December 13, 2023 • 39 mins
One of the oldest lighthoused in Florida is also the most haunted. For over 170 years the lighthouse has acted as a beacon, seen as far as 27 miles away. But inside are stories of ghosts, scandal, and a bloodstain that just won't go away.
Special Guest: Adam Berry
Keep up on Amy’s projects and appearances at amybruni.com. And visit strangeescapes.travel to book your haunted vacation today.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Minky listener, discretion is advised. Of
all the places I investigate, believe it or not, lighthouses
may be one of the saddest I think of the
(00:21):
lighthouse keepers. They're very living to provide a guiding light,
to keep people from danger. Their job was built in
routine and discipline, for to fail meant failing those at
sea who so desperately depended on them for safety. Is
it any wonder lighthouses are notoriously haunted that in death
(00:43):
those who once manned them still feel enough of a
sense of duty to return and diligently walk hundreds of steps,
forever manning a beacon in the darkness. And how sad
that something once so noble and important has long been
replaced with technology, superpowered lights and lenses. How do these
(01:03):
spirits feel now? What are they trying to tell us?
Is time and time again they don't leave their posts,
even after they have long passed away. Perhaps the Pensacola
Lighthouse can guide us to an understanding. I'm Amy Brune,
and this is Haunted Road. If you were to hike
(01:29):
along San Carlos Beach near the Pensacola Naval Air Station,
and you glanced up on a dark night, you might
see a brilliant beam of light in the sky. It
would pulse on for twenty seconds, then flicker off again,
only to light up once more after another twenty seconds.
The beam comes from the one thousand watt bulb mounted
(01:50):
in the Pensacola Lighthouse, a beacon that's amplified by the
historic over one hundred and seventy year old fresnel lens.
It's so you can spot it from twenty seven miles away.
Unlike many haunted places, the Pensacle Lighthouse is still in
operation today. It's not abandoned or in a state of disrepair.
(02:12):
It also doesn't have an on site keeper operating its
machinery anymore. Its processes are all automated. The roughly one
hundred and fifty foot tall tower looms over the two
story keepers quarters. The residence, now home to historic exhibits
for the public, is surrounded by balconies on each floor.
(02:32):
It has a cheerful red roof, while the lighthouse itself
is brown and white. The narrow base is a mere
thirty feet in diameter, but the higher it goes, the
narrower it becomes to a scant fifteen feet at the top.
If you were to ascend the one hundred seventy seven
steps up the winding spiral staircase, as I have done
(02:53):
in the past, and I do not necessarily recommend it,
you'd find an automated light system. It's completely surrounded by
swirled glass that redirects and amplifies the beam. As reported
by the National Park Services website. On the fresnel lens
outside sixteen gargoyles ring a catwalk around the lighthouse exterior.
(03:13):
These are spouts meant to redirect rainwater from the building,
but the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum claims they also
keep evil spirits at bay. Given the lighthouse as history,
it's no wonder the builders were worried about malicious energies.
The city of Pensacola, nestled right on the boundary between
(03:33):
Florida and Alabama, is named after the indigenous people of
the area. The town was founded in August fifteen fifty
nine and almost immediately destroyed like a bad omen. According
to the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum's history page, a
hurricane thrashed the community just weeks after it was founded,
beginning on September nineteenth. The death toll hit the hundreds,
(03:57):
and the devastation destroyed the supplies the sour virus needed
to ensure their town's success. After that settlement failed, nearly
a century and a half passed until Spanish colonists erected
Fort San Carlos State Astoria in the same place. Once again,
the community only had a short time to flourish before
disaster struck. Armed conflict broke out between the Spanish and
(04:20):
the French, and later the British entered the mix to Finally,
General Andrew Jackson, who later become president, seized the city
now known as Pensacola for the United States in eighteen eighteen.
When construction on the lighthouse began six years later, there
(04:42):
were more bizarre disasters. The Pensacola News Journal reported that
early in the building process, large numbers of highly venomous
water moccasins migrated from the Gulf coast to the construction site.
The snakes would lurk in piles of bricks, attacking any
worker unfortunate enough to cross their path. The servants were
(05:04):
even occasionally spotted on high scaffolding, and no one could
explain how the snakes had climbed so high. In spite
of these concerning harbingers, the lighthouse was completed and opened
its doors in December of eighteen twenty four. The first keeper,
Jeremiah Ingraham, moved into the on site accommodations. For two years,
(05:24):
he lived there alone. Every other hour he'd have to
climb to the top of the lighthouse to operate the
mechanism that kept it lit. Luckily, Jeremiah didn't remain in
solitude for long. He was married in eighteen twenty four,
and he and his wife, Mikhaela, had three children together.
She took over his keeper's work when he died, and
when she passed, her son in law inherited the job.
(05:47):
He also oversaw numerous renovations, including the significant improvements that
were made to the lens at the top of the tower.
He resigned around the time of the Civil War, and
operation of the lighthouse transferred to new keepers, many of
whom continued to improve the facilities and upgrade the technology.
They also rebuilt the lighthouse keeper's quarters in the midst
(06:10):
of these improvements. The next few decades were marked by
more strange natural disasters. The lighthouse was hit by lightning twice.
A faulty lightning rod allowed one of these jolts to
damage it during a thunderstorm, according to the lighthouse website.
A few years later, a tornado further wrecked the building,
and an earthquake shook the lighthouse so hard it made
(06:33):
the bottom floor's pendulum clock stop at nine oh seven pm.
All the while, occasional hurricanes raged in the Gulf of Mexico,
wearing down the facilities further. But these years were marked
by heartwarming good fortune too. On January twenty first, eighteen
eighty four, the lighthouse keeper's wife gave birth and the
(06:53):
on site residence. In the Pensacola News Journal, reporter Dot
Brown noted that this was the first dock documented instance
in which anyone was born within the keeper's quarters. About
twenty years later, it seems the first recorded death on
the property occurred. At that time. The keeper was a
man named George T. Clifford. His daughter, Ellen, who went
(07:14):
by Ella, apparently had a lot of affection for the property.
She was married in the lighthouse in nineteen o three,
and she returned to the quarters when she became seriously
ill in late January nineteen o five. It's not clear
what was making her sick, but many believes she suffered
from complications after giving birth five months earlier. The twenty
(07:35):
three year old passed on the evening of January twentieth,
and it's believed she breathed her last in the keeper's residence.
There don't seem to have been any other deaths on
the property, but the lighthouse's history is full of more
eerie occurrences, like the time a flock of wild ducks
passed through the lens room, damaging the equipment, and the
(07:56):
lighthouse was the site of grave injustices too. In nineteen
oh nine, the US federal government forced several families to
relocate off the land surrounding the lighthouse. The officials claimed
this was federal territory and the families there had no
right to stay, in spite of the fact that many
had dwelled and paid property taxes there for decades. The
(08:17):
displaced residents included a widow named Winnie Hart. Her husband, Charles,
was an escaped, formerly enslaved person. According to a nonprofit
called Impact one hundred Pensacola, he worked on construction for
the lighthouse and other structures on the surrounding naval base.
How ironic that his family was no longer welcome on
(08:37):
the land he'd helped develop. In the nineteen thirties, the
Hatton family moved onto the property after the patriarch accepted
a job as lighthouse keeper. Winnie Who of the Pensacola
News Journal reports that when they surveyed the keeper's quarters,
they noticed a strange red stain on the floor in
the second story southeast bedroom. According to Who, the mark
(08:58):
was about a foot long, just beside the fireplace. Additionally,
there were circular red dribbles throughout the room, some up
to a quarter in diameter. No one in the hat
and family knew how it got there, but they recognized
what the stain was blood. The keeper's young son, Emmett Hatton,
watched his mother spend who knows how much time scrubbing
(09:18):
the floor to remove the disturbing splotches, but her efforts
were fruitless. The rusty discoloration was permanent. Who reported that
at some point in the nineteen fifties, one of the
lighthouse's residents must have installed vinyl tiles to cover the
blood stains. From then, the spots went undiscovered until nineteen
ninety four, when renovators pulled up the tiles and revealed
(09:40):
the old marks, still visible and unnerving roughly forty years later.
