1868 Victorian lighthouse on a private Norwalk island where a paranormal team recorded three spirits — including a young girl named Abby — and an archaeologist heard sourceless music and cries for help.
Sheffield Island, Norwalk Harbor, Norwalk, CT 06854
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Seasonal ferry tour tickets required; standard adult fare for summer lighthouse cruises. Haunted Lighthouse event tickets sold separately in October. See seaport.org for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Island terrain with uneven ground; lighthouse tower has steep spiral stairs. Ferry required for access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1868 · 1868 Victorian Gothic United States Lighthouse Board construction · Replaced earlier 1826 lighthouse on the same island · Decommissioned 1902 when Greens Ledge Light took over · Restored by Norwalk Seaport Association
Sheffield Island, a nine-acre island in Norwalk Harbor, has marked a hazardous shoal on the Connecticut coast since colonial times. The first lighthouse erected on the island dates to 1826. The current Victorian Gothic structure replaced it in 1868, built in a style common to United States Lighthouse Board construction of the period — a keeper's dwelling with an integrated tower rising from the center of the roof.
The lighthouse guided vessels through Long Island Sound until 1902, when the Greens Ledge Light, a new offshore structure, took over the primary navigational function. The Sheffield Island light was decommissioned and the island passed into private hands. Over the following decades, the lighthouse fell into disrepair before a preservation effort eventually transferred stewardship to the Norwalk Seaport Association.
The Seaport Association restored the structure and reopened the island to public ferry access, offering seasonal lighthouse cruises from Hope Dock in South Norwalk. The island itself — accessible only by water — retains its isolation. The keeper's dwelling still holds period furnishings, and the tower stairs wind up to the original lantern room.
Sources
The documented paranormal history of Sheffield Island Lighthouse centers on two independent encounters separated by years. The earlier account — cited on the Norwalk Seaport Association's own website — involves an archaeologist conducting fieldwork on the island in 1991 who heard the distinct sound of music coming from inside the lighthouse. The building was empty. The archaeologist also heard a faint foghorn and, from the water side, distant cries for help; when he looked, there was no vessel and no person visible in the harbor.
Subsequently, investigators from Connecticut Paranormal Research conducted a formal investigation at the lighthouse. Their reported findings documented three distinct spirits in residence. One was identified — through methods the investigators describe as contact communication — as a young girl named Abby. The identity of the other two entities was not established. The investigation also noted the figure of the lighthouse's original keeper, whose death on the island in the early 1970s under unexplained circumstances preceded the modern paranormal reports.
The Seaport Association has documented these accounts on the official venue site and built an annual October Haunted Lighthouse event around them, framing the site's paranormal history alongside its Victorian architecture and maritime setting. The cthauntedhouses.com entry corroborates the keeper death and investigator findings from a second independent source.
Notable Entities
Seasonal ferry from Hope Dock to Sheffield Island — accessible only by boat — with a guided exploration of the 1868 Victorian lighthouse and its nine-acre island. Includes natural history and the island's maritime past.
October evening ferry to Sheffield Island for the Norwalk Seaport Association's annual Haunted Lighthouse, which incorporates the documented paranormal history of the site including the 1991 archaeologist encounter and Connecticut Paranormal Research findings.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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