LIGHTHOUSES of AMERICA
Because their existence spans the history of this country, these magnificent structures embrace many secrets: tales of lives saved, storms survived or not, and strange accounts of souls residing within their walls. Open sea in darkness is an eerie, sometimes frightening experience for navigators, but a distance, flashing light to sailors conveys a symbol of hope, tranquility, and comfort. Inside the tower, stalwart lighthouse keepers,
CROSSOVER ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, NY, The original 1847 fixed light came from six oil lamps set in fourteen-inch reflectors. (Skip Sherwood)
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tending lights in all manner of weather and personal privation, adds to the mystique. Remote locations, where land meets sea, compounds the magic. There is just something extraordinarily special about a lighthouse. They become a landmark that is forever and essentially identified with a community or its location. Like the signal tower and watch tower, the view from their gallery deck or lantern room offers a perspective on the world below like no other.
— Captain Robert (Bob) Desh, U.S. COAST GUARD (RETIRED) FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DOOR COUNTY MARITIME MUSEUM MEMBER, BOARD OF REGENTS, FOUNDATION FOR COAST GUARD HISTORY
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Bonfires on the Beach BONFIRES ON THE BEACH offered ancient navigators both guidance and hazards. By steering ships toward harbors, fires were a communities’ economic muscle, and without government, toward reefs, a pirates’ plunder. Individuals initiating local economic opportunities, built the first lighted beacons offering safe passage into colonial harbors. As the New World communities joined in maritime trade, oil lanterns flickered for those first beacons set on headlands, reefs, and islands defining safe routes into ports. America’s War of Independence ended with an emerging nation without income or funds to pay its tolls. The new United States had massive economic potential if products could sail safely through its ports and move reliably along bordering waters. Seaports villages could reap major economic boosts and become major seaports with safe sea-lanes provided by lighthouses. EASTERN POINT, MA: The keeper’s dwelling is a wooden, Gothic Revival built in 1879. Winslow Homer spent time here painting his land and seascapes. (Jeremy D’Etremont)
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Legends happen with people living and dying off the traveled path. Keepers and their families survived in remoteness, often with unimaginable hardships. From these existences, deaths and unsolved mysteries perpetuated curious and bizarre legends, even the belief of ghosts that still roam the towers. A major improvement for light magnification came with the invention of the Fresnel lens, introduced in the 1840s. Gas and kerosene replaced animal lard for the lanterns’ flame in late 1800s after the discovery of petroleum. Electric light bulbs snuffed the oil flames in the early 1900s, and this now not so modern light still beams through some ancient lenses that once bent light beams from burning whale oil or pig lard. Technology has eliminated the need for bright, high-powered, electric lamps and Fresnel lens combination, with light emitting diodes encased in plastic lenses requiring nothing more than solar panels charging batteries to generate electricity for their use. Today’s bonfires on the beach show us an isolated community, through three hundred years, contributing significantly to American lore, science, and culture. —Tom Beard
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MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE, MA: Petitioning for a light here began in 1839 based on more than forty vessels striking submerged rocks within the previous decade. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
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(pages 13–14)
ANACAPA LIGHTHOUSE, CA: Painter, James Whistler, in 1854, produced etchings of Anacapa Island to determine a location for the lighthouse (Jeremy D’Entremont)
t CASTLE HILL LIGHTHOUSE, RI, is built of stone on a rocky headland appearing almost as a natural feature. Newport’s Castle Hill Inn overwhelms the scene. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
u CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE, NC : This tower overlooks “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” where reportedly over two thousand ships have foundered. (Skip Sherwood)
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(pages16–17)
FIVE MILE LIGHTHOUSE, CT, represents typical American lighthouse construction from mid-19th century. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
t GASPARILLA LIGHTHOUSE, FL: Skeletal towers could be disassembled and moved. Gasparilla Lighthouse, FL, previously stood as Delaware Breakwater Rear Range Light. (Jan Hunter)
u GRAND HAVEN PIER LIGHTHOUSE, MI. Winter scene. (Tom Gill)
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t GRAVES LIGHTHOUSE, MA: Waves from violent storms sometimes crashed over the lantern room. One storm shoved a three-ton boulder from the seabed onto the tower’s base. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
p HALFWAY ROCK LIGHTHOUSE, ME: Mariners demanded a light on Halfway Rock. Yet, getting this lighthouse took thirty-six years, following several ships crashing on the rock with lives lost. (James Hill)
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t CAPE COD LIGHTHOUSE, MA: George Washington, in 1796, approved construction of this structure—the seventh federal lighthouse, known locally as “Highland Light.” (Jeremy D’Entremont)
t JONES POINT LIGHTHOUSE, VA: On land purchased for $501 in 1855, this lighthouse included original District of Columbia boundary stones placed by George Washington. (Julie Lake)
u WISCONSIN POINT LIGHTHOUSE, WI: Winter scene. (Richard Hoeg)
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PORTLAND HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, MA, started by the Massachusetts Colony, was the first federal lighthouse completed in 1790 under the ninth act of the first congress in 1789. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
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p TRINIDAD HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, WA: A working Fresnel lens reflects two views of a Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter. (Gary Todoroff)
u MARTIAL POINT LIGHTHOUSE, ME: A telephone line was installed here in 1898 to receive storm warnings from the Weather Bureau. (Jeremy D’Etremont)
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GOAT ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, ME: A VLB-44 beacon in this lighthouse is an LED light source. Each tier uses 10 Watts and electronically creates appropriate flashing characters. (Jeremy D’Entremont)
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