Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, MA, photo by Chuck Turk 300 is a big number. And it’s worth celebrating, Since this is my 300th post on this blog, it is a special anniversary for me. And fittingly, I get to share it with a lighthouse. Not just any lighthouse, but the first [...]
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 [...]
Angels Gate Lighthouse, CA, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com Lighthouse keepers develop a relationship with the sea and learn to appreciate its personality. They also acquire an understanding of the creatures that live within it. Marine animals can provide food for the keepers, but they can also provide company. Along the west coast of the [...]
Skerryvore Lighthouse, photo by Ian Cowe The Stevenson family of Scotland is renown around the world as a dynasty of lighthouse builders. For five generations, the Stevenson’ engineering skills were employed to build structures that are still impressive, having withstood the onslaught of nature and time. Names like “Skerryvore” and “Bell Rock,” [...]
The Maidens Lighthouses, Ireland Where did a young person who lived at a lighthouse meet other young people? How did they find someone to date, fall in love with, and marry? At other lighthouses, of course. Due to the remoteness of lighthouses, the children of keepers often met and married the children of [...]
McNab's Island Lighthouse on Maugher's Beach, Nova Scotia “No fair! Why do I have to do all the work?” Maybe you’ve heard this complaint before, but you wouldn’t have heard it from lighthouse keepers or their families. Lighthouse keeping wasn’t an easy lifestyle, but for lighthouse families, it was a busy, active [...]
Sambro Island Lighthouse, photo by Dennis Jarvis, courtesy Wikimedia Commons From his bedroom window in the small coastal village of Ingonish, Nova Scotia, young Barry MacDonald could see two lighthouses. Barry’s father and grandfather were fishermen, so Barry spent a lot of time around the harbor, often visiting the lighthouses. Sometimes he [...]
Boston Light, by Jeremy D'Entremont Millions of people love to look at lighthouse pictures. A portion of those people actually get to visit a lighthouse in person. But most of these lighthouse lovers don't realize the pictures and often those lighthouses themselves wouldn't be there to enjoy unless someone photographed them or preserved [...]