Written by: Rick Garner
Case Filed: 2/21/22
Executive Producer: Rick Garner
This story begins in 1830 on the southernmost tip of Maryland. Although there are no photographs of the original structure, the first Point Lookout Lighthouse was 1 and a half stories tall and a third of the size of the structure you see here. The much smaller, original Point Lookout was built for three thousand, three hundred fifty dollars. In 1883, the second story was added allowing home for two keepers and their families and for lighthouse work to be shared.
On September 20, 1830, the first keeper, James Davis, lit the light. And when Raymond Hartzel completed his duties on January 11, 1966, Point Lookout said goodbye to its last keeper of the light.
Point Lookout had a total of 19 keepers - men and women. William Yeatman served the longest term from 1871 until his death in 1908.
The property has been owned by the U.S. Navy, civilians and currently by the State of Maryland.
The structure has been renovated and re-painted many times over its life. In 2018, efforts began to restore Point Lookout to its 1920’s appearance. This included interior and exterior renovations of the main building as well as these buoy and coal sheds. Exhibits are being installed so that visitors can learn about the lighthouse, the life of its keepers and the Chesapeake Bay.
But my visit to this historical lighthouse centers around it being considered “America’s Most Haunted Lighthouse.” I’ve always found such labels fascinating. What makes a location “the most haunted?” I suspect it has something to do with the number of paranormal encounters and experiences compared to other similar structures.
The late Edwin Warfield Beitzell (bit-sul), author of “Point Lookout, Prison Camp for Confederates,” knew why the lighthouse had that label - as his book title states…a nearby 20-acres of ground was once a Civil War prison camp. It started as a hospital to treat Union wounded in the summer of 1862. Early 1863, a small number of mostly Southern Maryland Confederate prisoners were confined to the hospital grounds. Following the Battle of Gettysburg, a prison camp was built for Confederate soldiers and named Camp Hoffman. Capable of holding 10,000 prisoners of war with three forts protecting the prison and its isolated location - escape was highly unlikely. In September 1863, 4,000 Confederates were being held at the camp; by December - 9,000. By June 1864 - 20,000 souls were captive.
At the end of the Civil War in April 1865, of the more than 52 thousand Confederates that were imprisoned, possibly as many as 8 thousand would never leave the camp alive.
Other documented deaths on or near the property include keepers and at least 60 deaths from exploding or sinking ships including some corpses washing ashore.
As you might imagine, these tragedies are tied to countless paranormal experiences occurring in or around the lighthouse. Some of those accounts:
- A man’s spirit from one of the ship incidents has knocked on the door of the lighthouse during storms. He sometimes appears on the beach before big storms. - Hearing of heavy footsteps - Books flying off shelves - Bad and rotten odors in various rooms. - Many unexplained images have been captured at the lighthouse. One of the most stunning photographs shows Nancy Stallings, a medium with the Maryland Committee for Psychical Research standing in the middle of a bedroom. To our left, a foggy form of a man seemingly dressed as a soldier with a sash and one leg casually crossed over the other appears to be leaning into the wall. He wasn’t noticed until the picture was developed. - Teenagers driving out of the park near sunset stopped a park ranger to share they saw a man dressed as a Civil War-era soldier carrying a long rifle with a bayonet on his shoulder patrolling inside the fenced lighthouse. - A park ranger reported that he saw a Confederate soldier a dozen different times running across the road near where the camp hospital once stood. - A group of fishermen thought they had struck a man with their vehicle early one morning - they all felt the thump of the collision! Upon exiting the vehicle, they could find no man or damage to their vehicle. - Another park employee saw a field of white tents lined up in the middle of the road.
When I recorded this standup, I knew there were other visitors to the park all around me. It made conducting an investigation very difficult due to noise contamination. However, if you were listening closely to this standup, something unusual has been recorded. I’ll play it again to the point of the sound and repeat it. Be sure and use headphones.
Did you hear it? Clearly, there is a human female voice that’s right next to me - right next to the camera. It doesn’t sound like any voice in the background. We tried to enhance it.