This kicked off a period of research in which countless
people tried to determine how so much blood could have
spilled on the floor. Two theories emerged, both of which
are unsupported by the historic record. Some say the spots
are the last remaining evidence of a homicide that took
(10:02):
place in the pensacle A lighthouse. Specifically, rumour says that
the very first lighthouse keeper, Jeremiah Ingraham, was killed by
his wife, Mikayla. Depending on the story, she may have
attacked him in a murderous frenzy because the isolation at
the remote lighthouse had driven her mad, or perhaps Jeremiah
attacked her first and Mikayla killed him in self defense. Ultimately,
(10:25):
those rumors are almost certainly idle speculation. Mikayla and Jeremiah
both died before the current lighthouse keeper's quarters were even built.
Other murderous gossip suggests the victim was one of the
keeper's anonymous assistants, but these stories date to the nineteen nineties,
well after the alleged homicide would have happened. Some argue
(10:46):
these discolourations are from when Ella Clifford Miller, the lighthouse
keeper's daughter who died in the quarter's, gave birth. However,
the baby wasn't born in the lighthouse, but in a hospital,
so the mystery remains unsolved today. That said, when people
visit the blood stained bedroom, many report that even after
all these years, it still smells like blood. Besides that,
(11:10):
visitors to the lighthouse have reported that doors open and
close by themselves, lights flicker, and bursts of cold air
rush through the building even on warm days. Guests may
hear disembodied voices or footsteps or knocking on the windows.
It's said that numerous people have been groped while ascending
the stairs, and at least one visitor felt someone pull
(11:30):
her hair. You hear similar accounts about the keeper's quarters,
plus stories about figures appearing in windows and a lingering
scent of tobacco even when no one is smoking. Alan
Brown's Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast says when tour guides
are alone in the residence, they hear disembodied voices calling
their names. One of the lighthouse's tour coordinators, Rob Booth,
(11:53):
says there are six ghosts who haunt the Pensacol Lighthouse,
but only two have a verifiable history with the building.
These are Ella, the keeper's daughter, and another lighthouse keeper
named Samuel Lawrence. He's said to lurk in the stairwell
and at the top of the tower, grabbing visitors who
ascend the steps. Local lore suggests two enslaved people named
(12:14):
Thomas and Reynald also haunt the lighthouse grounds. Booth claims
they ran away, only to be recaptured and hanged near
the lighthouse, but there's no record of such an execution
in the area. Of course, that doesn't rule out the
possibility of an unrecorded lynching. If Thomas and Reynold's story
is true, one of them may be the figure who
has been spotted in the basement of the keeper's quarters.
(12:36):
The specter, who may be a child or an adult,
looks like an enslaved person and is sometimes seen hiding
behind the stairs. The last two spirits Booth identified were
both children, a girl named Lizzie and a boy named Joey.
They both supposedly died of yellow fever in nineteen twenty two,
but there's no documented yellow fever outbreak that year. There
(12:57):
was one in eighteen twenty two, but this redated the
construction of the lighthouse, so once more, it's challenging to
verify how much of this story is real. We may
never know the names of all these ghosts or how
they came to be at the Pensacola Lighthouse, but that
hasn't stopped the building from earning a reputation as one
of the most haunted lighthouses in the United States. In
(13:19):
his book Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast, Alan Brown described
a woman who's been seen walking along the catwalk at
the top. When the beacon turns its brilliant light on her,
it shines straight through as though she's transparent. Guests have
also seen a child and a kind elderly woman roaming
through the tower, and some visitors say they've spotted the
(13:40):
original lighthouse keeper and his wife, Jeremiah and Mikayla Ingraham,
And concerningly, some spectral encounters have a threatening edge to them. Earlier,
I mentioned a renovation that happened in the early nineteen nineties,
which resulted in the bloodstains on the bedroom floor being uncovered.
During that same project, a pair of workers found a
(14:00):
coil of rope encircling some water pipes. As Alan Brown
wrote in Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast, the workers tried
to remove the rope, but hadn't finished. When their shift ended.
They left a job partially done, presumably intending to resume
the next day. Instead, they returned in the morning to
find the rope wasn't on the pipes anymore. It had
(14:21):
been suspended from a light fixture in the shape of
a noose. Now as to whether this was intended as
a warning, a threat, or a spectral prank is hard
to say, but we can learn more about the spirits
of the Pensacola Lighthouse by talking to people who have
investigated it. I'm one of those folks, and so is
my next guest, mister Adam Berry. All right, so I
(14:46):
am now joined by almost a series regular here on
Haunted Road, mister Adam Berry. Welcome to the program, mister Berry.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Right, and you're the best to interview, so Amy, tell
me about your experiences at Lightouse.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's so funny because when I was looking for someone
to interview about the Pensacola Lighthouse. I actually had a
lot of trouble because it's on a military base, and
so it's not really a place that people get to
investigate very often. Like it was actually a really big
deal that we got to investigate there, and so like
(15:21):
I found one person who had investigated, but it had
been like, you know, fifteen years ago, and I was like, wow,
I know Adam and I investigated it together fairly recently
in twenty twenty two, and I had investigated it even
before that in two thousand and nine with ghost Hunters.
So it turns out I'm the person who I know
who's investigated it more than anyone. Actually, what's really fun.
(15:45):
So I remember when we went back in twenty twenty two,
I thought this was all going to happen again. But
the first time we went there to investigate with ghost Hunters,
it was a way more secure of a location when
we investigated it in two thousand and nine with Ghosts.
I don't know what happened to the base since then,
but I remember like telling everybody when we went back,
(16:05):
when we go back now, I just want you to
know they're going to go through everything. They're very like
security is tight, because in two thousand and nine they
literally went through all of our gear that we had
to open all of our cases. They took dogs that
went through all, like all the cars, they had mirrors
where they looked under the vehicles. And when we went
back in twenty twenty two, none of that happened. Like,
(16:26):
I don't even think they checked our ID when we
went in.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, I do remember like driving into it and being like, oh,
we're on a military base. But then it was much
It was definitely not as secure as I would have
thought it was going to be. But I and I
don't know if there's I think there's a reason. It's
got to be a reason.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I think maybe it's just more open now or something.
It's more open to the public. But yeah, it was
just way more secure when we first went there. But regardless,
it's a really cool place. You and I have investigated
many lighthouses together. The one thing about this lighthouse that
I talked about in the history a little bit is
that there's really not a lot of verifiable history. There's
(17:09):
a lot of like lore.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
We're like when we went to Saint Augustine, you know,
there were in fact, children who died there and there's
a record of that, and like here they see the
ghosts of children, but there's zero record of that happening.
So but that doesn't mean people aren't experiencing it, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, I mean it looks like what's crazy to me
is it looks a lot like Saint Augustine Lighthouse. You know,
it's almost like a sister or a cousin, And so
when you pull up to it, you're like, oh, this
is going to be really creepy, Like there's got to
be something to it. And of course, you know, lighthouses
in general have really great history, a lot have spooky history,
(17:50):
but it was the only thing I could compare it
to when driving up and seeing it for the first time. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I don't know about you, but because we have done
so many lighthouses, sometimes they kind of like meld into
my memory and I'm like, was that at this lighthouse
or was that at light this lighthouse? But I do
remember distinctly some of the things I experienced at Pensacola
in particular, were definitely footsteps that lighthouse keeper had to
(18:17):
go up and down those stairs every two hours, twenty
four hours a day, right, so the original keeper there,
and so I feel like he is still very much there,
like I just yeah, or at least that that presence,
Like I can't imagine he just never got a full
night's sleep, like I could not, Like he just had
to get up every two hours and walk all the
(18:37):
way up those stairs, yeah, and check on that light
and come all the way back down.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah. It makes sense with buckets of oil, like buckets
of heavy oil. And here's what's here's the craziest thing.
