Slaves and a Dead Mother Haunt the Pensacola Lighthouse in Classic 'Ghost Hunters' Episode

People have lived in Pensacola, Florida since 1559 when the Spanish settled the area, making it one of the oldest settlements in North America. It's a busy port in the Gulf of Mexico in the panhandle close to Louisiana, so in 1823 the local Congress had a lighthouse built. In 1854 the lighthouse was renovated to be 150 feet tall. The lighthouse didn't hold on to lightkeepers easily. People died in the house, and others were afraid of the Lighthouse's increasingly paranormal reputation. But not the Ghost Hunters.

In 2009, the Ghost Hunters, who also call themselves T.A.P.S. investigated the Pensacola Lighthouse led by paranormal investigator Jason Hawes. During their investigation, they found evidence of multiple ghosts haunting the lighthouse and the lightkeeper's dwelling nearby. There are reportings of at least six ghosts, some slaves, a man who grabs people in the stairs, and a woman in white. There was a more chilling element to the hauntings, however, as some of the T.A.P.S. team thought they heard children's voices.

What they heard was likely in their head, as they find out that a mother named Ella Mueller gave birth in the second story of the main house back in 1905 to her daughter, Naomi. Back when the episode aired, this wasn't common knowledge to the proprietors of the lighthouse, who had assumed someone had been murdered there, initially citing that as the reason for all of the ghostly activity. However, there had always been local rumors that the room they call 'the bloody room' was from a messy childbirth and not a murder.

Ella Mueller lived for five months after giving birth to Naomi, during which time she had the hours to grieve for herself and wish for more time with her newborn daughter. The Ghost Hunters deduced that as a likely motive a spirit would have to haunt a place. While they were investigating "the bloody room" the Ghost Hunters repeatedly ask, "were you murdered" and, "were you attacked?" to which, upon revisiting their recordings, the microphones managed to capture a whispered 'no.'

Naomi didn't die in the house. It was just her mother who died there. And they weren't attacked. But Ella probably lived her last days there, thinking about all the time with her daughter she'd lost. Not quite ready to go on.

The Pensacola Lighthouse episode is a classic of television, as it shows both the hilarity of watching people jump and the interesting history that surrounds the location. Following the show, the lighthouse was able to open a museum and raised enough funding to make much-needed renovations.

The Ghost Hunters left the lighthouse staff with the encouragement that the ghosts that resided there weren't angry, they just had unresolved issues. Ella wants to spend more time with her daughter, but might never.