New London Ledge Light lies about a mile from the shore.
The Ghost of “Ernie” Still Haunts at the New London Ledge Lighthouse in Connecticut
Before the New London Ledge Lighthouse was built in 1909, vessels entering the area had to navigate carefully around a dangerous ledge about a mile from the shore, which marked the entrance to New London Harbor. The lighthouse, constructed on this ledge, boasts an elegant brick design. This distinctive structure was built in response to wealthy locals’ requests for an ornate building to complement their upscale coastal community homes.
New London Ledge Light is one of New England’s more famous haunted lighthouses, with hauntings by a ghost named “Ernie” by the keepers and Coast Guardsmen who tended the lighthouse. Various stories try to identify who “Ernie” was, with the truthful accounts that many respected individuals who tended the lighthouse for many years found themselves hearing and seeing many strange noises and events at this location. There are also accounts of strange events, even during the lighthouse construction around 1909.
Over most of the history of the lighthouse, those who tended the lighthouse, keepers and Coast Guardsmen alike, “Ernie” would be blamed for tools that would mysteriously disappear and reappear, items that would be rearranged, floors that would be suddenly washed, brass that would be polished, windows that would be cleaned, and more. One keeper stated that he found open paint cans with brushes, observed cups moving across tables, doors opening and closing, and a TV that would turn on and off, along with a foghorn turning on and off for no reason. Boats from local mariners and tourists tied ashore were mysteriously set adrift. In fact, some fishermen stopped by the light for coffee and discussed their doubts regarding believing in the ghost. When they went to leave, they found their boat had been set adrift. Since everyone was all together having coffee, could it be the ghost of Ernie?
Keeper’s Lost Love
New London Ledge Lighthouse
The most widely told story involves a keeper losing his wife to a ferry captain. The life of a lighthouse keeper was difficult and lonely. If a keeper brought his wife with him, it was usually even more difficult because of the lack of socializing with others and feeling stranded on an island. This may have been the case at the New London Ledge Lighthouse in the early 1930s, with a newlywed keeper’s wife, who was much younger than the keeper and enjoyed the company of others. She was known as quite the flirt to the local fishermen and sailors who would sail by the lighthouse. One day, when the keeper went ashore to fetch needed supplies, she left a note for her husband stating that she had run away with the Block Island Ferry captain and was never seen again. When the keeper learned that his new bride would never return, he was overcome with despair. Legend has it that he slit his throat with a fishing knife at the top of the lighthouse tower and plummeted 65 feet to his death on the rocks below. However, there is no record of any suicide attempt.
The story mentioned above is a derivative of findings believed in December 1981, when Dr. Roger Pile, a “ghost psychologist,” visited the lighthouse with his wife, who claimed to be a medium. According to the Piles, the spirit they encountered was a keeper or person named John Randolph, who wasn’t married but had lost his beloved sweetheart because of a terrible argument the two had. However, there is no record of a keeper named John Randolph, and the station housed single men at the time, so if there is any truth to this version, it would be the loss of a man’s girlfriend whom he intended to marry.
The Lady of the Ledge
Another story that may account for some of the frequent hauntings involves a couple with their daughter around 1914 who departed from New Jersey for New Bedford, Massachusetts, in their sailboat and got caught in a nasty storm. The keeper saw the couple frantically swimming towards the lighthouse that night and ran out to help bring them to shore safely. They told him that their boat had capsized in the storm and that they couldn’t locate their daughter. He gave the couple food and warm clothes to help them sleep that night.
He woke up early the following day to find the pair had vanished without a trace. A few days later, the keeper went to shore for supplies when the seas had calmed down. A few workers on shore told him they had rescued a young woman who said her parents had been lost in a sailboat wreck. However, like the couple he believed he had saved that night, this woman had also mysteriously vanished. Over the years, people have encountered the spirit of a middle-aged woman roaming the lighthouse searching for a loved one and have named her “The Lady of the Ledge.”
A New Twist on “Ernie”
The noises, prank events, and visions continued over the years as the lighthouse remained as haunted. New London Ledge Lighthouse was automated in 1987. On the last day before automation, a Coast Guardsman entered the log: “Rock of slow torture. Ernie’s domain. Hell on earth — may New London Ledge’s light shine on forever because I’m through. I will watch it from afar while drinking a brew.”
In the early 2000s, paranormal investigator Christine Kaczynski, who had also been investigating the hauntings at Sheffield Island Light, had visited the lighthouse with her team several times. She discredited the theory from the Piles that it was a keeper who committed suicide, but her findings showed that the lighthouse was still the scene of much paranormal activity. She reported that most of the activity lies on the building’s third floor on the northeast corner. She believed there might be more than one spirit, but not dangerous or evil, more of mischievous pranksters.
New London Ledge Light.
Courtesy US Coast Guard.
Another team of researchers from the New England Ghost Project was invited in 2006 and contacted an entity that claimed to have been a construction worker who had fallen off the roof accidentally to his death from a prank his coworkers had concocted by locking him out on the roof. The spirit felt to the psychic that the event was covered up, which provides a unique alternative to other “Ernie” stories and may account for why there is no written report in any newspaper of any lighthouse keeper who had met his death there. The psychic of the project tries to persuade the ghost to leave the lighthouse, but without success, as the spirit(s) continue maintenance of the lighthouse while instigating pranks on visitors and caretakers.
Books to Explore
The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships
The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships: Stories of the Six and Seven-Masted Coal Schooners of New England. In the early 1900s, New England shipbuilders constructed the world’s largest sailing ships amid social and political reforms. These giants were the ten original six-masted coal schooners and one colossal seven-masted vessel, built to carry massive quantities of coal and building supplies and measured longer than a football field! This book, balanced with plenty of color and vintage images, showcases the historical accounts that followed these mighty ships.
Available also from bookstores in paperback, hardcover, and as an eBook for all devices.
Enjoy a 10% discount on the hardcover version. Printed and distributed by IngramSpark.
Book – Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions in Southern New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts
My 300-page book, Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Southern New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, provides memorable human interest stories from each of the 92 lighthouses. You can explore plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions, including whale-watching excursions, lighthouse tours, windjammer sailing tours, parks, museums, and even lighthouses where you can stay overnight. You’ll also find plenty of stories of hauntings around lighthouses.
Book – Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions in Northern New England: New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont
My 300-page book, Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Northern New England: New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, provides memorable human interest stories from each of the 76 lighthouses, , including the story of the keeper’s dog Smut mentioned above. There are also descriptions and contact info of plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions and tours you can explore. These include whale watching, lighthouse tours, unique parks, museums, and lighthouses you can stay overnight. There are also stories of haunted lighthouses in these regions.
Book- New England Lighthouses: Famous Shipwrecks, Rescues & Other Tales
Over 50 stories in my book New England Lighthouses: Famous Shipwrecks, Rescues & Other Tales. This image-rich book also contains vintage images provided by the Coast Guard and various organizations and paintings by six famous artists of the Coast Guard.
You’ll find this book and the lighthouse tourism books from the publisher Schiffer Books or in many fine bookstores like Barnes and Noble.
Copyright © Allan Wood Photography; do not reproduce without permission. All rights reserved.
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