And those of you who have never investigated a lighthous before,
wear really good sturdy shoes, especially if it's like wet
outside and like humid inside the lighthouse. Because this lighthouse, y'all,
(19:05):
I've never, like I've climbed to the top of a
lot of things. But when I tried to climb to
the top of this lighthouse with Dave or with you specifically,
and with Dave, I was wearing converse and these metal
stairs go all the way up and there's like a handle,
but like it was slippery. So the higher that I got,
(19:26):
the more nervous I got, and on my foot kept slipping,
and I was like, this is an absolute no for me,
Like I I had to. I sat down. It was like, Nope,
not going any further. I'm just not going to go.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
I felt like a terrible friend because you were so mortified,
Like you were legitimately just probably the most terrified I've
ever seen you.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, it's heights.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
You were so afraid of flying, flying, you were so
afraid of falling down those stairs, and like it was slippery,
like it was just the condensation and everything, like it
was dangerously slippery. And it's so it's one hundred and
seventy seven steps if I remember correct, yes, So like
it was like if you fall, it's certain death or
at least, and.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because the stairs are metal,
so you might like you'll start to roll, but like
it is going to hurt. And I had just I
think it was my birthday too, and I was like
I want to live to another year. Okay, So I
was like I am all set with going any higher
in this lighthouse. But I do remember like once we
(20:34):
got settled right, and once I like wrapped my arm
around the railing so that I would not fall. I
remember like Dave and I were investigating and we hurt. Oh, Cheato.
See now see Cheetoh's going to talk about it. He's
barking in the background.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Dave and I were investigating once we got settled, and
we heard a very strange sound coming from the bottom
of the lighthouse and I couldn't it was like a
voice or something. It sounded mechanical, you know sometimes dissembodied
voices have that weird like have that weird like mechanical sound. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
(21:17):
it's like a weird thing. And that's what it sounded like.
And we were both like that, it's very weird. And
you know, it took a soft guard, but it did
sound like a man, like it could have been a man,
maybe the light keeper.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I actually remember that happening. I don't know if they
showed it on the show, but I know you guys,
you guys radioed over like what is happening? Is someone outside?
And like, I want to check there was no one
out there. The door was closed.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And Tango's very hard on experiences too, Like he's one
of those people where like he's you know, he's very
very hard on evidence. And he was completely like, I
don't know what's going on here, and that's always weird
because when you're in the lighthouse, it's just you and
the like your camera operator whoever, you know, there's three
of you, like, and it's very clear to tell like
(22:02):
a sound is coming from somewhere else because the way
like it's like literally one big hollow tube and so,
which it can play tricks on you, but not in
that sense at all. And so and then there's also
like the keepers quarters are supposedly haunted, and so I
know that, like Britt and I Brit Griffith who used
to be on GH. So the first time I investigated there,
(22:25):
that was when Steve and Dave were doing Ghost Hunters Academy.
I think it was the first season, and so it
was me and Britt investigating, and I know we had
separated in the keeper's quarters and we were like really
far away from each other, basically trying to see if
we could see shadows between us because that's one of
the most kind of famous things that happened there. And
(22:47):
I know we heard a lot of unexplained noises in
that area. I just feel like it's just not investigated
that often, Like it's one of those spots that whatever
spirits are there, they're not having investigators coming in talking
to them very often, which makes me wonder like if
that affects the activity at all.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
You know, I think so, because if you think about
a lightkeeper, like any lightkeeper, and you know, the ghost
associated with keeping a light, like they have a job
to do. It's almost like we I find that sometimes
you interact with spirits there that are still doing that job,
and so you come in and start asking them questions
and they can get really annoyed. They're like, look, I'm busy,
(23:28):
I got to make sure the light is lit. I
got to you know, keep doing this job that I
am supposed to do. It's like it's like a watchman,
like their watch is never over.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
In a way, it's not. And I actually feel like
that's why so many lighthouses are that haunted. I feel
like there was this very diligent sense of duty, and
the routine portion of it is so in like it's
so like ingrained in that location. Like there's probably not
many jobs that just required complete and total routine like that.
(24:01):
You know, you have to do things at a certain time.
There's certain signals that you have to give at the
exact right moments. If the weather starts to turn a
certain way, you have to change, like you know the
pattern of the light, and like it just and now
it's like it's so routine that it was actually fairly
easy for humans to automate that eventually, which really kind
(24:23):
of got rid of the whole idea of a lighthouse keeper,
which is really depressing and sad to me because I
think it was probably one of its just kind of
one of the most I don't want to say, just
kind of an whol old school job, like you're the
keeper of the light. You're keeping this going, and you're
just like ensuring that chips don't crash, Like is there
anything more important than that? And now we've just given
(24:46):
that to machines.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I know, don't mess up, Like, don't mess up machines.
We I was going to say that, I mean, like
it also makes it easier for us to sort of
I guess trigger activity, if that makes sense, Like you know,
when we did the lighthouse in Newport, right, like we
were able to play cannon fire because the canon at
(25:11):
the fort would trigger you know, when the person would
go up and light the light for the night. Right.
So I think there's things, there's routines. I think there's
a set of rules and those are easily explored by
investigators to you know, to trigger activity. I think that that's.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
A plus, now do you remember? And I think so too, like,
because all you have to do is kind of threaten
that routine and that can sometimes make things happen. Not
that I like to provoke, but like, there's that's one
instance where maybe a little bit of like, oh, we
might be getting off kilter here, right, instigate some activity.
(25:50):
But I don't know if you remember this, but one
of the stories there, and it's really hard. I'm surprised
no one has come in and tried to really debunk them.
But I saw it, and I don't remember if you
saw it. But so supposedly there's a large blood stain
in the keeper's quarters that cannot be cleaned. Yes, and
(26:11):
so it was, it was, it was covered up until
the mid nineties and then they were like, Rea, there
was linoleum over it, and so then they tore up
linoleum and they found the hardwood floors beneath and the
stain is still there and they have not been able
to determine, like they're just like, yep, it's blood, and
so part of me is just like, why can't we
(26:32):
test it? I really want to know, Like all you
need is like a cadaver dog or like some I mean,
I just I don't know why, like they hang under
that story and don't try to prove whether it's real
or not.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
We had black lights. I think you and I walked
around with some black lights to like see if we
could see the stain at one.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Point, Yeah, and well you can see it. Yeah, it's
it's there. I just don't know how it's so easy
to look at it and just say, yep, it's blood,
you know, kind of a really big state and there's
some spattered.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah. I think we did ask for like a testing kit,
but they and I and I'm you know when usually
so when we join other like Kindred Spirits, like joining
another show, we come up with these wild and crazy
ideas and we're usually just like, hey, can you get
us like a blood testing kit please? And so I
think they tried, but the kit just didn't work. It
(27:26):
wasn't like the right correct kit. Yeah, but I remember
they did go get something and they really tried to
see if we could get some like a kit to
test that that would.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I know, I remember they brought me in for like
the historical scene and that, you know, and that's one
of those things like you know, me, I do on
my own research. And so I walked in and they
I was like, well, all this happened, and they're like,
but we're focusing on this, and I was like, but
this happened. Yeah, But I was like, I was like,
don't you know, like on Kindred, I like find something
really crazy no one knew about, and then it changes
(28:01):
the direction of the entire case and they're like.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
No, like no, we're good. I'm like, Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
That's why it's always fun to walk in to other
cases because the pressure.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Is not there exactly exactly. We just do it. We
do our own thing and you know, finda find some
really good stuff. And I think the coolest thing about
investigating lighthouses, or at least the ones that we've investigated,
especially the Pensacola Lighthouse, is the access that we get
when we're there, Like, you know, it's these people, this
is a historic monument. It stood for you know, over
(28:35):
one hundred years, and they trust us to go into
these spaces and to explore in the dark, to try
to connect with the spirits and I think we're very
lucky that we get to do that kind of thing
because mostly, you know, it's tours. You see it during
the day, there's ropes everywhere. But when we get to
do these kind of things, those ropes come down, and
(28:55):
so you we immerse ourselves in this environment and we
get to go back back in time for a brief
moment and really explore what it might be like to
you know, live there during like a big hurricane or
when it was really active. And I think that's the
best part.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I try to I try to tell groups this
a lot. So like with Pentacola Lighthouse, like it's on
a base, and like we've done other places that are
you know, connected to like military or law enforcement or
like you need certain security clearances to do and they're
not going to trust any team with that. And that's
why I think it's really important, like when you're investigating
(29:30):
the paranormal, to kind of maintain that level of integrity
where places like that will feel good about bringing you
in because they know that you're going to do justice
to the history and they know you're going to do
justice to the activity and to their ghosts, and that's important.
