THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Absecon Lighthouse has long been associated with ghostly voices, phantom footsteps and apparitions seen around the tower. Visitors and workers have also reported unexplained cigar smoke, electrical malfunctions and shadowy figures appearing in photographs. One early story claims that a lighthouse keeper saw a strange creature resembling the Jersey Devil perched atop the tower.
Nearby in 1854, the Powhatan wrecked, killing 311 passengers and crew members, and causing the Absecon Inlet to be nicknamed Graveyard Inlet. So the Absecon Lighthouse was built in an attempt to prevent another tragedy. It served from 1857 until 1933, and now stands restored. Ghosts have been seen here since 1905, when a keeper saw the Jersey Devil at the top of the tower. Others since then have seen apparitions and noticed smells of pipe and cigar smoke, and the sounds of spooky laughter, footsteps in the tower and the tower door opening and closing. As well, dimes are said to appear in odd places.