Port Boca Grande Lighthouse

Posted: 10.28.2025 | Updated: 10.27.2025

A modest lighthouse museum stands on Gasparilla Island off the coast of Florida: the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse. A maritime beacon for over a century, it is a historical staple for the island and offers present-day visitors a nice little addition to their sightseeing itinerary. 

However, witnesses in past years may have gotten a lot more than they bargained for. Two tragic stories years apart have made the lighthouse a crossroads in more ways than one, as well as one of the most haunted spots in the state of Florida. 

Come get a closer look at the spirits that lurk in Florida’s shadows with Tampa Terrors! Walk the streets after dark to Tampa’s most haunted sites around, where the chilling past still lingers along with the spirits inside. 

Book your spot on our website today, and prepare for a memorable night of fright! Don’t forget to visit our blog, as well, filled with tales of the strange, unusual, and macabre. 

Is the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse Haunted?

A tragic death has made the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse home to a spirit, but she’s not alone. The land itself holds a legend within it that’s tied to a murder involving the island’s very namesake. 

• The playful girl – The daughter of one of the lighthouse’s former keepers passed away from illness within its walls. Playtime isn’t over for her, though. 

• Princess Josefa – A Spanish princess, she was kidnapped by the pirate, Jose Gaspar. Gaspar fell madly in love with Josefa, but as she would find out, his response to rejection comes with a murderous streak. 

History of the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in Florida open to the public (six in total) that stands on the West Coast to this day. It was constructed at Port Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island in 1890, with help from the U.S Congress, and was officially lit a year later on December 30th. Its light, shining up to 12 miles away, signaled to ships they were close to Boca Grande Pass — the deepest natural port in the state and entrance to inlet Charlotte Harbor. 

The incoming fleet would later consist of phosphate ships from around the world, after a phosphate facility was built on Port Boca Grande in 1912. The lighthouse was then used in World War II to keep an eye out for German U-boats, while the port itself became a nightly safe hub, filled with up to 30 moored ships to avoid German submarines. 

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse continued to remain in service until its light was officially turned off in 1966, and practically abandoned in ‘67. However, it wasn’t completely forgotten about. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and fully restored in 1985. 

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse — an iron-screw-pile design with a wood frame — is just as crucial today for maritime navigation as it was over 100 years ago. The nearby assistant keeper’s house, with its structure set against the tropical backdrop, embodies the essence of Floridian spirit, offering a glimpse into the state’s history as a museum. Some say that’s not the only spirit here, however. 

Lighthouse Hauntings

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse has seen plenty of tragedy since it was constructed over a century ago, but none as tragic as what happened to the daughter of one of its former keepers. She died — most likely from diphtheria or whooping cough — and was buried not far from the lighthouse. 

Rumor has it her spirit still lives out her childhood here, as she did in life.  Tour guides say she can be heard playing in one of the rooms on the upper floor — at midnight of all times. There have also been reports of seeing the cheery face of a little girl staring out to sea, her frame highlighted by the lighthouse’s revolving lights. 

The Headless Princess

There is one other ghost who haunts Port Boca Grande Lighthouse: the Spanish princess Josefa. Some ninety years earlier, a Spanish pirate, Jose Gaspar (as in Gasparilla, whom the lighthouse’s island is named after), buried his treasure underneath where the lighthouse stands.

Gaspar later fell in love with the beautiful Spanish princess he kidnapped. Unfortunately for him, or for her rather, she wasn’t interested and promptly rejected his advances. Filled with blind rage, Gaspar unsheathed his sword and lopped off her head. 

Shame quickly replaced the pirate’s rage when he realized what he had done. He scooped up the princess’s corpse and buried her in the sand, at an unknown location on the island, all except her head. You see, Gaspar was so in love with Josefa that he just couldn’t bear to part with her, so he carried her head around with him for the rest of his life. 

Witnesses have since claimed to see Josefa’s headless ghost wandering the beach on Gasparilla Island, most likely looking for her head. 

Haunted Tampa 

The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse stands in silent isolation on the breathtaking Gasparilla Island, a lone reminder that in Florida, there is as much sand as secrets buried beneath it…or in this case, bodies. 

A lighthouse keeper’s daughter, tragically taken too soon, forever gazes out at the endless waters of the Gulf. Decades earlier, one of Florida’s most notorious pirates and the island’s very namesake, buried his prized treasure right on the very same property. One can only wonder if it’s also where he buried the body of the woman he loved — a princess who wanders the beaches of Gasparilla Island in search of her head he took from her.  

Get ready for more frights on a ghost tour to some of Tampa’s most chilling spots with Tampa Terrors! Uncover the centuries-worth of grisly stories filled with pirates and bootlegging to mob-sanctioned murders that fill this coastal city with restless spirits come sundown. 

After you’ve booked your spot with us, head on over to our blog and check out some of our other terrifyingly good reads we have in store, filled with cryptids, mysteries, and a plethora of ghost stories, of course. Be sure to stay connected with us as well, via Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Sources:

• https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=369

• https://www.bips.org/history-port-boca-grande

• https://americanghoststories.com/haunted-places/haunted-lighthouses-old-port-boca-grande-lighthouse

• https://www.floridasmart.com/articles/10-most-haunted-places-florida

• https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/gasparilla-island-state-park/port-boca-grande-lighthouse-and-museum