I think that's why we get called into so many
you know, like we get called into libraries, ge get
(29:51):
called into schools, we get called obviously into military bases.
And I don't think that happens for a lot of
other paranormal shows, but I think paranormal teams in particular,
you can formulate that kind of reputation as a team
and get called into those places. You don't need a
TV show to do it. So that's one of the
(30:11):
many reasons why we tried to kind of be on
the level at all times.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Absolutely absolutely, and I think, you know, our reputation precedes us.
Thank god. Yeah. God.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Well, so they've okay, so I know they've seen an
apparition of a woman there, which they say is that
girl who died. She didn't actually I don't believe she
died on the property, or she might have died on
the property, but she had a very strong connection to it,
like she specifically came back to die there. Basically, she
gave birth to her baby and then never they say,
(30:45):
never quite recovered from that, and then five months later
died on the property. And so she's one of the
only like kind of deaths there. There was a keeper
who died while they were still serving as a lighthouse keeper.
So now there's this I weren't going by. You know,
we're waving way back away from the road. It's very
(31:06):
loud here today. I wanted to do this in person,
but A we never had a chance, and.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
B, yeah, it was busy this weekend.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I did not have a second microphone to do it.
So okay, so let me get back to that kind
of shot there. I forgot where I was showing with it.
So they have seen this apparition of a woman that
might have been connected to that death. But like, I
did not see anything like that. I didn't really see
(31:38):
anything visual. Definitely heard sounds like you had that crazy
sound in the lighthouse. I absolutely heard footsteps, and so
there were definitely things going on, but I didn't get
the vibe that it was something like either a aggressive
or b like really trying to get anyone's attention. Like
it just seemed very much like it just sort of existed.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think it was almost
like again they were going about their business. They were
sort of you know, keeping the light, watching what we
were doing closely to be like, who are these people
and why are they in the space, but it was
almost like they were just going they were doing their thing,
(32:23):
and we were sort of there witnessing them continuing the
tradition of the lighthouse, and it didn't feel like it
didn't feel really aggressive or scary by any means.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Now, one of the weird things that I don't think
we talked about much when we went there with gh
is that during the building of the lighthouse and just
like kind of over the years, it kept being affected
by like weird natural disasters, like it was struck by
lightning at one point. But the weirdest one, which I
wanted to tell you because I wanted to see how
you feel about it, is that while they were building it,
(32:55):
there was this like freak occurrence where all of these
snakes like these I think they were even poisonous snakes
like traveled across the water and all came and started
nesting in the construction site and so like thousands of them,
so as they were trying to like build, they would
like fall down on the workers.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And no, no, that is Satan, that is a demonic
entity that is get out of my back. Nobody needs snakes.
Snakes and investigation. That's like w' that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
I know, I was just envisioning it, like these poor
people like trying to build and go about their day
and it's like infested with snakes. And it was just
like some weird fluke enough that like the newspaper reported
on it that all of these snakes had just come
up out of the water and made their home in
the construction zone where all of these men were working.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
See, I don't know, I don't know, that's so weird.
I mean, obviously it's probably just a coincidence and not paranormal,
But like back then, I feel like or at any point,
you could take that as a sign as an omen
to be like do not like stop doing what you're doing,
you know what I'm saying, Like it could just throw
people off pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Well, that was it. That was one of the many
things like that where people were like is this place cursed?
Like these kinds of things keep happening here, Like what's
going on? So I just ooh, it just gave me. Oh,
it just kind of made me feel like, you know,
I got the like gum.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Would you rather have? Like would you rather have like that?
Or like a bunch of mice and rats? Oh?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Probably the snakes, because mice and rats can give you diseases.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Well, snakes can bite you.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Yeah, but only when provoked, that's true.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Just leave them alone. Rats just come out of nowhere
and take you away.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I can like smell one mouse. I can't even imagine
like an infestation like.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Now, especially when they die in the wall and you
can't find them. You're like, well there.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Was that, and thank god. But I smelling moss from
a mile away. It's my little my weird nose super grows.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I know.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
That's that's my other parent. That's actually I actually sniff
out ghosts. I don't know if you knew this. That's
why I have so many experiences. I can smell ghosts too.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, your fallback, your fallback in your in your life
should be like wrote it, like you know, you go
in and like track, yep, you got mice.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
You got that's my plan B or ghost sniffer. I'm
going to write a book called ghost Sniffer Ghosts.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, you should make Oh that's what you. Fragrance is
next fragrance, Just two fragrances.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Okay, and this is usually what that's our cue that
we're done speaking. We have we have done this ran it.
But before we go, what do you want? What do
you want to talk? I know your book is out
and like a release now going strong? What else? What
else is going on in the world of Adam Barry
that the world needs?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Oh my god, Well, the book is out, you can
buy it wherever books are sold. And what else is happening? Well,
I don't know when is this air?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
This will be probably in December, actually December.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Okay, Well, we're you know, doing I have a book
signing with Steve Gonzolvez in December, and I Ben and
I are doing a virtual cocktail party in December that
people can join. You know, it's very like staying at
home making bread and suits and getting off fat and sassy.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I love doing these a few weeks in advance because
it's like we're seeing into the future. So let's envision
what we'll be doing in December. I envision I will
be looking at my beautiful Christmas tree and eating a
lot of cookies and snuggling up and hopefully it will
be snowing, because it's only okay, if it snows before Christmas,
after is terrible. All right, So well, thank you, mister Barry.
(36:55):
I really appreciate you taking the time, and I're welcome.
I'm sure I will see you very soon. But good
luck with everything. And yeah, I guess that's it. I
guess we need to get back. Let's go to the
pensacle A lighthouse right now, because I guarantee it's warmer there.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, let's go now, Okay.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
All right bye. Throughout history, lighthouses have served two purposes.
They keep ships safe and warn them of danger. Pensacola
and its lighthouse have long histories full of tragedy and
ominous portents. Between the hurricane and the venomous snakes and
(37:32):
the lightning strikes, the structure seems almost synonymous with disaster.
If there's any lesson to take from this haunted tower
and the quarters attached, perhaps it's that we should all
take care. Like a ship navigating through dark water, you
can never know for sure what risk lies ahead. I'm
Amy Brunei and this was haunted road. Are you tired
(37:58):
of the same old, vague Haitian destinations and cookie cutter experiences?
Do you crave a sense of mystery, wonder and adventure
that can't be found in ordinary travel brochures? Do you
listen to this podcast and think I'd like to visit
that spooky place. Well, that's why I started Strange Escapes,
a paranormal based travel company that takes you to some
(38:21):
of the most haunted locations in the world. Frankly, it's
my excuse to combine all of my favorite things, which
is ghosts, beautiful hotels, food and wine, and other weirdos
like me. To be honest, If that sounds right up
your alley and you want to learn more, then visit
Strange Escapes dot travel and hopefully you can join us sometime.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Also.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
To keep up on all of my upcoming projects and appearances,
head to amybrune dot com. I have some really great
things in the works and I don't want you to
miss it. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Haunted Roadies. Hauntad is hosted and written by me Amy Bruney,
with additional research by Cassandra de Alba. This show is
edited and produced by Rima Alkali, with supervising producer Josh
Thain and executive producers Aaron Menke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
(39:17):
Haunted road is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Menkey. Learn more about this show over
at Grimandmild dot com and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Minky listener, discretion is advised. Of
all the places I investigate, believe it or not, lighthouses
may be one of the saddest I think of the
(00:21):
lighthouse keepers. They're very living to provide a guiding light,
to keep people from danger. Their job was built in
routine and discipline, for to fail meant failing those at
sea who so desperately depended on them for safety. Is
it any wonder lighthouses are notoriously haunted that in death
(00:43):
those who once manned them still feel enough of a
sense of duty to return and diligently walk hundreds of steps,
forever manning a beacon in the darkness. And how sad
that something once so noble and important has long been
replaced with technology, superpowered lights and lenses. How do these
(01:03):
spirits feel now? What are they trying to tell us?
