Exploring the Haunting Legends of The Great Isaac Lighthouse
- lurkpodcast
- Apr 9
- 5 min read
The Great Isaac Lighthouse is located on Great Isaac Cay, a small island accessible solely by boat, about 20 miles north-northeast of Bimini. The cay itself is one giant coral rising a few feet out of the area’s shallow, dangerous reefs. Razor sharp terrain makes the land inhospitable and difficult to traverse. The lighthouse was first built for the Great London Exposition of 1852 and was originally named Victoria Light, in honor of the then-reigning Queen of England. Several years later, it was dismantled, transported, and reassembled at its current site in 1859.
The Great Isaac Lighthouse is steeped in a history of misfortune. Legend suggests that the lighthouse was originally meant for Sri Lanka, but the voyage was unsuccessful, with the reasons
still unclear. This run of bad luck continued during its construction on Great Isaac Cay and is the basis for one of the island's famous ghost stories. During the lighthouse's construction, a British supply ship carrying parts was wrecked. Everyone on board survived except for one—the ship's boy—who fell victim to sharks. Some claim to have seen his ghost roaming the island.
In the late 19th century, local legends recount a shipwreck on the island where several passengers perished. One of the survivors was a baby boy. On nights with a full moon, witnesses have reported seeing the infant's mother roaming the island, crying out in search of her son. The locals call her the Grey Lady. There is a possible identity for the Grey Lady as a passenger of the ill-fated Elijah Swift that was shipwrecked ten years prior to the light house being built.
The Elijah Swift was a 391-ton barque constructed in Massachusetts in 1847 and registered at
the port of New York. On October 29, 1849, the Elijah Swift was anchored approximately two miles off Great Isaac. She had departed from New York and was headed to New Orleans with Captain Nye in command. Among those on board were her crew and thirty-nine passengers, including women and children. A gale soon arose, causing her to drag her anchors and eventually strike the rocks on the northwest end of the island, leading to her breaking apart. All crew and passengers reached the shore safely, although many suffered injuries from the sharp rocks.
The storm intensified, causing waves to begin flooding this part of the island. Concerned for their safety, everyone began moving towards the island's higher ground. Sadly, they had only covered about fifty yards when a massive wave swept twenty of them into the sea. Out of those twenty, only nine were rescued from drowning. The survivors endured the night, and the following morning, they searched the island for water and any salvageable items from the wreck.
To everyone's astonishment, they discovered a six-week-old baby who had been swept onto the island and had miraculously survived for twenty-six hours with only minor cuts and bruises. The child belonged to Mrs. N.A. Bailey, one of the women who had drowned. The surviving women promptly took the child under their care. They stayed on the island for another two and a half days until they were rescued by the passing ship Bangor.
So it seems Mrs. Bailey is the poor soul searching for her child on nights with the full moon.
To demonstrate the perilous nature of this island, here is another account of multiple shipwrecks. The details of the disaster were shared by the captain of the sole surviving ship. On February 1, 1824, three vessels anchored together off Great Isaac: the Marathon, the Hector, and the Perseverance. The latter two were from Portsmouth, heading to New Orleans with cargoes of bricks, hay, spars, mackerel, and other goods. All three ships anchored with the wind from the southwest. By 10 p.m., the wind shifted to the north and intensified into a severe gale. The wind began increasing around 2 p.m., soon escalating to a full gale. An unidentified ship that had anchored after dark was the first to run aground, with all hands lost; it was carrying eastern lumber. By 3 a.m., two of the other ships were blown from their moorings and also wrecked on Great Isaac. They broke apart within half an hour of striking. The Perseverance was the first of these two to wreck, with only one survivor; the captain, mate, a passenger, and 11 seamen perished. The Hector was the last to be wrecked. Her crew attempted to save her by setting the try sail, spanker, and topmast stay-sail to steer clear of the land, but they could not overcome the storm. Four were saved, but the captain, mate, Mr. Harris (the owner), and four seamen were lost. After the storm abated, Capt. C.H. Robinson navigated the Marathon, which had survived the storm, to the leeward side of the island to rescue the survivors.
One of the most intriguing and captivating stories about the Great Isaac Lighthouse is its connection to the Bermuda Triangle. In the 1960s, two lighthouse keepers, Ivan Major and B. Mollings, were assigned to the island. On August 4, 1969, after a passing ship reported that the light was out, a launch was dispatched from nearby Bimini because repeated calls to the lighthouse went unanswered. Upon arrival, the searchers found everything in order, except the lighthouse keepers were missing. Strange voices startled the searchers momentarily until they realized it was routine chatter from passing boats over the radio receiver. A subsequent investigation failed to provide any plausible explanation for the keepers' disappearance. No distress signals were ever sent by the men, no sightings were ever reported and no bodies were ever found.
The Bahamian government proposed that a drug smuggling incident might be responsible for the disappearance, but this seems more like speculation than a solid explanation. There was no evidence supporting this theory. Logically, it doesn't make sense why drug smugglers would target a government station and abduct the employees. Perhaps one of the two keepers knew too much about a smuggling operation and was silenced before he could reveal anything—though landing on a government station and eliminating both keepers seems desperate, if not outright foolish. The lighthouse keepers could have easily reported an unauthorized boat and suspicious individuals arriving on the island.
Another explanation provided was that a hurricane was responsible. However, the "hurricane" in question was actually Tropical Storm Anna, the first named storm of 1969. Due to modern record-keeping, we know that during the relevant period, Tropical Storm Anna weakened into a tropical depression before regaining strength and returning to Tropical Storm status off the coast of the Carolinas, approximately 300-400 miles from Great Isaac Cay. I find it hard to believe that a weakening system so far away could result in the disappearance of two men. Sadly their disappearance is another unsolved mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.
The cay is open to the public, but it can only be reached by boat, and some good seafaring skills are necessary to arrive safely. The lower stairs of the tower have been taken out to stop people from climbing up and tampering with the automated light.
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