Maine’s Seguin Lighthouse goes dark
Seguin Light Station, on a 64-acre island off the mouth of the Kennebec River near Popham Beach in Maine, is home to the only active first-order Fresnel lens in northern New England. Recently, shortly before volunteers of the Friends of Seguin Island were due to start making preparations for the coming season of public tours, the U.S. Coast Guard deemed the power cable to the island unsafe and turned off the electricity to the lighthouse and island.
Petty Officer Nicole Groll confirmed that the power was turned off because the Coast Guard’s electrical cable was severely damaged at the terminal along Popham Beach.
Click here for more on this story.
* * *
Yaquina Head Lighthouse (Oregon) to undergo repairs for next 2 weeks
One of the Pacific Northwest’s iconic beacons, Yaquina Head Lighthouse near the mouth of the Yaquina River near Newport, will be dark for the next couple of weeks while some repairs are completed to its unique LED optic.
Click here for more information.
* * *
Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association working to save the oldest original lighthouse in Alaska
Eldred Rock Lighthouse, adjacent to Lynn Canal, is the last of ten lighthouses constructed in Alaska between 1902 and 1906. The paint on the 114-year-old building is peeling, but more concerning is the concrete that is falling off in chunks.
The Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association, with the help of the Marine Exchange of Alaska, is starting the process of taking over the lighthouse to better preserve it.
“Anybody who cares about history and all that, you don’t want to see something like this become a complete eyesore or even worse, collapse and become unrecoverable,” said Jonathan Wood of the Marine Exchange of Alaska.
You can read more about this story here and you can see a gallery of photos here
* * *
Celebration for Old Cape Henry Lighthouse (VA) on Saturday, May 4
Following a stabilization of the surrounding dunes and the tower’s foundation, Virginia’s historic Old Cape Henry Lighthouse has reopened to the public. An official dedication ceremony and celebration takes place tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
Click here for more on this story
* * * * * *
U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. You can receive these posts via email if you click on the “SUBSCRIBE” button in the right-hand column. Please support this electronic newsletter by joining the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member.
If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy at Jeremy@uslhs.org
U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org