Is time and time again they don't leave their posts,
even after they have long passed away. Perhaps the Pensacola
Lighthouse can guide us to an understanding. I'm Amy Brune,
and this is Haunted Road. If you were to hike
(01:29):
along San Carlos Beach near the Pensacola Naval Air Station,
and you glanced up on a dark night, you might
see a brilliant beam of light in the sky. It
would pulse on for twenty seconds, then flicker off again,
only to light up once more after another twenty seconds.
The beam comes from the one thousand watt bulb mounted
(01:50):
in the Pensacola Lighthouse, a beacon that's amplified by the
historic over one hundred and seventy year old fresnel lens.
It's so you can spot it from twenty seven miles away.
Unlike many haunted places, the Pensacle Lighthouse is still in
operation today. It's not abandoned or in a state of disrepair.
(02:12):
It also doesn't have an on site keeper operating its
machinery anymore. Its processes are all automated. The roughly one
hundred and fifty foot tall tower looms over the two
story keepers quarters. The residence, now home to historic exhibits
for the public, is surrounded by balconies on each floor.
(02:32):
It has a cheerful red roof, while the lighthouse itself
is brown and white. The narrow base is a mere
thirty feet in diameter, but the higher it goes, the
narrower it becomes to a scant fifteen feet at the top.
If you were to ascend the one hundred seventy seven
steps up the winding spiral staircase, as I have done
(02:53):
in the past, and I do not necessarily recommend it,
you'd find an automated light system. It's completely surrounded by
swirled glass that redirects and amplifies the beam. As reported
by the National Park Services website. On the fresnel lens
outside sixteen gargoyles ring a catwalk around the lighthouse exterior.
(03:13):
These are spouts meant to redirect rainwater from the building,
but the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum claims they also
keep evil spirits at bay. Given the lighthouse as history,
it's no wonder the builders were worried about malicious energies.
The city of Pensacola, nestled right on the boundary between
(03:33):
Florida and Alabama, is named after the indigenous people of
the area. The town was founded in August fifteen fifty
nine and almost immediately destroyed like a bad omen. According
to the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum's history page, a
hurricane thrashed the community just weeks after it was founded,
beginning on September nineteenth. The death toll hit the hundreds,
(03:57):
and the devastation destroyed the supplies the sour virus needed
to ensure their town's success. After that settlement failed, nearly
a century and a half passed until Spanish colonists erected
Fort San Carlos State Astoria in the same place. Once again,
the community only had a short time to flourish before
disaster struck. Armed conflict broke out between the Spanish and
(04:20):
the French, and later the British entered the mix to Finally,
General Andrew Jackson, who later become president, seized the city
now known as Pensacola for the United States in eighteen eighteen.
When construction on the lighthouse began six years later, there
(04:42):
were more bizarre disasters. The Pensacola News Journal reported that
early in the building process, large numbers of highly venomous
water moccasins migrated from the Gulf coast to the construction site.
The snakes would lurk in piles of bricks, attacking any
worker unfortunate enough to cross their path. The servants were
(05:04):
even occasionally spotted on high scaffolding, and no one could
explain how the snakes had climbed so high. In spite
of these concerning harbingers, the lighthouse was completed and opened
its doors in December of eighteen twenty four. The first keeper,
Jeremiah Ingraham, moved into the on site accommodations. For two years,
(05:24):
he lived there alone. Every other hour he'd have to
climb to the top of the lighthouse to operate the
mechanism that kept it lit. Luckily, Jeremiah didn't remain in
solitude for long. He was married in eighteen twenty four,
and he and his wife, Mikhaela, had three children together.
She took over his keeper's work when he died, and
when she passed, her son in law inherited the job.
(05:47):
He also oversaw numerous renovations, including the significant improvements that
were made to the lens at the top of the tower.
He resigned around the time of the Civil War, and
operation of the lighthouse transferred to new keepers, many of
whom continued to improve the facilities and upgrade the technology.
They also rebuilt the lighthouse keeper's quarters in the midst
(06:10):
of these improvements. The next few decades were marked by
more strange natural disasters. The lighthouse was hit by lightning twice.
A faulty lightning rod allowed one of these jolts to
damage it during a thunderstorm, according to the lighthouse website.
A few years later, a tornado further wrecked the building,
and an earthquake shook the lighthouse so hard it made
(06:33):
the bottom floor's pendulum clock stop at nine oh seven pm.
All the while, occasional hurricanes raged in the Gulf of Mexico,
wearing down the facilities further. But these years were marked
by heartwarming good fortune too. On January twenty first, eighteen
eighty four, the lighthouse keeper's wife gave birth and the
(06:53):
on site residence. In the Pensacola News Journal, reporter Dot
Brown noted that this was the first dock documented instance
in which anyone was born within the keeper's quarters. About
twenty years later, it seems the first recorded death on
the property occurred. At that time. The keeper was a
man named George T. Clifford. His daughter, Ellen, who went
(07:14):
by Ella, apparently had a lot of affection for the property.
She was married in the lighthouse in nineteen o three,
and she returned to the quarters when she became seriously
ill in late January nineteen o five. It's not clear
what was making her sick, but many believes she suffered
from complications after giving birth five months earlier. The twenty
(07:35):
three year old passed on the evening of January twentieth,
and it's believed she breathed her last in the keeper's residence.
There don't seem to have been any other deaths on
the property, but the lighthouse's history is full of more
eerie occurrences, like the time a flock of wild ducks
passed through the lens room, damaging the equipment, and the
(07:56):
lighthouse was the site of grave injustices too. In nineteen
oh nine, the US federal government forced several families to
relocate off the land surrounding the lighthouse. The officials claimed
this was federal territory and the families there had no
right to stay, in spite of the fact that many
had dwelled and paid property taxes there for decades. The
(08:17):
displaced residents included a widow named Winnie Hart. Her husband, Charles,
was an escaped, formerly enslaved person. According to a nonprofit
called Impact one hundred Pensacola, he worked on construction for
the lighthouse and other structures on the surrounding naval base.
How ironic that his family was no longer welcome on
(08:37):
the land he'd helped develop. In the nineteen thirties, the
Hatton family moved onto the property after the patriarch accepted
a job as lighthouse keeper. Winnie Who of the Pensacola
News Journal reports that when they surveyed the keeper's quarters,
they noticed a strange red stain on the floor in
the second story southeast bedroom. According to Who, the mark
(08:58):
was about a foot long, just beside the fireplace. Additionally,
there were circular red dribbles throughout the room, some up
to a quarter in diameter. No one in the hat
and family knew how it got there, but they recognized
what the stain was blood. The keeper's young son, Emmett Hatton,
watched his mother spend who knows how much time scrubbing
(09:18):
the floor to remove the disturbing splotches, but her efforts
were fruitless. The rusty discoloration was permanent. Who reported that
at some point in the nineteen fifties, one of the
lighthouse's residents must have installed vinyl tiles to cover the
blood stains. From then, the spots went undiscovered until nineteen
ninety four, when renovators pulled up the tiles and revealed
(09:40):
the old marks, still visible and unnerving roughly forty years later.
