Land's End Light
Along a roughly three-mile, oak-tunneled stretch of Lands End Road on St. Helena Island, just past the Chapel of Ease, generations of locals have reported a mysterious light that appears at night. Witnesses describe a yellowish orb that first resembles a single distant automobile headlight, then grows larger and dimmer as it approaches before abruptly vanishing; some say it hovers beside or chases cars down the road. The most popular origin story dates to 1861, when soldiers reportedly fought with island residents and one of them, Private Frank Quigley, was decapitated. His spirit is said to roam the road carrying an old iron lantern, searching for his missing head. Other accounts tie the light to enslaved people separated from their families. Skeptics suggest marsh gas or a will-o'-the-wisp, though locals note there is no swamp along the road. It remains the best-known apparition legend in Beaufort County.
📍 Lands End Road, St. Helena Island, SC 29920, Beaufort, SC · Get directions