Portland Head Light, ME, photo by Chuck Turk August 7 is National Lighthouse Day, the day on which we honor those majestic towers that were built to protect and guide mariners. Today, those lighthouses are historic symbols of man’s effort to help their fellowman. Many are still active aids to navigation despite modern [...]
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse The Outer Banks, a string of islands off the coast of North Carolina, boasts a chain of lighthouses from the northernmost tip to the farthest south. The purpose of these lighthouses is to warn mariners of shifting shoals that are hazardous to ships. In fact, thousands of ships and [...]
Libby Island Lighthouse, Maine Flash followed Keeper Gleason Colbeth everywhere. Keeper at Libby Island Light, Maine, Colbeth said his medium brown Irish setter was so intelligent she could almost talk. And being the devoted pet that she was, Flash never let her master out of her sight. If Colbeth went to the 1823 [...]
Rondout Creek Lighthouse, NY, courtesy lighthousefriends.com. Hudson River, NY, 1857 When George Murdock, the keeper at Rondout Creek lighthouse, didn’t return with the supplies, his wife Catherine knew something had happened. Her worries were confirmed when officials from the mainland arrived to tell her he had drowned on his way back to the [...]
Eastern Point Lighthouse, Gloucester, MA, photo courtesy Kraig Anderson Massachusetts’ Gloucester Harbor is known as America’s oldest seaport, supporting fishermen, whalers, traders and even smugglers since 1616. The area is also known for its dangerous currents, ledges, and storms which claimed 779 vessels and 5,305 lives between 1830 and 1910. But another [...]
Start Point Lighthouse, Devon, UK, source Wikipedia Commons, photo by Nilfanion Gordon knew it was only a matter of time before his occupation and his way of life would be gone. Trinity House, the governing body of lighthouses in the United Kingdom, had detailed to its lighthouse keepers the plans to automate [...]