This kicked off a period of research in which countless
people tried to determine how so much blood could have
spilled on the floor. Two theories emerged, both of which
are unsupported by the historic record. Some say the spots
are the last remaining evidence of a homicide that took
(10:02):
place in the pensacle A lighthouse. Specifically, rumour says that
the very first lighthouse keeper, Jeremiah Ingraham, was killed by
his wife, Mikayla. Depending on the story, she may have
attacked him in a murderous frenzy because the isolation at
the remote lighthouse had driven her mad, or perhaps Jeremiah
attacked her first and Mikayla killed him in self defense. Ultimately,
(10:25):
those rumors are almost certainly idle speculation. Mikayla and Jeremiah
both died before the current lighthouse keeper's quarters were even built.
Other murderous gossip suggests the victim was one of the
keeper's anonymous assistants, but these stories date to the nineteen nineties,
well after the alleged homicide would have happened. Some argue
(10:46):
these discolourations are from when Ella Clifford Miller, the lighthouse
keeper's daughter who died in the quarter's, gave birth. However,
the baby wasn't born in the lighthouse, but in a hospital,
so the mystery remains unsolved today. That said, when people
visit the blood stained bedroom, many report that even after
all these years, it still smells like blood. Besides that,
(11:10):
visitors to the lighthouse have reported that doors open and
close by themselves, lights flicker, and bursts of cold air
rush through the building even on warm days. Guests may
hear disembodied voices or footsteps or knocking on the windows.
It's said that numerous people have been groped while ascending
the stairs, and at least one visitor felt someone pull
(11:30):
her hair. You hear similar accounts about the keeper's quarters,
plus stories about figures appearing in windows and a lingering
scent of tobacco even when no one is smoking. Alan
Brown's Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast says when tour guides
are alone in the residence, they hear disembodied voices calling
their names. One of the lighthouse's tour coordinators, Rob Booth,
(11:53):
says there are six ghosts who haunt the Pensacol Lighthouse,
but only two have a verifiable history with the building.
These are Ella, the keeper's daughter, and another lighthouse keeper
named Samuel Lawrence. He's said to lurk in the stairwell
and at the top of the tower, grabbing visitors who
ascend the steps. Local lore suggests two enslaved people named
(12:14):
Thomas and Reynald also haunt the lighthouse grounds. Booth claims
they ran away, only to be recaptured and hanged near
the lighthouse, but there's no record of such an execution
in the area. Of course, that doesn't rule out the
possibility of an unrecorded lynching. If Thomas and Reynold's story
is true, one of them may be the figure who
has been spotted in the basement of the keeper's quarters.
(12:36):
The specter, who may be a child or an adult,
looks like an enslaved person and is sometimes seen hiding
behind the stairs. The last two spirits Booth identified were
both children, a girl named Lizzie and a boy named Joey.
They both supposedly died of yellow fever in nineteen twenty two,
but there's no documented yellow fever outbreak that year. There
(12:57):
was one in eighteen twenty two, but this redated the
construction of the lighthouse, so once more, it's challenging to
verify how much of this story is real. We may
never know the names of all these ghosts or how
they came to be at the Pensacola Lighthouse, but that
hasn't stopped the building from earning a reputation as one
of the most haunted lighthouses in the United States. In
(13:19):
his book Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast, Alan Brown described
a woman who's been seen walking along the catwalk at
the top. When the beacon turns its brilliant light on her,
it shines straight through as though she's transparent. Guests have
also seen a child and a kind elderly woman roaming
through the tower, and some visitors say they've spotted the
(13:40):
original lighthouse keeper and his wife, Jeremiah and Mikayla Ingraham,
And concerningly, some spectral encounters have a threatening edge to them. Earlier,
I mentioned a renovation that happened in the early nineteen nineties,
which resulted in the bloodstains on the bedroom floor being uncovered.
During that same project, a pair of workers found a
(14:00):
coil of rope encircling some water pipes. As Alan Brown
wrote in Ghosts of Florida's Gulf Coast, the workers tried
to remove the rope, but hadn't finished. When their shift ended.
They left a job partially done, presumably intending to resume
the next day. Instead, they returned in the morning to
find the rope wasn't on the pipes anymore. It had
(14:21):
been suspended from a light fixture in the shape of
a noose. Now as to whether this was intended as
a warning, a threat, or a spectral prank is hard
to say, but we can learn more about the spirits
of the Pensacola Lighthouse by talking to people who have
investigated it. I'm one of those folks, and so is
my next guest, mister Adam Berry. All right, so I
(14:46):
am now joined by almost a series regular here on
Haunted Road, mister Adam Berry. Welcome to the program, mister Berry.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Right, and you're the best to interview, so Amy, tell
me about your experiences at Lightouse.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's so funny because when I was looking for someone
to interview about the Pensacola Lighthouse. I actually had a
lot of trouble because it's on a military base, and
so it's not really a place that people get to
investigate very often. Like it was actually a really big
deal that we got to investigate there, and so like
(15:21):
I found one person who had investigated, but it had
been like, you know, fifteen years ago, and I was like, wow,
I know Adam and I investigated it together fairly recently
in twenty twenty two, and I had investigated it even
before that in two thousand and nine with ghost Hunters.
So it turns out I'm the person who I know
who's investigated it more than anyone. Actually, what's really fun.
(15:45):
So I remember when we went back in twenty twenty two,
I thought this was all going to happen again. But
the first time we went there to investigate with ghost Hunters,
it was a way more secure of a location when
we investigated it in two thousand and nine with Ghosts.
I don't know what happened to the base since then,
but I remember like telling everybody when we went back,
(16:05):
when we go back now, I just want you to
know they're going to go through everything. They're very like
security is tight, because in two thousand and nine they
literally went through all of our gear that we had
to open all of our cases. They took dogs that
went through all, like all the cars, they had mirrors
where they looked under the vehicles. And when we went
back in twenty twenty two, none of that happened. Like,
(16:26):
I don't even think they checked our ID when we
went in.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yeah, I do remember like driving into it and being like, oh,
we're on a military base. But then it was much
It was definitely not as secure as I would have
thought it was going to be. But I and I
don't know if there's I think there's a reason. It's
got to be a reason.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I think maybe it's just more open now or something.
It's more open to the public. But yeah, it was
just way more secure when we first went there. But regardless,
it's a really cool place. You and I have investigated
many lighthouses together. The one thing about this lighthouse that
I talked about in the history a little bit is
that there's really not a lot of verifiable history. There's
(17:09):
a lot of like lore.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
We're like when we went to Saint Augustine, you know,
there were in fact, children who died there and there's
a record of that, and like here they see the
ghosts of children, but there's zero record of that happening.
So but that doesn't mean people aren't experiencing it, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, I mean it looks like what's crazy to me
is it looks a lot like Saint Augustine Lighthouse. You know,
it's almost like a sister or a cousin, And so
when you pull up to it, you're like, oh, this
is going to be really creepy, Like there's got to
be something to it. And of course, you know, lighthouses
in general have really great history, a lot have spooky history,
(17:50):
but it was the only thing I could compare it
to when driving up and seeing it for the first time. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I don't know about you, but because we have done
so many lighthouses, sometimes they kind of like meld into
my memory and I'm like, was that at this lighthouse
or was that at light this lighthouse? But I do
remember distinctly some of the things I experienced at Pensacola
in particular, were definitely footsteps that lighthouse keeper had to
(18:17):
go up and down those stairs every two hours, twenty
four hours a day, right, so the original keeper there,
and so I feel like he is still very much there,
like I just yeah, or at least that that presence,
Like I can't imagine he just never got a full
night's sleep, like I could not, Like he just had
to get up every two hours and walk all the
(18:37):
way up those stairs, yeah, and check on that light
and come all the way back down.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah. It makes sense with buckets of oil, like buckets
of heavy oil. And here's what's here's the craziest thing.
