The Lady in Blue - A Haunting in Hilton Head

It wasn't that long ago that Hilton Head Island was a rural community, populated mostly by fishermen and farmers. Roads, now paved with asphalt, cobblestone and tabby, were dirt and sand less than fifty-years ago. One such road, near Palmetto Dunes, lead to the light house and the light keepers house; abandoned when the U.S. light service automated the light. It wasn't long before this deserted country road became a popular destination for young lovers in search of privacy and romance. One young couple, however, found more than they were looking for, one warm summer night.

The surf gently lapped at the sand, as a crescent moon was rising over the Atlantic, when the couple turned off the lights and stopped the car; just a few yards from the old light keepers house. With the windows down, they listened to the sounds of the night and the beach, on an otherwise perfectly ordinary summer evening. Ordinary that is, until the young woman noticed something moving about in the old house. At first the lovers thought it was another couple, like themselves, in search of quiet and romance; perhaps carrying a dim lantern or a flashlight nearly ready to expire. They watched for a moment, talking in hushed tones, as the figure stepped out onto the porch, it was then they realized the faint glow was coming from the figure itself, and not from a ight or lantern. The glow encircled a beautiful woman in what appeared to be a flowing, blue, Victorian era dress. She watched from the porch for a short time, turned and, as she passed back through the door, the strange light also disappeared.

It wasn't long before the couple could no longer keep the ghostly sighting to themselves, and as word began to spread, more and more islanders credited the sighting to the overactive imaginations of the teenagers. Finally, at their insistence, and to settle the matter once and for all, a group of four parents made the trip down the long sandy road to the old light keeper's residence. Legend holds that the four hadn't been at the sight more than a few minutes when the glowing figure once again appeared, on the front porch of the old house. As they watched, she turned in their direction and waved; as if to say hello. One of the men whispered, "a blue lady", as she turned and walked back into the house, the light once more extinguishing.

For the next few years the Blue lady would occasionally make an appearance to lovers and to the curious, hoping to get a look at her. She never once failed to appear for the young couple who had first seen her. Then, about 1967, the old house was purchased by developer Charles Fraser and moved to the sight of Harbour Town, where construction was just getting underway. Fraser placed the house near the present sight of CQ's restaurant and the "Blue Lady" was never seen again. The young man, who had first seen her, would often visit the sight where the house once stood, hoping to see the friendly apparition one last time. It was on one of these visits, while standing near where the front porch would have once been, that he suddenly felt a draft, like a small cloud of cold air had settled about him. As he began to shiver the clouds parted just enough for a sliver of moonlight to reflect off a tiny silver wedding band, lying in the sand. The man kept the ring and never doubted it to be his good by gift from the "Blue Lady".

Occasionally, an attractive young woman, dressed in a blue Victorian out fit, will ask a Harbour Town visitor if they know where her house is…..