"The Fire Island Lighthouse in the town of Islip, according to Turpin, carries the story of a caretaker who hanged himself in the original lighthouse sometime prior to the building of the second lighthouse in 1857. Today a circular ring of bricks and stone are all that remain of the original lighthouse. 'It would seem this circle should be the area of haunting and not the current lighthouse that was completed in 1857,' Turpin says, but 'the legends report heavy doors open and close by themselves, strange laughing, banging sounds that seem to come from inside, eerie feelings, as well as the appearance of a shadowy figure in the caretaker's house.' " (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5876971&BRD=1776&PAG=461&dept_id=6365&rfi=8)

Girl Dies Horrible Death at Lighthouse:

"Unfortunately exposure to the elements brought illness and one of their young daughters died. Some say you can hear a man moaning. Supposedly he had to wait three days in torment before a doctor came and by then it was too late for his daughter. Others say you can hear footsteps on the lighthouse stairs. Other legends claim one of the lighthouse keepers hung himself in the tower but as of yet we have not found substantial proof." From Long Island Oddities, http://www.lioddities.com/ghost/lighthouse.htm

Stephen Kaplan believed the lighthouse was haunted.

LINKS:

Amityville's Sister City and Sport's Rival Sayville

Indians in the area: Massacres, Legends, and Reality

John Ketcham: The Facts

Bram Stoker who wrote "Dracula": His link to Amityville

Amityville General History

Al Capone in Amityville