Built in 1848, the Biloxi Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in the US kept by female keepers longer than by men — Maria Younghans tended the light for over 50 years after her husband died in his first year of service
1040 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS 39530
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission fee for lighthouse tours; verify current pricing at the City of Biloxi Parks and Recreation website. Ghost tour stops are included with tour ticket.
Access
Limited Access
Cast iron lighthouse with spiral staircase; not wheelchair accessible to lantern room
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1848 · Maritime History · Female Lighthouse Keepers · Civil War Gulf Coast · Gulf Coast Architecture
The Biloxi Lighthouse was built in 1848 by the United States government as a cast iron lighthouse structure positioned in the median of what is now Beach Boulevard. It was one of the first cast iron lighthouses on the Gulf Coast and remained a functioning navigational aid for over a century.
The lighthouse's most notable history centers on the Younghans family. Perry Younghans was appointed keeper in 1867 but died—under circumstances that contemporaneous records do not specify clearly—within his first year of service. His wife, Maria Younghans, was subsequently appointed as keeper and held the position for more than 50 years. Lighthousefriends.com documents this record: the Biloxi Lighthouse holds the distinction of having been kept by female keepers for more years in total than by male keepers, a record unique among American lighthouses.
The Civil War interrupted the lighthouse's operation: Confederate forces extinguished the light at the start of the war to deny it to Union naval forces, and it was relit by Union forces following their occupation of the Gulf Coast. The lighthouse also survived Hurricane Camille in 1969 and sustained significant damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, though the structure itself remained standing. Restoration followed Katrina.
The lighthouse is owned by the City of Biloxi and operates under the Parks and Recreation Department. The Wikipedia article on the Biloxi Lighthouse confirms the keeper succession history and the lighthouse's place in Gulf Coast maritime history.
Sources
The death of keeper Perry Younghans in 1867, within his first year of service, is the central biographical fact around which the lighthouse's ghost-tour narrative is built. The circumstances of his death—documented as occurring in or near the lighthouse—are not fully specified in the historical record, which allows tour guides room for interpretation. His widow Maria's subsequent 50-plus years as keeper, tending the same light through Civil War aftermath, Reconstruction, and into the early twentieth century, gives the structure an unusual human continuity.
Blood Tide ghost tour materials, as described by LetsRoam, treat the Biloxi Lighthouse as a stop featuring 'urban legends and spooky storytelling.' The specific claims are not enumerated in available sources, but the combination of the keeper death, Maria Younghans's long tenure, and the lighthouse's Civil War role provide the raw material for local ghost lore.
No formal paranormal investigation or independently documented spectral phenomenon is on record for the Biloxi Lighthouse. The dark-tourism appeal rests on historical weight—the deaths associated with the keeper post, the wartime service, and the multiple-hurricane survival over 177 years—rather than contemporary investigation findings.
Notable Entities
The lighthouse sits in the median of Beach Boulevard and is visible and accessible as an exterior stop year-round. The grounds area around the structure is open to pedestrians.
The Biloxi Lighthouse is a featured stop on the Blood Tide ghost tour, which covers its history of keeper deaths, wartime service, and Civil War–era haunting lore. Evening tours depart from downtown Biloxi.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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