State file · ME
Haunted places in Maine
What are the most haunted places in Maine? The best-known are Fort Knox (Maine), Jonathan Buck’s Cursed Tomb and Seguin Island Light.
Maine’s ghost lore belongs to the sea and the long winter. Lighthouse keepers on fog-bound islands, granite forts that waited for wars that never came, and old coastal towns where sea captains built their houses have all produced stories – of laughing children in empty keepers’ quarters, caretakers still on their rounds, and a witch’s curse written in stone.
- 3 hauntings
- 11 recorded sightings
Haunted places in Maine
Fort Knox (Maine)
A vast granite fort on the Penobscot that never fired a shot in war. Visitors report a tall shadow in its passages – said to be its long-serving caretaker. Local legend
Jonathan Buck’s Cursed Tomb
A granite obelisk to Bucksport’s founder bears a stain shaped like a woman’s leg – the mark, legend says, of a witch he condemned. History says otherwise. Folklore
Seguin Island Light
An island light guarding the Kennebec River mouth since 1795. Keepers told of a laughing girl in the house; legend tells of a piano tune on the wind. Regional legendThe ghost lore of Maine
The history behind the stories reaches back to the Wabanaki peoples, whose homeland this is, and to early European settlement at places like the Popham Colony in 1607. Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, and its towns were raided and burned in colonial wars and the Revolution. Shipbuilding, fishing, lumber and the lighthouse service shaped coastal life, and isolation shaped its folklore: many of Maine’s best-known ghost stories are cautionary tales of what loneliness and long nights can do.
Ghost hunters head to Fort Knox on the Penobscot for its seasonal ghost tours, to Bucksport to see Colonel Buck’s famous stain, to Portland’s Old Port and historic Eastern Cemetery, and out to island lighthouses such as Seguin in summer. Many lighthouses are on private or Coast Guard property, so check access before you go.
Ghost-hunting hotspots
- Portland
Maine’s largest city, with the Old Port’s nineteenth-century warehouses, Victoria Mansion, the Eastern Cemetery and popular ghost walks.
- Bucksport and Prospect
Facing each other across the Penobscot, home to Colonel Buck’s cursed tomb and the granite Fort Knox.
- Phippsburg and Popham Beach
The mouth of the Kennebec, with the site of the 1607 Popham Colony, Fort Popham and boats out to Seguin Island.
- Kennebunkport
A historic resort town of sea captains’ houses and inns, several of which have resident-ghost stories.
Timeline
- June 1763Jonathan Buck settles on the Penobscot Jonathan Buck’s Cursed Tomb
Buck returns from Haverhill to settle Plantation No. 1 permanently, building its first sawmill and store.
- 1795The first light is lit Seguin Island Light
Seguin’s first wooden tower is commissioned, approved by George Washington two years earlier. The first keeper is appointed in 1796.
- 18 March 1795Death of Colonel Buck Jonathan Buck’s Cursed Tomb
The town’s founder dies and is buried under a simple headstone, which still stands unblemished.
- 1844Construction begins Fort Knox (Maine)
Work starts on a granite fort to guard the Penobscot River; it continues on and off until 1869.
- 1857The present tower is built Seguin Island Light
A granite tower and keepers’ house are built and fitted with a first-order Fresnel lens.
- 1870The obelisk is erected Jonathan Buck’s Cursed Tomb
A granite monument is raised in his memory. The stain that inspired the legend appears on this stone, not on his original grave marker.
- 17 July 1900Death of the caretaker Fort Knox (Maine)
Ordnance Sergeant Leopold Hegyi, the fort’s caretaker since 1887, is found ill when the flag is not raised and dies before a doctor arrives.
- 1985Automation – and the furniture story Seguin Island Light
The light is automated and the last Coast Guard keepers leave. According to a story collected by William O. Thomson, the crew removing the furniture had a night-time visitor, and the furniture was lost when their boat sank.
- 1986Friends of Seguin formed Seguin Island Light
A non-profit forms to preserve the station; the island and buildings are later transferred to it, and a summer museum opens.
- 2018“Cursed Towns” on Travel Channel Fort Knox (Maine)
Fort Knox appears among the haunted locations in an episode of Most Terrifying Places in America.
- 7 August 2021Destination Fear episode airs Fort Knox (Maine)
The Travel Channel series airs its winter investigation at the fort, centred on the “ghostly caretaker.”
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