And those of you who have never investigated a lighthous before,
wear really good sturdy shoes, especially if it's like wet
outside and like humid inside the lighthouse. Because this lighthouse, y'all,
(19:05):
I've never, like I've climbed to the top of a
lot of things. But when I tried to climb to
the top of this lighthouse with Dave or with you specifically,
and with Dave, I was wearing converse and these metal
stairs go all the way up and there's like a handle,
but like it was slippery. So the higher that I got,
(19:26):
the more nervous I got, and on my foot kept slipping,
and I was like, this is an absolute no for me,
Like I I had to. I sat down. It was like, Nope,
not going any further. I'm just not going to go.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
I felt like a terrible friend because you were so mortified,
Like you were legitimately just probably the most terrified I've
ever seen you.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, it's heights.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
You were so afraid of flying, flying, you were so
afraid of falling down those stairs, and like it was slippery,
like it was just the condensation and everything, like it
was dangerously slippery. And it's so it's one hundred and
seventy seven steps if I remember correct, yes, So like
it was like if you fall, it's certain death or
at least, and.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because the stairs are metal,
so you might like you'll start to roll, but like
it is going to hurt. And I had just I
think it was my birthday too, and I was like
I want to live to another year. Okay, So I
was like I am all set with going any higher
in this lighthouse. But I do remember like once we
(20:34):
got settled right, and once I like wrapped my arm
around the railing so that I would not fall. I
remember like Dave and I were investigating and we hurt. Oh, Cheato.
See now see Cheetoh's going to talk about it. He's
barking in the background.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Dave and I were investigating once we got settled, and
we heard a very strange sound coming from the bottom
of the lighthouse and I couldn't it was like a
voice or something. It sounded mechanical, you know sometimes dissembodied
voices have that weird like have that weird like mechanical sound. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
(21:17):
it's like a weird thing. And that's what it sounded like.
And we were both like that, it's very weird. And
you know, it took a soft guard, but it did
sound like a man, like it could have been a man,
maybe the light keeper.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
I actually remember that happening. I don't know if they
showed it on the show, but I know you guys,
you guys radioed over like what is happening? Is someone outside?
And like, I want to check there was no one
out there. The door was closed.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
And Tango's very hard on experiences too, Like he's one
of those people where like he's you know, he's very
very hard on evidence. And he was completely like, I
don't know what's going on here, and that's always weird
because when you're in the lighthouse, it's just you and
the like your camera operator whoever, you know, there's three
of you, like, and it's very clear to tell like
(22:02):
a sound is coming from somewhere else because the way
like it's like literally one big hollow tube and so,
which it can play tricks on you, but not in
that sense at all. And so and then there's also
like the keepers quarters are supposedly haunted, and so I
know that, like Britt and I Brit Griffith who used
to be on GH. So the first time I investigated there,
(22:25):
that was when Steve and Dave were doing Ghost Hunters Academy.
I think it was the first season, and so it
was me and Britt investigating, and I know we had
separated in the keeper's quarters and we were like really
far away from each other, basically trying to see if
we could see shadows between us because that's one of
the most kind of famous things that happened there. And
(22:47):
I know we heard a lot of unexplained noises in
that area. I just feel like it's just not investigated
that often, Like it's one of those spots that whatever
spirits are there, they're not having investigators coming in talking
to them very often, which makes me wonder like if
that affects the activity at all.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
You know, I think so, because if you think about
a lightkeeper, like any lightkeeper, and you know, the ghost
associated with keeping a light, like they have a job
to do. It's almost like we I find that sometimes
you interact with spirits there that are still doing that job,
and so you come in and start asking them questions
and they can get really annoyed. They're like, look, I'm busy,
(23:28):
I got to make sure the light is lit. I
got to you know, keep doing this job that I
am supposed to do. It's like it's like a watchman,
like their watch is never over.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
In a way, it's not. And I actually feel like
that's why so many lighthouses are that haunted. I feel
like there was this very diligent sense of duty, and
the routine portion of it is so in like it's
so like ingrained in that location. Like there's probably not
many jobs that just required complete and total routine like that.
(24:01):
You know, you have to do things at a certain time.
There's certain signals that you have to give at the
exact right moments. If the weather starts to turn a
certain way, you have to change, like you know the
pattern of the light, and like it just and now
it's like it's so routine that it was actually fairly
easy for humans to automate that eventually, which really kind
(24:23):
of got rid of the whole idea of a lighthouse keeper,
which is really depressing and sad to me because I
think it was probably one of its just kind of
one of the most I don't want to say, just
kind of an whol old school job, like you're the
keeper of the light. You're keeping this going, and you're
just like ensuring that chips don't crash, Like is there
anything more important than that? And now we've just given
(24:46):
that to machines.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I know, don't mess up, Like, don't mess up machines.
We I was going to say that, I mean, like
it also makes it easier for us to sort of
I guess trigger activity, if that makes sense, Like you know,
when we did the lighthouse in Newport, right, like we
were able to play cannon fire because the canon at
(25:11):
the fort would trigger you know, when the person would
go up and light the light for the night. Right.
So I think there's things, there's routines. I think there's
a set of rules and those are easily explored by
investigators to you know, to trigger activity. I think that that's.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
A plus, now do you remember? And I think so too, like,
because all you have to do is kind of threaten
that routine and that can sometimes make things happen. Not
that I like to provoke, but like, there's that's one
instance where maybe a little bit of like, oh, we
might be getting off kilter here, right, instigate some activity.
(25:50):
But I don't know if you remember this, but one
of the stories there, and it's really hard. I'm surprised
no one has come in and tried to really debunk them.
But I saw it, and I don't remember if you
saw it. But so supposedly there's a large blood stain
in the keeper's quarters that cannot be cleaned. Yes, and
(26:11):
so it was, it was, it was covered up until
the mid nineties and then they were like, Rea, there
was linoleum over it, and so then they tore up
linoleum and they found the hardwood floors beneath and the
stain is still there and they have not been able
to determine, like they're just like, yep, it's blood, and
so part of me is just like, why can't we
(26:32):
test it? I really want to know, Like all you
need is like a cadaver dog or like some I mean,
I just I don't know why, like they hang under
that story and don't try to prove whether it's real
or not.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
We had black lights. I think you and I walked
around with some black lights to like see if we
could see the stain at one.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Point, Yeah, and well you can see it. Yeah, it's
it's there. I just don't know how it's so easy
to look at it and just say, yep, it's blood,
you know, kind of a really big state and there's
some spattered.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah. I think we did ask for like a testing kit,
but they and I and I'm you know when usually
so when we join other like Kindred Spirits, like joining
another show, we come up with these wild and crazy
ideas and we're usually just like, hey, can you get
us like a blood testing kit please? And so I
think they tried, but the kit just didn't work. It
(27:26):
wasn't like the right correct kit. Yeah, but I remember
they did go get something and they really tried to
see if we could get some like a kit to
test that that would.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I know, I remember they brought me in for like
the historical scene and that, you know, and that's one
of those things like you know, me, I do on
my own research. And so I walked in and they
I was like, well, all this happened, and they're like,
but we're focusing on this, and I was like, but
this happened. Yeah, But I was like, I was like,
don't you know, like on Kindred, I like find something
really crazy no one knew about, and then it changes
(28:01):
the direction of the entire case and they're like.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
No, like no, we're good. I'm like, Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
That's why it's always fun to walk in to other
cases because the pressure.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Is not there exactly exactly. We just do it. We
do our own thing and you know, finda find some
really good stuff. And I think the coolest thing about
investigating lighthouses, or at least the ones that we've investigated,
especially the Pensacola Lighthouse, is the access that we get
when we're there, Like, you know, it's these people, this
is a historic monument. It stood for you know, over
(28:35):
one hundred years, and they trust us to go into
these spaces and to explore in the dark, to try
to connect with the spirits and I think we're very
lucky that we get to do that kind of thing
because mostly, you know, it's tours. You see it during
the day, there's ropes everywhere. But when we get to
do these kind of things, those ropes come down, and
(28:55):
so you we immerse ourselves in this environment and we
get to go back back in time for a brief
moment and really explore what it might be like to
you know, live there during like a big hurricane or
when it was really active. And I think that's the
best part.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I try to I try to tell groups this
a lot. So like with Pentacola Lighthouse, like it's on
a base, and like we've done other places that are
you know, connected to like military or law enforcement or
like you need certain security clearances to do and they're
not going to trust any team with that. And that's
why I think it's really important, like when you're investigating
(29:30):
the paranormal, to kind of maintain that level of integrity
where places like that will feel good about bringing you
in because they know that you're going to do justice
to the history and they know you're going to do
justice to the activity and to their ghosts, and that's important.
