chores, illness, storms, and the constant demands of the light.
The building was damaged by fire in 1970 and later faced demolition. Community preservation efforts saved it, and the restored house became part of the museum.
Visitors now move through rooms that interpret family life and maritime history. Paranormal accounts describe footsteps on the upper floor, figures near windows, and voices in otherwise quiet rooms.
Wooden houses are talented noisemakers.
They’re also very good at making one room sound like another.
A Working Light and a Maritime Museum
The lighthouse remains an active aid to navigation. The surrounding museum preserves the tower, keeper’s house, maritime collections, and archaeological material from shipwrecks.
That work keeps the site from becoming a stage set with a ghost attached. The people who built, maintained, and saved the light remain visible.
The unnamed child who died in 1873 presents a harder problem. Her absence from the surviving story shows how easily one life can fade while better-documented names endure.
A careful haunting account should leave space for her.
What’s Documented—and What’s Legend?
The current tower was built between 1871 and 1874. The Pittee accident happened in 1873, and three children died. Joseph Andreu died after falling from the earlier tower. The keeper’s house was restored after decades of decline.
The playful girls, shadowed keeper, footsteps, voices, and moving doors come from staff and visitor accounts. They aren’t documented in the same way as the deaths attached to them.
The tower amplifies sound. The staircase moves under weight. Weather presses against a tall brick shaft beside the Atlantic.
You can explain a lot before reaching the top.
You still have to walk back through the keeper’s house.
Visiting the St. Augustine Lighthouse
The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum offers daytime admission, tower climbs, historical programs, and several ghost experiences. Schedules, age requirements, and weather restrictions vary.
Wear shoes that can handle stairs. The tower climb is narrow and physical, and the lantern room may close during unsafe weather.
Check the museum’s official site before visiting, especially if you want an evening program.
The ghosts may be patient. Tickets aren’t always.
Sophie’s Closing Note
A lighthouse is built to repeat itself.
The beam circles. The stairs turn. Keepers follow the same path night after night until the climb becomes part of the building’s memory.
That may be why footsteps fit this place so well.
I’d count the people ahead of me before starting up.
I’d count again at the top.
— Sophie Vale
Frequently Asked Questions About the St. Augustine Lighthouse
How old is the St. Augustine Lighthouse?
Construction of the present tower began in 1871. Its lamp was first lit on October 15, 1874.
How many steps are in the St. Augustine Lighthouse?
The tower has 219 steps leading to the observation level near the lantern room.
Who are the child ghosts at the lighthouse?
Stories often connect children’s laughter and footsteps to Mary and Eliza Pittee, who drowned in an 1873 construction accident. A third child also died, but her name hasn’t survived in the known records.
Can you take a ghost tour at the St. Augustine Lighthouse?
Yes. The museum offers several evening ghost programs, including history-focused tours and investigation experiences. Check current schedules and restrictions before visiting.