Ghost Stories: The haunted past of Point Sur Lighthouse
Point Sur Lighthouse in Big Sur, California is considered one of the most haunted lighthouses in America, and two ghost hunters say it is one of the more active places they’ve ever explored.
"This is my Shangri-La," said Julie Nunes, as she opened the door to the lighthouse keeper’s quarters.
Nunes is a docent at Point Sur and a ghost hunter. She and her best friend, Monica Judd-Powell, both volunteer for California State Parks and lead haunted lighthouse tours at the site to raise money for various restoration projects.
Nunes and Judd-Powell both live in San Jose, and shortly after getting into ghost hunting about 10 years ago, they decided to see if the rumors about Point Sur were true.
"I thought, you know, well maybe there is something to it. I guess one way to find out is go up and take the tour and bring a couple pieces of equipment and see what we find," Judd-Powell said.
The two use standard paranormal detecting equipment, a K-II meter and a Sony recorder. Using the gear, Nunes said they’ve discovered 20 ghosts, 12 of which she said she has identified.
"They’ve either said their last names, or their first names," Nunes said.
The evidence the two offer as proof are recordings of voices, or electronic voice phenomenon, EVPS. According to Nunes, the voices showing up on the recorder are not being made by people in the room.
The two offer up EVPs, saying everything from "She wants you to go now" to "You liar, you kissed her."
The two also recorded audio from a "little girl named Pokie" who they say used to live at the lighthouse about 70 years ago.
"She kind of has bonded with Julie and I, sometimes we hear her singing and we've gotten her talking to us, Julie asked 'is there anyone here with us' and you can hear a little girl on the recording saying 'I'm right here,'" Judd-Powell said.
The lighthouse was first commissioned in 1889, and there were usually three to four families living on the compound at a time: the lighthouse keeper’s family and the families of the three assistant lighthouse keepers.
Despite multiple buildings on the property, quarters were close.
"They barely lasted maybe six months to a year because it was so isolated," Nunes said.
The lighthouse sits on a large piece of volcanic rock that juts out into the ocean. The rock was only accessible by ship until Highway 1 was built in the 1930s, and when it floods, the rock becomes an island.
Point Sur is a strange and beautiful place, and despite the isolation, Nunes said there is nothing to be afraid of haunt-wise.
"There is nothing evil or malevolent here. Nobody has ever died here," she said.
Since Nunes and Judd-Powell started collecting EVPs from Point Sur, they’ve brought a lot of attention to the lighthouse. The Travel Channel show ’Ghost Adventures’ shot an episode on location.
On the two Saturdays leading up to Halloween, guests could pay $89 for a haunted tour and refreshments, and Nunes and Judd-Powell are now helping more ghost hunters explore the rock for a fee.
Nunes said they will take up groups wanting to search for ghosts for up to six hours at a time, and all of the money goes to restoration projects at the Lighthouse.