A 1879 lighthouse on a tidal island off York Beach, connected to the 1842 wreck of the brig Isadore — all 14 crew lost — and persistent reports of a phantom ship matching her description
Sohier Park Road, York, ME 03909
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit Sohier Park for views of the lighthouse. The lighthouse island itself is not open to visitors. Boat tours are available for a fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Sohier Park has a paved path to the water's edge directly across from the lighthouse; the lighthouse island is not accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1879 · 1842 Isadore Shipwreck · National Register of Historic Places · Lighthouse History · Maritime History of Coastal Maine
Cape Neddick Point extends into the Atlantic at the southern end of Maine's York County, creating a natural hazard for coastal traffic. The area saw multiple shipwrecks in the 18th and 19th centuries as square-rigged vessels navigated the rocky New England coast without reliable charts or weather forecasts.
The wreck most directly connected to the lighthouse's construction was that of the brig Isadore. On Thanksgiving night, November 30, 1842, the Isadore departed with a full crew of 14 men. A nor'easter blew up quickly; the brig was driven onto the rocks below Bald Head Cliffs, just south of Cape Neddick Point. The ship broke apart in the surf. Only seven of the 14 bodies were recovered. The names of the dead, per period newspaper accounts, included the captain and most of the regular crew; the ship was described as having been heavily laden with lumber. Two crew members reportedly told their families before the voyage that they had dreamed of the wreck and did not want to sail.
The wreck contributed to pressure for a light at Cape Neddick. Construction of the current tower began in 1879 under the U.S. Lighthouse Board. The 41-foot brick tower and attached keeper's house were completed that year and the light first exhibited on July 1, 1879. The lighthouse is built on a small tidal island — the Nubble — about 100 yards offshore, connected to the mainland only by boat. The light was automated in 1987 and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sohier Park, a town of York property directly across the channel from the Nubble, has operated as a public viewing area since 1987. It draws an estimated 200,000 visitors per year, making it one of the most-visited lighthouse sites in New England.
Sources
The Isadore phantom ship legend is one of the older documented maritime ghost traditions in Maine. The New England Lighthouse Society's account of Cape Neddick draws on 19th-century newspaper sources reporting that within a decade of the 1842 wreck, fishermen and shoreside residents were describing a vessel matching the Isadore's profile — a square-rigged brig under full sail — appearing off Cape Neddick in calm weather, at distances that would have required another vessel to be clearly visible, and then not being there when approached or looked for again.
The premonition element of the Isadore story — the two crew members who reportedly told family members they had dreamed of the wreck — appears in the earliest newspaper coverage and in subsequent retellings. This detail has made the Isadore story a staple of New England maritime legend collections since at least the 1880s.
The lighthouse itself has not generated significant independent haunting claims beyond the phantom ship legend. The keeper's house on the Nubble island has not been occupied since automation in 1987, and no access to the island is available for paranormal investigation. The ghost tradition is almost entirely maritime: the ship, not the lighthouse.
The Isadore appears in several Maine maritime legend compilations and was discussed in the New England Lighthouse Society's dedicated treatment of the Cape Neddick station. Boat tour operators include the wreck and the phantom ship account in their narration for the combined Nubble/Boon Island tour.
Stand at the edge of Sohier Park and view the Nubble Light across the narrow channel. The lighthouse occupies a small tidal island about 100 yards offshore; the gap is narrow enough to see architectural detail and the keeper's house clearly. Most visitors photograph from the park's rocky shoreline. The visitor center (seasonal) carries information on the 1842 Isadore wreck and the lighthouse's construction.
New England Eco Adventures offers a combined narrated boat tour covering both Cape Neddick/Nubble Light and Boon Island, including the history of the 1842 Isadore wreck, the 14 deaths below the headland, and the phantom ship legend. Circumnavigates the Nubble island.
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