We even reached out to our friends at RoadTrip Paranormal in Kansas and their audio guy attempted to enhance it. They agreed it was a female voice but could not determine what was being said.
I reached out to our friend, Alexandra, the daughter of the late Dr. Hans Holzer about this evidence. She wanted to review it. She couldn’t make out the words.
Lastly, I shared the clip with Psychic Artist Angela Boley who quickly thought she was hearing the phrase “I give up.” She gathered it was a young woman, named Maggie, who was exhausted at trying to get my attention. She was on a double date and the four were sailing. Some rough weather blew in and she was knocked unconscious. Her companions were rescued but she drowned.
In our research, we could not find a victim named Maggie or information on such an incident but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Angela mentioned that Maggie would find our tools fascinating and would enjoy hearing herself speak through them.
It seems we must return one day. Reporting for Unexplained Cases, I’m Rick Garner.
- A man’s spirit from one of the ship incidents has knocked on the door of the lighthouse during storms. He sometimes appears on the beach before big storms. - Hearing of heavy footsteps - Books flying off shelves - Bad and rotten odors in various rooms. - Many unexplained images have been captured at the lighthouse. One of the most stunning photographs shows Nancy Stallings, a medium with the Maryland Committee for Psychical Research standing in the middle of a bedroom. To our left, a foggy form of a man seemingly dressed as a soldier with a sash and one leg casually crossed over the other appears to be leaning into the wall. He wasn’t noticed until the picture was developed. - Teenagers driving out of the park near sunset stopped a park ranger to share they saw a man dressed as a Civil War-era soldier carrying a long rifle with a bayonet on his shoulder patrolling inside the fenced lighthouse. - A park ranger reported that he saw a Confederate soldier a dozen different times running across the road near where the camp hospital once stood. - A group of fishermen thought they had struck a man with their vehicle early one morning - they all felt the thump of the collision! Upon exiting the vehicle, they could find no man or damage to their vehicle. - Another park employee saw a field of white tents lined up in the middle of the road.
When I recorded this standup, I knew there were other visitors to the park all around me. It made conducting an investigation very difficult due to noise contamination. However, if you were listening closely to this standup, something unusual has been recorded. I’ll play it again to the point of the sound and repeat it. Be sure and use headphones.
Did you hear it? Clearly, there is a human female voice that’s right next to me - right next to the camera. It doesn’t sound like any voice in the background. We tried to enhance it.
We even reached out to our friends at RoadTrip Paranormal in Kansas and their audio guy attempted to enhance it. They agreed it was a female voice but could not determine what was being said.
I reached out to our friend, Alexandra, the daughter of the late Dr. Hans Holzer about this evidence. She wanted to review it. She couldn’t make out the words.
Lastly, I shared the clip with Psychic Artist Angela Boley who quickly thought she was hearing the phrase “I give up.” She gathered it was a young woman, named Maggie, who was exhausted at trying to get my attention. She was on a double date and the four were sailing. Some rough weather blew in and she was knocked unconscious. Her companions were rescued but she drowned.
In our research, we could not find a victim named Maggie or information on such an incident but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Angela mentioned that Maggie would find our tools fascinating and would enjoy hearing herself speak through them.
It seems we must return one day. Reporting for Unexplained Cases, I’m Rick Garner.
ABOUT UNEXPLAINED CASES:
The Unexplained Cases team is focused on preserving history while documenting the strange, paranormal and unexplained. What separates Unexplained Cases from other paranormal groups is that Darren Dedo and Rick Garner, who today are recognized as early pioneers of the “ghost hunting”genre, have over 35 years in broadcast radio and television news and have won a Southeast Regional Emmy and Associated Press awards. Over the past few years, the UC team has grown to add Michael Chinn as Lead Investigator and Researcher in addition to having the privilege to collaborate with several renowned paranormal investigators, including A&E’s Ghost Hunters Daryl Marston, Mustafa Gatollari, Brandon Alvis, Brian Murray, and Richel Stratton, as well as Malia Miglino from YouTube’s “Macabre Mondays” and “Grave Hunter”.
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