For years, volunteers who worked evenings in the lighthouse museum in
Fairport Harbor spoke of an eerie presence in the darkened tower.
Curator Pamela Brent swears that on several occasions she saw the
wispy gray spirit of a cat.

Skeptics dismissed the ghost story as ridiculous - until this winter.
Workers installing air conditioning vents discovered the mummified remains
of a gray cat in a crawl space.

Brent said historians learned that the wife of one lighthouse tender
kept several cats in the quarters. They believe the cat unearthed during
the winter renovations was trapped for years in the crawl space, somehow
preserved in the cold, dank basement floor.

"It would skitter across the floor near the kitchen, like it was playing,"
said Brent, who lived on the upper floor for four years. "I would catch
glimpses of it from time to time."

"Then one evening I felt its presence when it jumped on the bed. I felt
its weight pressing on me. At first it kind of freaked me out. But ghosts
don't bother me. They are part of the world."

"That was a little freakish when they found the cat," said Brent, museum
curator. Valerie Laczko, president of the Fairport Harbor Historical Society,
which operates the museum, said workers were startled when they discovered
the cat's remains. Laczko doesn't necessarily believe in the ghost,
but admits to being spooked at times."It is spooky here when you are by yourself. It is very still," she said.
Brent said historians learned that the wife of one lighthouse tender
kept several cats in the quarters. They believe the cat unearthed during
the winter renovations was trapped for years in the crawl space, somehow preserved in the
cold, dank basement floor. Laczko said.Brent said
it is not the only lighthouse that provides a haven for spirits.

"A lot of people don't believe in ghosts," Brent said. "But I do. Lighthouses
are magnets for ghosts. They are an area for safety for spirits."