When I heard the Point Lookout Lighthouse was available for lease, I jumped at the chance to be able to live in a lighthouse. I called the Point Lookout State Park office and scheduled an appointment to view the interior of the Lighthouse. Believe it or not, I had not visited nor had I heard of this park prior to moving to St. Mary's County, Maryland in December, 1978 from Baltimore. I met two Park Rangers in November, 1979 and they took me to look at the North side of the Lighthouse. It was absolutely beautiful with a view of the water from every window. There were six spacious rooms, box windows, hard wood floors, and beautiful wallpaper. The rent was also very appealing - a mere $65 a month which included electricity. Heating oil would be my responsibility. After viewing the house, the Rangers' snickered a bit and happened to mention, You know the house is haunted, right? Of course, I thought they were joking. But, I wasn't going to let that stop me from moving in to this magnificent place. I moved in on December 6, 1979. On the evening of December 7, 1979, after retiring for the evening, I heard footsteps walking up and down the hallway outside of my bedroom door. It sounded like heavy shoes with thick heels or boots. They just kept walking up and down. My immediate thought was I guess this place is haunted. But I did not feel frightened at all. I also noticed that the middle room (guest room) had a strong odor in the evening. It smelled like something was dead in this room. However, in daylight, the odor would disappear. I scrubbed and waxed the floor thoroughly and used air freshener to no avail. I had overnight guests stay in that room on December 6th, but they did not notice anything. As of January 14, 1980, the odor was still noticeable. On January 14, 1980, Dr. Hans Holzer and his group of investigators came from New York to study the Point Lookout area as well as the Lighthouse. When they went into the guest room, the smell was mentioned. One of the mediums reported that she felt sick in this room and actually got chills. She felt very cold and began feeling this way when just walking toward the room. She said that someone had experienced agony in this room. She felt someone had been held against their will. The medium could not determine if the person was a man or a woman. The investigative group speculated whether any prisoners from the Civil War may have been held here but Gerald Sword, Point Lookout State Park Superintendent, reported there was no evidence that this occurred. It was also mentioned that in the 1800's, if someone was retarded or mentally ill or ill, they were sometimes kept out of sight or locked in a room. This is also a possibility. All I know is that after that night, the odor disappeared!