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In 1810, at Couper’s Point on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, James Gould finished the
construction of the first, 85-foot St. Simon’s Island Lighthouse that began in 1804. In May of
1810, President Madison appointed James Gould as the first keeper of the lighthouse until
he retired in 1837.
During the Civil War, Federal soldiers invaded Georgia, forcing the Confederates to
evacuate St. Simon’s Island. Before they left in 1862, the Confederates destroyed the
lighthouse on St. Simon’s Island so that the Union could not use it as a navigational aid. In
1874, the U.S. Government had Charles Cluskey build a second St. Simon’s Island
Lighthouse that was to be built on top of the ruins of the destroyed one. It is 104 feet tall and
has 129 spiraling stairs.
In 1880, head keeper, Frederick Osborne, and assistant, John Stevens, got into a serious
argument about Osborne’s wife that ended in Osborne’s death by gunshot. Stevens was
never charged and became head keeper of the lighthouse.
Years later, Stevens and many other people would hear haunting footsteps going up and
down the staircase in the tower. Are they the footsteps of Frederick Osborne?
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Left:
Original St. Simon's Island
light house which was
destroyed during the Civil
War.
Right:
The St. Simon's Island
Lighthouse as it appears
today.
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Website content Copyright 2004-7 Photographs courtesy of Wikepedia and believed to be public domain.
Angels & Ghosts, LLC AngelsGhosts.Com
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