Maritime Museum Unveils “Ghosts”

The Door County Maritime Museum delves into the world of the paranormal with the opening of its new exhibit “Ghosts! Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes” on Saturday, May 22, in Sturgeon Bay. The exhibit promises to be unlike anything else the museum has produced.

With 11 sentinels, Door County is a prime example of the appeal that lighthouses have with people. Their spectacular settings, picturesque qualities and historical significance in the development of our area make them one of the Peninsula’s primary attractions.

But there is another side to lighthouses that has fueled debate, produced a cottage industry of books and videos while providing work for a band of researchers that might best be called “ghost hunters.”

Visitors will pass through a lighthouse filled with purported paranormal experiences as well as the Horton Gallery, where sensory and psychic skills will be tested, reality challenged and perception explained. History will blend with legend as it relates to nine of the most significant lighthouse hauntings on the Great Lakes. Three are right here in Door County – Chambers Island, Sherwood Point and Pottawatomie on Rock Island.

Museum Curator John Moga stresses the exhibition bares no resembles to the haunted houses one might experience during Halloween. But that doesn’t mean he and Assistant Curator June Larson haven’t incorporated some entertaining elements throughout the experience as they take historically accurate accounts of hauntings and replicate them for the museum visitor.

“Believing or not believing (in ghosts) is not the point,” said Moga. “We’re not saying one way or the other that there are ghosts. We’re just hoping it might create some discussion.”

Still, Moga points out that it’s the unexplained that fuels the popularity of the paranormal.

“A true haunting is rare, but they are reported and documented more than most may realize,” said Moga, who said nautical-related hauntings will also be explored in keeping with the museum’s maritime mission. “Very often something unnatural will happen but may have a logical explanation and there are times when no logical, rational explanation can be found.”

Moga admits the exhibition probably won’t answer those questions, but it will provide an interesting look at some while providing a historically accurate glimpse at the places where they may have taken place.

The museum also contains three other galleries dedicated in part to shipbuilding, vintage vessels, local maritime innovators and the county’s stunning array of lighthouses and the museum’s impressive collection of models. There’s also the ever-popular nuclear submarine periscope and the separately priced, but unmatched tours aboard the tug John Purves.

Museum hours are 10 am – 5 pm until Memorial Day weekend when they extend to 9 am – 6 pm. Cost is $7.50 for adults, $4 students (5-17) and under 5 free. The museum-operated historic light station on Cana Island is also open for the season while the museum at Gills Rock opens for the season on May 29.