I think that's why we get called into so many
you know, like we get called into libraries, ge get
(29:51):
called into schools, we get called obviously into military bases.
And I don't think that happens for a lot of
other paranormal shows, but I think paranormal teams in particular,
you can formulate that kind of reputation as a team
and get called into those places. You don't need a
TV show to do it. So that's one of the
(30:11):
many reasons why we tried to kind of be on
the level at all times.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Absolutely absolutely, and I think, you know, our reputation precedes us.
Thank god. Yeah. God.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Well, so they've okay, so I know they've seen an
apparition of a woman there, which they say is that
girl who died. She didn't actually I don't believe she
died on the property, or she might have died on
the property, but she had a very strong connection to it,
like she specifically came back to die there. Basically, she
gave birth to her baby and then never they say,
(30:45):
never quite recovered from that, and then five months later
died on the property. And so she's one of the
only like kind of deaths there. There was a keeper
who died while they were still serving as a lighthouse keeper.
So now there's this I weren't going by. You know,
we're waving way back away from the road. It's very
(31:06):
loud here today. I wanted to do this in person,
but A we never had a chance, and.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
B, yeah, it was busy this weekend.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I did not have a second microphone to do it.
So okay, so let me get back to that kind
of shot there. I forgot where I was showing with it.
So they have seen this apparition of a woman that
might have been connected to that death. But like, I
did not see anything like that. I didn't really see
(31:38):
anything visual. Definitely heard sounds like you had that crazy
sound in the lighthouse. I absolutely heard footsteps, and so
there were definitely things going on, but I didn't get
the vibe that it was something like either a aggressive
or b like really trying to get anyone's attention. Like
it just seemed very much like it just sort of existed.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think it was almost
like again they were going about their business. They were
sort of you know, keeping the light, watching what we
were doing closely to be like, who are these people
and why are they in the space, but it was
almost like they were just going they were doing their thing,
(32:23):
and we were sort of there witnessing them continuing the
tradition of the lighthouse, and it didn't feel like it
didn't feel really aggressive or scary by any means.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Now, one of the weird things that I don't think
we talked about much when we went there with gh
is that during the building of the lighthouse and just
like kind of over the years, it kept being affected
by like weird natural disasters, like it was struck by
lightning at one point. But the weirdest one, which I
wanted to tell you because I wanted to see how
you feel about it, is that while they were building it,
(32:55):
there was this like freak occurrence where all of these
snakes like these I think they were even poisonous snakes
like traveled across the water and all came and started
nesting in the construction site and so like thousands of them,
so as they were trying to like build, they would
like fall down on the workers.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And no, no, that is Satan, that is a demonic
entity that is get out of my back. Nobody needs snakes.
Snakes and investigation. That's like w' that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
I know, I was just envisioning it, like these poor
people like trying to build and go about their day
and it's like infested with snakes. And it was just
like some weird fluke enough that like the newspaper reported
on it that all of these snakes had just come
up out of the water and made their home in
the construction zone where all of these men were working.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
See, I don't know, I don't know, that's so weird.
I mean, obviously it's probably just a coincidence and not paranormal,
But like back then, I feel like or at any point,
you could take that as a sign as an omen
to be like do not like stop doing what you're doing,
you know what I'm saying, Like it could just throw
people off pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Well, that was it. That was one of the many
things like that where people were like is this place cursed?
Like these kinds of things keep happening here, Like what's
going on? So I just ooh, it just gave me. Oh,
it just kind of made me feel like, you know,
I got the like gum.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Would you rather have? Like would you rather have like that?
Or like a bunch of mice and rats? Oh?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Probably the snakes, because mice and rats can give you diseases.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Well, snakes can bite you.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Yeah, but only when provoked, that's true.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Just leave them alone. Rats just come out of nowhere
and take you away.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
I can like smell one mouse. I can't even imagine
like an infestation like.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Now, especially when they die in the wall and you
can't find them. You're like, well there.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Was that, and thank god. But I smelling moss from
a mile away. It's my little my weird nose super grows.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
I know.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
That's that's my other parent. That's actually I actually sniff
out ghosts. I don't know if you knew this. That's
why I have so many experiences. I can smell ghosts too.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, your fallback, your fallback in your in your life
should be like wrote it, like you know, you go
in and like track, yep, you got mice.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
You got that's my plan B or ghost sniffer. I'm
going to write a book called ghost Sniffer Ghosts.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Yeah, you should make Oh that's what you. Fragrance is
next fragrance, Just two fragrances.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Okay, and this is usually what that's our cue that
we're done speaking. We have we have done this ran it.
But before we go, what do you want? What do
you want to talk? I know your book is out
and like a release now going strong? What else? What
else is going on in the world of Adam Barry
that the world needs?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Oh my god, Well, the book is out, you can
buy it wherever books are sold. And what else is happening? Well,
I don't know when is this air?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
This will be probably in December, actually December.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Okay, Well, we're you know, doing I have a book
signing with Steve Gonzolvez in December, and I Ben and
I are doing a virtual cocktail party in December that
people can join. You know, it's very like staying at
home making bread and suits and getting off fat and sassy.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I love doing these a few weeks in advance because
it's like we're seeing into the future. So let's envision
what we'll be doing in December. I envision I will
be looking at my beautiful Christmas tree and eating a
lot of cookies and snuggling up and hopefully it will
be snowing, because it's only okay, if it snows before Christmas,
after is terrible. All right, So well, thank you, mister Barry.
(36:55):
I really appreciate you taking the time, and I're welcome.
I'm sure I will see you very soon. But good
luck with everything. And yeah, I guess that's it. I
guess we need to get back. Let's go to the
pensacle A lighthouse right now, because I guarantee it's warmer there.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Yeah, let's go now, Okay.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
All right bye. Throughout history, lighthouses have served two purposes.
They keep ships safe and warn them of danger. Pensacola
and its lighthouse have long histories full of tragedy and
ominous portents. Between the hurricane and the venomous snakes and
(37:32):
the lightning strikes, the structure seems almost synonymous with disaster.
If there's any lesson to take from this haunted tower
and the quarters attached, perhaps it's that we should all
take care. Like a ship navigating through dark water, you
can never know for sure what risk lies ahead. I'm
Amy Brunei and this was haunted road. Are you tired
(37:58):
of the same old, vague Haitian destinations and cookie cutter experiences?
Do you crave a sense of mystery, wonder and adventure
that can't be found in ordinary travel brochures? Do you
listen to this podcast and think I'd like to visit
that spooky place. Well, that's why I started Strange Escapes,
a paranormal based travel company that takes you to some
(38:21):
of the most haunted locations in the world. Frankly, it's
my excuse to combine all of my favorite things, which
is ghosts, beautiful hotels, food and wine, and other weirdos
like me. To be honest, If that sounds right up
your alley and you want to learn more, then visit
Strange Escapes dot travel and hopefully you can join us sometime.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Also.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
To keep up on all of my upcoming projects and appearances,
head to amybrune dot com. I have some really great
things in the works and I don't want you to
miss it. Thanks.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Haunted Roadies. Hauntad is hosted and written by me Amy Bruney,
with additional research by Cassandra de Alba. This show is
edited and produced by Rima Alkali, with supervising producer Josh
Thain and executive producers Aaron Menke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.
(39:17):
Haunted road is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Menkey. Learn more about this show over
at Grimandmild dot com and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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