HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
The eastern of the Two Lights at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where keeper Joseph Upton died in January 1934 after a fall from the tower — his uniformed apparition has been reported near the staircase ever since.
Two Lights Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free exterior viewing from Two Lights State Park access; the east tower is privately owned and not open to the public
Access
Limited Access
Coastal rocky terrain; the lighthouse is on private grounds, public access from state park boundary
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1828 · One of the few remaining two-tower lighthouse stations in the US · West tower decommissioned 1924; east tower remains active · Keeper Joseph H. Upton died January 1934 following a fall from the tower · Site of documented keeper death in active service
Cape Elizabeth Light has operated on the Maine coast since 1828, when the federal government erected two towers at Cape Elizabeth to distinguish the station from other single-light installations along the New England coast. The twin towers — known as Two Lights — stood as one of the few two-tower lighthouse stations in the United States.
The station's early keepers operated under difficult conditions: the cape is exposed to Atlantic storms, and the rocky terrain made the keeper's duties physically demanding year-round. The west tower was decommissioned in 1924 after the Coast Guard determined a single light was sufficient. The east tower continued operating as an active aid to navigation.
On the night of January 13, 1934, keeper Joseph H. Upton was on duty when a storm knocked out the primary light. Upton climbed the east tower alone at 9:30 p.m. to activate the auxiliary light, standard procedure when the main light failed. His wife, who had remained inside the keeper's house, woke around 11:30 p.m. to find he had not returned. She went to the tower and found him at the base of the stairs, unconscious, with a fractured skull. He died the following day, January 14, 1934. The exact circumstances of his fall were never fully established; the Lighthouse Foundation and a 2021 Portland Press Herald retrospective both documented the date and cause of death from period service and news records.
The east tower continued operating as an automated light after Upton's death. The station was eventually sold out of government service, and the east tower remains in private hands today. The Portland Press Herald published a retrospective on Upton's service in April 2021 drawing on archival materials about his keeper career.
Two Lights State Park, established on the adjacent land, provides public access to coastal views and exterior photography of the towers.
Sources
The ghost of Cape Elizabeth Light is unusual in lighthouse lore for having a documented origin event with a confirmed date and specific circumstances. Joseph Upton died on January 14, 1934, after falling from the east tower he had climbed alone the previous night to activate the auxiliary light. The accident left no eyewitnesses and no clear explanation of the fall.
According to New England Lights, a specialist publication on the region's maritime heritage, reports of Upton's ghost began appearing in the keeper logs and informal accounts of subsequent caretakers at the station. The figure is consistently described as an older man in a lighthouse keeper's uniform, seen near the tower staircase — the location of Upton's fatal accident. The description matches Upton's approximate age at the time of his death.
More recently, the station's caretakers have documented motion-detector activations on the tower stairs with no person present. These incidents are logged by the private owners and have been reported to lighthouse heritage researchers.
The site is included in New England Lights' survey of southern Maine haunted lighthouses, which cites the documented keeper death and subsequent reports as the foundation for the station's paranormal reputation. The specificity of the Upton death record — confirmed date, confirmed cause, confirmed location — gives the Cape Elizabeth Light ghost account stronger documentation than most lighthouse hauntings in the region.
Notable Entities
Drive or walk to Cape Elizabeth's Two Lights State Park for exterior views of the twin lighthouse towers. The east tower, where keeper Joseph Upton fell in January 1934, is privately owned and not open to the public. The site offers dramatic coastal scenery and is a photographic landmark on the Maine coast.
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