Hendrick’s Headlight in located in the quaint little mid-coast town of Southport, Maine.  It looks a lot different now than it did back in the early 1930’s.  The town was smaller,  quieter, and when summer was over there were a lot less people around.  It was the kind of town where everyone knew everyone else. And when a stranger came through – well, you likely knew that, too.

That’s what happened on Tuesday, December 1, 1931 when the bus service rolled into town and out stepped a middle aged woman dressed head to toe in all black clothing, carrying a single suitcase, and looking to rent a room at the old Fullerton Hotel.  Honestly, nothing really stood out about her, besides the fact that she wasn’t from around here.  But then again, the existence of a year round hotel in this tiny coastal town told you all you needed to know about how common it would be for a stranger to stop in for a night or two.

She rented a room under the name Louise G. Meade and immediately headed out to see the coastline.  She walked down the main street, past a few shops and when she saw Mrs. Pinkham outside the post office she stopped and asked directions on how to get to a place she could take in a “sweeping view of the ocean”.   Mrs. Pinkham obliged and told her the best place to see the open ocean was down by Hendrick’s Head Light, but advised it was getting late in the day, it would be dark by the time she headed back to the hotel, and the temperature was dropping fast – locals were expecting the first snow of the season on this night.  None of that seemed to matter.  Louise thanked Mrs. Pinkham, told her she knew where Hendrick’s Head was, and headed out for the trek toward the ocean.

Not long after this exchange, Lightkeeper Knight stumbled into the town post office.  It was briskly cold outside.  The wind was beginning to pick up and folks were getting ready for winter weather to settle in.  The waves crashing on the shoreline, visible from the lighthouse Mr. Knight and his wife were in charge of, were a testament to everything Mrs. Pinkham had warned Louise about.  So naturally, she asked Mr. Knight if he’d seen Louise on his walk to the post office, and if he’d given her fair warning about the dangers of the wind, the surf against the rocks, and how fast the sun sets out this way.  But, to her surprise, he told her he never saw the visitor.  She insisted there was no way he could have missed her, since there is only 1 road from the lighthouse to the post office, and this woman was on it – she’d seen Louise leave toward that direction with her very own eyes. But Mr. Knight was quite certain he saw no one.  But, he assured her, on his way back to the lighthouse, he’d keep a keen eye out for the traveller and would assist her if she needed it.

As it turned out, Mr. Knight would never get the chance.

On his way home he made a conscious effort to take notice of anyone who might be present on the road toward the lighthouse.  All the residences down this way were summer homes, so they were boarded up and empty.  There were no lights, and no sign of any activity once tourist season was over.  However, as he got closer to the lighthouse he happened to look over toward one of the neighboring cottages and he saw, what he thought, was the silhouette of a person walking on the side of the cottage.  Now, by this time of the evening it was starting to get quite dark. Not yet completely night time, but definitely on the later end of dusk. Mr. Knight saw the silhouette and hollered out, asking who it was and did they need help, numerous times, but he got no response.  And the visual happened so quickly, he really wasn’t sure if he had actually seen what he thought he saw. He wondered if it was a trick of light, or if his mind was playing tricks on him, simply because he was so focused on not missing Louise if they crossed paths again.

Well – the next day arrived and it was noted that this woman in black had not returned to her hotel room after heading out to see the ocean, and naturally, folks got worried.  So a local fisherman, who was also good at tracking, followed the path Mrs. Pinkham had told him Louise took away from the post office, and he tracked her straight down the road, noting quite curiously, that her tracks led off into the bushes on the side of the road right where she would have crossed paths with Mr. Knight.  He surmised that when Mr. Knight came into view she stepped out of view, so as not to be noticed, and when Mr. Knight was out of earshot and eye line, Louise came back out onto the roadway and continued her walk toward the water.