A 400-acre barrier island off Biloxi where a headless pirate guardian and a blue-light specter called the Firewater Ghost have haunted local fishermen since the 1820s.
Deer Island (offshore, accessible by boat), Biloxi, MS 39530
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
No fee to visit; accessible only by private or charter boat
Access
Limited Access
Coastal wetlands, palmetto groves, unimproved shoreline; no maintained trails
Equipment
Photos OK
French explorers noted the island circa 1717 · Amusement park operated approximately 1905–1930s · State of Mississippi acquired island as coastal preserve in 2002 · Protects ten endangered coastal species
Deer Island sits roughly a quarter mile off the Biloxi waterfront in the Mississippi Sound — close enough to see from the beach but reachable only by boat. French explorers recorded its presence as early as 1717. By the early twentieth century the island supported a small amusement park that operated from around 1905 through the 1930s, drawing day-trippers from the mainland. Prohibition-era bootleggers later used its isolated coves. Hurricane Camille's 1969 surge forced a full evacuation, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 brought additional storm damage to the palmetto groves and wetland margins.
In 2002, former Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark coordinated the state's acquisition of approximately 400 acres of Deer Island as part of a broader 16,000-acre coastal wetlands preservation effort. The acquisition specifically prevented casino development on the island. Today Deer Island is managed as a coastal preserve, home to ten state-listed endangered plant and animal species. There are no developed trails, facilities, or official visitor programs; the island is accessible only by private or charter boat from the Biloxi waterfront.
The island's isolation — visible from shore but cut off from mainland traffic — gave it a natural air of mystery that local ghost lore exploited for at least two centuries. A.G. Ragusin's 1922 article in the Biloxi Daily Herald documented ghost traditions that were already described as a hundred years old at the time of writing, suggesting they date to roughly the 1820s.
Sources
Local ghost tradition holds that a pirate captain buried treasure on Deer Island and beheaded a crew member to leave his spirit as a permanent guardian. Captain Eugene Tiblier Sr., a Biloxi fisherman, provided an 1892 firsthand account describing two fishermen who encountered 'a headless skeleton standing erect among the palmettos' and fled to their boat. Tiblier and his brother Louis reported being chased by the apparition. A.G. Ragusin collected and published these accounts in the Biloxi Daily Herald in 1922, noting the story was then already about a century old.
A second phenomenon, known locally as the Firewater Ghost, manifests as a blue light that floats roughly a foot above the water between Biloxi and Ocean Springs, traveling always after midnight. Captain Tiblier and his brother Louis reported witnessing it around 2 a.m. in 1892, watching it cross the bay and disappear near Ocean Springs. The Explore Southern History documentation characterizes it as 'a spectral sentry who patrols the bay with a lantern in his hand.' A PBS Mississippi documentary segment featured Deer Island's ghost traditions, and the Mississippi Folklore blog documented both stories in depth in 2023.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Deer Island is accessible only by private or charter vessel. Visitors can land on the island's shore to walk palmetto groves said to harbor the headless pirate guardian and scan the back bay waters after midnight for the Firewater Ghost's blue light. No organized tours operate here; it is a self-directed natural site.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Gatlinburg, TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park preserves 522,427 acres of southern Appalachian terrain across Tennessee and North Carolina. The land was the heart of the Cherokee Nation before forced removal in 1838 along what became the Trail of Tears, and home to Appalachian Scots-Irish and English settler communities through the early twentieth century. Congress authorized the park in 1926; it was formally dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2, 1940.
Marion, NC
Linville Gorge, carved by the Linville River through the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of Burke and McDowell Counties, is the deepest river gorge in the eastern United States. Managed as wilderness within Pisgah National Forest, the gorge has been associated with the Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon since at least 1910, when documented reports began appearing in print. USGS scientist George R. Mansfield conducted the first formal government investigation in 1922.
near Morganton, NC
The Brown Mountain Lights are an intermittent light phenomenon visible from the Burke County, North Carolina, side of Brown Mountain, a low ridge along the Burke-Caldwell county line. Sightings have been documented since 1833. The U.S. Geological Survey investigated the lights in 1913 and again in the 1920s, and the phenomenon has been studied repeatedly by academic researchers since.